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87-554: Mount Toby is notable for its high biodiversity , attractive woodlands, waterfalls , and its glacial kettle ponds (most notably Cranberry Pond ). Although the summit is wooded, there is a fire tower , open to the public, which provides 360-degree views of Amherst and the Holyoke Range in the south; the Connecticut River and Mount Sugarloaf to the west; Mount Snow , Mount Ascutney , and Mount Monadnock in

174-489: A 10% increase in biodiversity, which was canceled out by a loss in low-income countries. This is despite the fact that high-income countries use five times the ecological resources of low-income countries, which was explained as a result of a process whereby wealthy nations are outsourcing resource depletion to poorer nations, which are suffering the greatest ecosystem losses. A 2017 study published in PLOS One found that

261-501: A country, endangered species are initially supported on a national level then internationally. Ecotourism may be utilized to support the economy and encourages tourists to continue to visit and support species and ecosystems they visit, while they enjoy the available amenities provided. International biodiversity impacts global livelihood, food systems, and health. Problematic pollution, over consumption, and climate change can devastate international biodiversity. Nature-based solutions are

348-517: A critical tool for a global resolution. Many species are in danger of becoming extinct and need world leaders to be proactive with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework . Terrestrial biodiversity is thought to be up to 25 times greater than ocean biodiversity. Forests harbour most of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world's biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on

435-455: A first-order positive feedback (more ancestors, more descendants) and/or a negative feedback arising from resource limitation. Hyperbolic model implies a second-order positive feedback. Differences in the strength of the second-order feedback due to different intensities of interspecific competition might explain the faster rediversification of ammonoids in comparison to bivalves after the end-Permian extinction . The hyperbolic pattern of

522-460: A limit would also cap the number of species. While records of life in the sea show a logistic pattern of growth, life on land (insects, plants and tetrapods) shows an exponential rise in diversity. As one author states, "Tetrapods have not yet invaded 64 percent of potentially habitable modes and it could be that without human influence the ecological and taxonomic diversity of tetrapods would continue to increase exponentially until most or all of

609-592: A more rapid rate that the basalt layer above it. Mount Toby is also part of such a geologic layer cake. The bottom layer is composed of arkose sandstone, visible across the Connecticut River on Sugarloaf Mountain in Deerfield, Massachusetts . The middle layer is composed basalt ; it is most visible as the geology of the Pocumtuck Ridge , to the northwest of Mount Toby. The top (youngest) layer

696-410: A number of locations. Hunting is permitted in some areas, in season. Much of the trail is also suitable for cross country skiing or backcountry skiing , and some sections are open to mountain biking and horseback riding . Potential trail-use hazards include poison ivy and deer ticks (which are known to carry Lyme disease ). Poisonous snakes are considered extremely rare or extinct along

783-546: A part in its history. Geologically speaking, Mount Toby is composed of a sedimentary conglomerate base known as Mount Toby Conglomerate . It is associated with the geologic processes which created the Metacomet Ridge that extends through New England from Long Island Sound to the Vermont border. Mount Toby is part of a larger geologic layer cake. The bottom layer is composed of arkose sandstone, visible across

870-449: A period of 20 million years. Basalt is a dark colored rock, but the iron within it weathers to a rusty brown when exposed to the air, lending it a distinct reddish appearance. Huge slopes made of fractured basalt scree , such as the one beneath the cliffs on Bare Mountain, are common. Erosion occurring between the eruptions deposited deep layers of sediment between the lava flows, which eventually lithified into sedimentary rock , such as

957-405: A report saying that "biodiversity is being destroyed at a rate unprecedented in human history". The report claims that 68% of the population of the examined species were destroyed in the years 1970 – 2016. Of 70,000 monitored species, around 48% are experiencing population declines from human activity (in 2023), whereas only 3% have increasing populations. Rates of decline in biodiversity in

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1044-481: A series of brooks into the Connecticut River , thence Long Island Sound . The east side drains into Long Plain Brook, thence the Connecticut River. The north side drains into Cranberry Pond Brook, thence the Connecticut River. Located on the east side of the mountain is a series of waterfalls, pools, potholes, chutes, and cascades that plummet one hundred feet over rugged conglomerate ledges. The falls are most scenic in

1131-590: A third of the Earth's land mass) and are home to approximately 80% of the world's biodiversity. About 1 billion hectares are covered by primary forests. Over 700 million hectares of the world's woods are officially protected. The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use. Most forest habitats in temperate regions support relatively few animal and plant species and species that tend to have large geographical distributions, while

1218-977: Is 'planned' diversity or 'associated' diversity. This is a functional classification that we impose and not an intrinsic feature of life or diversity. Planned diversity includes the crops which a farmer has encouraged, planted or raised (e.g. crops, covers, symbionts, and livestock, among others), which can be contrasted with the associated diversity that arrives among the crops, uninvited (e.g. herbivores, weed species and pathogens, among others). Associated biodiversity can be damaging or beneficial. The beneficial associated biodiversity include for instance wild pollinators such as wild bees and syrphid flies that pollinate crops and natural enemies and antagonists to pests and pathogens. Beneficial associated biodiversity occurs abundantly in crop fields and provide multiple ecosystem services such as pest control, nutrient cycling and pollination that support crop production. Robert Frost Trail (Massachusetts) The Robert Frost Trail

1305-523: Is 1,300 feet (396 m) from bank to bank at the southern terminus of the Robert Frost Trail and is navigable by power boat. Seasonal spring flooding replenishes the nutrients in the surrounding agricultural land. The Robert Frost Trail, blazed with orange rectangles, is considered easy hiking with occasional rugged sections. It is open to hiking , snowshoeing , picnicking , and other passive activities. Swimming and fishing are possible at

1392-601: Is a 47-mile (76 km) long footpath that passes through the eastern Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts . The trail runs from the Connecticut River in South Hadley, Massachusetts to Ruggles Pond in Wendell State Forest , through both Hampshire and Franklin County and includes a number of scenic features such as the Holyoke Range , Mount Orient , Puffer's Pond, and Mount Toby . The trail

1479-488: Is a popular swimming hole . The Robert Frost Trail passes through land in the following incorporated towns: Hadley , South Hadley , Amherst , Granby , Belchertown , Pelham , Shutesbury , Leverett , Sunderland , Wendell and Montague . The Robert Frost Trail might be divided into three general geo-ecological landscapes. Both the Holyoke Range and Mount Toby were formed 200 million years ago between

1566-405: Is an increase in biodiversity from the poles to the tropics . Thus localities at lower latitudes have more species than localities at higher latitudes . This is often referred to as the latitudinal gradient in species diversity. Several ecological factors may contribute to the gradient, but the ultimate factor behind many of them is the greater mean temperature at the equator compared to that at

1653-468: Is clearly visible from the road just north of Gunn Brook Falls. Slip Dog Falls is located in the center of the Mount Toby geography, west of the main summit and furthest from road access. A fifth waterfall, Green Swamp Brook Falls, is located on the south side of the massif, between the south ledges, just north of Bull Hill Road. Mount Toby and its subordinate peaks are a popular hiking destination;

1740-708: Is composed of Mount Toby Conglomerate. Both Mount Toby and the Holyoke Range are considered among the most biodiverse areas in New England. The trap rock Holyoke Range hosts a combination of microclimates including dry oak savannas , moist ravines dense with eastern hemlock and cooler climate plant species, and talus slopes, rich in nutrients, support a number of calcium-loving plants uncommon in Massachusetts. Fern and orchid species are particularly prolific on Mount Toby; forty-two of forty-five possible native fern species grow there as do rare orchids such as

1827-491: Is estimated at 5.0 x 10 and weighs 50 billion tonnes . In comparison, the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as four trillion tons of carbon . In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms living on Earth. The age of Earth is about 4.54 billion years. The earliest undisputed evidence of life dates at least from 3.7 billion years ago, during

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1914-536: Is geologically related to the higher White Mountains of New Hampshire, farther to the north. The terrain is rugged with many woodland ledges and ravines. The uplands support transitional forests of species common to both the oak-hickory and northern hardwood forest types. Ravines support significant stands of eastern hemlock . Tree and shrub species also include sugar maple ; red maple ; gray, black, paper, and yellow birch ; white ash ; black oak and red oak ; striped maple and mountain laurel . A third of

2001-402: Is greater now than at any time in human history, with extinctions occurring at rates hundreds of times higher than background extinction rates. and expected to still grow in the upcoming years. As of 2012, some studies suggest that 25% of all mammal species could be extinct in 20 years. In absolute terms, the planet has lost 58% of its biodiversity since 1970 according to a 2016 study by

2088-427: Is local biodiversity, which directly impacts daily life, affecting the availability of fresh water, food choices, and fuel sources for humans. Regional biodiversity includes habitats and ecosystems that synergizes and either overlaps or differs on a regional scale. National biodiversity within a country determines the ability for a country to thrive according to its habitats and ecosystems on a national scale. Also, within

2175-439: Is named after the poet Robert Frost , who lived and taught in the area from 1916 to 1938. Although only 47 miles long, the Robert Frost Trail takes in a diverse patchwork of habitats, terrain, and scenery. The trail traverses trap rock Metacomet Ridge with its microclimate ecosystems; wetland habitat; ponds; farmland; deep ravines; wooded ledges; river banks; reservoirs; historic mill ponds; and dense forests. One segment of

2262-458: Is no concrete definition for biodiversity, as its definition continues to be defined. Other definitions include (in chronological order): According to estimates by Mora et al. (2011), there are approximately 8.7 million terrestrial species and 2.2 million oceanic species. The authors note that these estimates are strongest for eukaryotic organisms and likely represent the lower bound of prokaryote diversity. Other estimates include: Since

2349-401: Is possible to build fractal hyper volumes, whose fractal dimension rises to three moving towards the equator . A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species that have experienced great habitat loss . The term hotspot was introduced in 1988 by Norman Myers . While hotspots are spread all over the world, the majority are forest areas and most are located in

2436-561: Is so full, that that district produces the most variety which is the most examined." Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution . The origin of life has not been established by science, however, some evidence suggests that life may already have been well-established only a few hundred million years after the formation of the Earth . Until approximately 2.5 billion years ago, all life consisted of microorganisms – archaea , bacteria , and single-celled protozoans and protists . Biodiversity grew fast during

2523-479: Is the variability of life on Earth . It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability , species diversity , ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth . It is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator . Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth's terrestrial area and contain about 50% of

2610-464: Is to picture a layer cake tilted slightly up with some of the frosting (the sedimentary layer) removed in between. A good example of this layer-cake structure can be found on the Robert Frost Trail beneath Mount Norwottuck at the Horse Caves. The summit of Norwottuck is made of basalt; directly beneath the summit are the Horse Caves, a deep overhang where the weaker sedimentary layer has worn away at

2697-405: Is uncertainty as to how strongly the fossil record is biased by the greater availability and preservation of recent geologic sections. Some scientists believe that corrected for sampling artifacts, modern biodiversity may not be much different from biodiversity 300 million years ago, whereas others consider the fossil record reasonably reflective of the diversification of life. Estimates of

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2784-513: The Carboniferous , rainforest collapse may have led to a great loss of plant and animal life. The Permian–Triassic extinction event , 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years. Human activities have led to an ongoing biodiversity loss and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity . This process is often referred to as Holocene extinction , or sixth mass extinction . For example, it

2871-792: The Eoarchean era after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten Hadean eon. There are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia . Other early physical evidence of a biogenic substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland .. More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life " were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia . According to one of

2958-535: The Mount Orient ledges, Atkins Reservoir, Cushman Brook Ravine, Puffer's Pond, and the Leverett Knobs. The ledges of Mount Orient and the swimming beach at Puffer's Pond are popular locally. Harkness Brook, Amethyst Brook, and Cushman brook offer shaded brookside walking and cascades. Lawrence Swamp is a major local wildlife habitat and aquifer. The northern section of the Robert Frost Trail traverses

3045-713: The Phanerozoic (the last 540 million years), especially during the so-called Cambrian explosion —a period during which nearly every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. However, recent studies suggest that this diversification had started earlier, at least in the Ediacaran , and that it continued in the Ordovician . Over the next 400 million years or so, invertebrate diversity showed little overall trend and vertebrate diversity shows an overall exponential trend. This dramatic rise in diversity

3132-461: The Stone Age , species loss has accelerated above the average basal rate, driven by human activity. Estimates of species losses are at a rate 100–10,000 times as fast as is typical in the fossil record. Loss of biodiversity results in the loss of natural capital that supplies ecosystem goods and services . Species today are being wiped out at a rate 100 to 1,000 times higher than baseline, and

3219-438: The showy lady slipper and the ram's head lady slipper . The Holyoke Range is also an important seasonal raptor migration path. Mount Orient and the section of the Robert Frost Trail north of Mount Toby, from Stoddard Hill to Ruggles Pond, belong to an upland plateau composed of 400 million year old metamorphic rock , mostly schist , gneiss and quartzite . The plateau, averaging 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level,

3306-504: The tropics . Brazil 's Atlantic Forest is considered one such hotspot, containing roughly 20,000 plant species, 1,350 vertebrates and millions of insects, about half of which occur nowhere else. The island of Madagascar and India are also particularly notable. Colombia is characterized by high biodiversity, with the highest rate of species by area unit worldwide and it has the largest number of endemics (species that are not found naturally anywhere else) of any country. About 10% of

3393-417: The world population growth arises from a second-order positive feedback between the population size and the rate of technological growth. The hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by a feedback between diversity and community structure complexity. The similarity between the curves of biodiversity and human population probably comes from the fact that both are derived from

3480-713: The 18th century, a resort hotel was built on the summit of Mount Toby, but it burned down a year after it was constructed, and was not rebuilt. The land was subsequently acquired by the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts Amherst ), and is currently part of the Mount Toby State Demonstration Forest owned and managed by the University. Mount Toby is considered one of

3567-517: The Connecticut River on Sugarloaf Mountain in Deerfield, Massachusetts . The middle layer is composed basalt ; it is most visible as the geology of the Pocumtuck Ridge , to the north. The top (youngest) layer is composed of Mount Toby Conglomerate. About 200 million years ago, as the continent of North America began rifting apart from Africa and Eurasia , a series of erosion and deposition episodes interspersed with heavy basalt lava flows created this layer cake. Faulting and earthquakes tilted

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3654-606: The IUCN's critically endangered . Numerous scientists and the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services assert that human population growth and overconsumption are the primary factors in this decline. However, other scientists have criticized this finding and say that loss of habitat caused by "the growth of commodities for export" is the main driver. Some studies have however pointed out that habitat destruction for

3741-672: The Robert Frost Trail is located within the bottomlands of the Connecticut River Valley, a relatively flat landscape with occasional rounded hills. The underlying strata is sedimentary rock, and the area has a long history of successful agriculture dating back to pre-colonial times. Soils are rich enough to support a commercial tobacco crop. The area is characterized by wetlands, meandering brooks with deeply cut banks, agricultural land, and patches of northern riverine forest and red maple swamp. Tree species include willow , American elm , and sycamore . The Connecticut River

3828-405: The Robert Frost Trail on Mount Toby, plunges 100 feet (30 m) over ledges in a series of pools, chutes, and cataracts. Cranberry Pond, a glacial kettle pond , is popular for non-motorized boating and ice skating. The Pigpen is a 20 feet (6.1 m) wide by 15 feet (4.6 m) high natural rock enclosure overshadowed by steep ledges, while Ruggles Pond, the centerpiece of Wendell State Forest,

3915-567: The Robert Frost Trail weaves over and around the trap rock Holyoke Range several times. It follows the northern slopes of the range from Mount Holyoke to Taylor Notch, along the ridge line, descending south to Lithia Springs Reservoir, before climbing again to the ridgeline, where it goes north of Mount Hitchcock and Bare Mountain , then crosses to the north slope of the range before summiting Rattlesnake Knob (the eastern peak of Mount Norwottuck ), and Long Mountain. Microclimate ecosystems, rare plant habitats, vernal pools, caves, and abrupt cliffs are

4002-602: The Robert Frost Trail. Although the trail environs are black bear habitat, problem encounters with bears are rare. Guides, maps, and trail descriptions are available from a variety of sources, most notably the town of Amherst Conservation Department, and the Appalachian Mountain Club . Publications are available for purchase at the Amherst town hall and at local bookstores and hiking outfitters. However, most trail maps are out of date. Published in 2004,

4089-582: The World Wildlife Fund. The Living Planet Report 2014 claims that "the number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish across the globe is, on average, about half the size it was 40 years ago". Of that number, 39% accounts for the terrestrial wildlife gone, 39% for the marine wildlife gone and 76% for the freshwater wildlife gone. Biodiversity took the biggest hit in Latin America , plummeting 83 percent. High-income countries showed

4176-461: The available eco-space is filled." It also appears that the diversity continues to increase over time, especially after mass extinctions. On the other hand, changes through the Phanerozoic correlate much better with the hyperbolic model (widely used in population biology , demography and macrosociology , as well as fossil biodiversity) than with exponential and logistic models. The latter models imply that changes in diversity are guided by

4263-553: The biomass of insect life in Germany had declined by three-quarters in the last 25 years. Dave Goulson of Sussex University stated that their study suggested that humans "appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon. If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse." In 2020 the World Wildlife Foundation published

4350-410: The conglomerate rock Mount Toby is composed of. The resulting "layer cake" of basalt and sedimentary sheets eventually faulted and tilted upward. Subsequent erosion wore away the weaker sedimentary layers a faster rate than the basalt layers, leaving the abruptly tilted edges of the basalt sheets exposed, creating the distinct linear ridge and dramatic cliff faces visible today. One way to imagine this

4437-540: The current sixth mass extinction match or exceed rates of loss in the five previous mass extinction events in the fossil record . Biodiversity loss is in fact "one of the most critical manifestations of the Anthropocene " (since around the 1950s); the continued decline of biodiversity constitutes "an unprecedented threat" to the continued existence of human civilization. The reduction is caused primarily by human impacts , particularly habitat destruction . Since

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4524-512: The end of the Maastrichtian , just before that extinction event. However, many other taxa were affected by this crisis, which affected even marine taxa, such as ammonites , which also became extinct around that time. The biodiversity of the past is called Paleobiodiversity. The fossil record suggests that the last few million years featured the greatest biodiversity in history . However, not all scientists support this view, since there

4611-548: The end of the Triassic period and the beginning of the Jurassic . The Holyoke Range, part of the Metacomet Ridge that extends 100 miles (160 km) south to Long Island Sound , are composed of basalt , an extrusive volcanic rock . This basalt ridge is the product of several massive lava flows hundreds of feet deep that welled up in faults created by the rifting apart of North America from Eurasia and Africa over

4698-481: The end of the last ice age partly resulted from overhunting. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of genes , species and ecosystems of a region". An advantage of this definition is that it presents a unified view of the traditional types of biological variety previously identified: Biodiversity is most commonly used to replace the more clearly-defined and long-established terms, species diversity and species richness . However, there

4785-451: The estimated global value of ecosystem services (not captured in traditional markets) at an average of $ 33 trillion annually. With regards to provisioning services, greater species diversity has the following benefits: With regards to regulating services, greater species diversity has the following benefits: Greater species diversity Agricultural diversity can be divided into two categories: intraspecific diversity , which includes

4872-428: The expansion of agriculture and the overexploitation of wildlife are the more significant drivers of contemporary biodiversity loss, not climate change . Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, rather it varies greatly across the globe as well as within regions and seasons. Among other factors, the diversity of all living things ( biota ) depends on temperature , precipitation , altitude , soils , geography and

4959-470: The fare. Also located on this trail section are the Horse Caves, an overhang of sedimentary rock said to have been used as a bivouac by rebels during Shays' Rebellion . The middle section of the Robert Frost Trail traverses the Connecticut River Valley in the vicinity of eastern Amherst , south Leverett , and abutting towns. Highlights along the way include the 1,000-acre (4.0 km ) Lawrence Swamp, Pomroy Pond, Harkness Brook Ravine, Amethyst Brook,

5046-491: The genetic variation within a single species, like the potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) that is composed of many different forms and types (e.g. in the U.S. they might compare russet potatoes with new potatoes or purple potatoes, all different, but all part of the same species, S. tuberosum ). The other category of agricultural diversity is called interspecific diversity and refers to the number and types of different species. Agricultural diversity can also be divided by whether it

5133-596: The interactions between other species. The study of the spatial distribution of organisms , species and ecosystems , is the science of biogeography . Diversity consistently measures higher in the tropics and in other localized regions such as the Cape Floristic Region and lower in polar regions generally. Rain forests that have had wet climates for a long time, such as Yasuní National Park in Ecuador , have particularly high biodiversity. There

5220-737: The interference of the hyperbolic trend with cyclical and stochastic dynamics. Most biologists agree however that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the Holocene extinction event , caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment. It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years. New species are regularly discovered (on average between 5–10,000 new species each year, most of them insects ) and many, though discovered, are not yet classified (estimates are that nearly 90% of all arthropods are not yet classified). Most of

5307-409: The layers diagonally; subsequent erosion and glacial activity exposed the tilted "layers" of sandstone, basalt, and erosion-resistant conglomerate visible today. Although not composed of trap rock , Mount Toby is a closely associated with the trap rock Metacomet Ridge by virtue of its origin via the same rifting and uplift that created those mountains. The west and south sides of Mount Toby drain via

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5394-877: The montane forests of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and lowland forests of Australia, coastal Brazil, the Caribbean islands, Central America and insular Southeast Asia have many species with small geographical distributions. Areas with dense human populations and intense agricultural land use, such as Europe , parts of Bangladesh, China, India and North America, are less intact in terms of their biodiversity. Northern Africa, southern Australia, coastal Brazil, Madagascar and South Africa, are also identified as areas with striking losses in biodiversity intactness. European forests in EU and non-EU nations comprise more than 30% of Europe's land mass (around 227 million hectares), representing an almost 10% growth since 1990. Generally, there

5481-672: The most biodiverse areas in New England . Fern and orchid species are particularly prolific on the mountain; forty-two of forty-five possible native fern species grow there as do rare orchids such as the Showy Lady Slipper and the Ram's Head Lady Slipper . Unlike the surrounding region, Mount Toby was never cleared of its timber during New England's intensive agricultural period in the 18th and 19th centuries; it has remained wooded throughout, although timber harvesting has played

5568-823: The mountain are protected—part of the Mount Toby State Demonstration Forest and other Massachusetts state holdings, or under easement or direct stewardship of the Nature Conservancy , the Trustees of Reservations , the United States Fish and Wildlife Service , and local conservation commissions—the large proportion of the mountain is in private ownership, with the Cowls Lumber Company the most significant landowner. Biodiversity Biodiversity

5655-460: The mountain hosts a network of trails, and the 47 mi (76 km) Robert Frost Trail crosses the summit and upland from south to north. With the exception of the Robert Frost Trail, many of the trails are poorly blazed . Because the surrounding lands are an educational and research forest, trees may also be marked with additional markings that may confuse hikers. Hikers should utilize recent topographic maps and orienteering skills to navigate

5742-622: The north; and the nearby Peace Pagoda in Leverett to the east. Additionally, there are several cliffs located on the lower south and southwest facing slopes overlooking the Connecticut River Valley and the town of Sunderland. Mount Toby is named for Captain Elnathan Toby, a settler from colonial Springfield , said to be the first Caucasian to summit the mountain. Like other peaks in the Connecticut River Valley in

5829-438: The official trail guide only mentions the west Holyoke range section of the trail to be in development. Other online resources acknowledge that the trail guide is out of date, but fail to provide updated information on this new section. A patchwork of state land, town land, and privately owned land, the Robert Frost Trail is managed and maintained by a local cooperative effort. Partners include town governments, private landowners,

5916-468: The planet's species went extinct prior to the evolution of humans. Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described. However, a May 2016 scientific report estimates that 1 trillion species are currently on Earth, with only one-thousandth of one percent described. The total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth

6003-546: The poles. Even though terrestrial biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles, some studies claim that this characteristic is unverified in aquatic ecosystems , especially in marine ecosystems . The latitudinal distribution of parasites does not appear to follow this rule. Also, in terrestrial ecosystems the soil bacterial diversity has been shown to be highest in temperate climatic zones, and has been attributed to carbon inputs and habitat connectivity. In 2016, an alternative hypothesis ("the fractal biodiversity")

6090-412: The present global macroscopic species diversity vary from 2 million to 100 million, with a best estimate of somewhere near 9 million, the vast majority arthropods . Diversity appears to increase continually in the absence of natural selection. The existence of a global carrying capacity , limiting the amount of life that can live at once, is debated, as is the question of whether such

6177-729: The rate of extinction has increased, many extant species may become extinct before they are described. Not surprisingly, in the animalia the most studied groups are birds and mammals , whereas fishes and arthropods are the least studied animals groups. During the last century, decreases in biodiversity have been increasingly observed. It was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Of these, about one eighth of known plant species are threatened with extinction . Estimates reach as high as 140,000 species per year (based on Species-area theory ). This figure indicates unsustainable ecological practices, because few species emerge each year. The rate of species loss

6264-584: The rate of extinctions is increasing. This process destroys the resilience and adaptability of life on Earth. In 2006, many species were formally classified as rare or endangered or threatened ; moreover, scientists have estimated that millions more species are at risk which have not been formally recognized. About 40 percent of the 40,177 species assessed using the IUCN Red List criteria are now listed as threatened with extinction —a total of 16,119. As of late 2022 9251 species were considered part of

6351-913: The researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth...then it could be common in the universe ." There have been many claims about biodiversity's effect on the ecosystem services , especially provisioning and regulating services . Some of those claims have been validated, some are incorrect and some lack enough evidence to draw definitive conclusions. Ecosystem services have been grouped in three types: Experiments with controlled environments have shown that humans cannot easily build ecosystems to support human needs; for example insect pollination cannot be mimicked, though there have been attempts to create artificial pollinators using unmanned aerial vehicles . The economic activity of pollination alone represented between $ 2.1–14.6 billion in 2003. Other sources have reported somewhat conflicting results and in 1997 Robert Costanza and his colleagues reported

6438-693: The species of the Earth can be found in Colombia, including over 1,900 species of bird, more than in Europe and North America combined, Colombia has 10% of the world's mammals species, 14% of the amphibian species and 18% of the bird species of the world. Madagascar dry deciduous forests and lowland rainforests possess a high ratio of endemism . Since the island separated from mainland Africa 66 million years ago, many species and ecosystems have evolved independently. Indonesia 's 17,000 islands cover 735,355 square miles (1,904,560 km ) and contain 10% of

6525-458: The spring and following periods of heavy precipitation; in the winter they are usually frozen over, and during dry periods the flow is often reduced to a trickle. Roaring Brook Falls is accessible by trail only. Gunn Brook Falls , located on the lower west side of the mountain, near the Connecticut River, and accessible via a short path from a public road, is smaller but has a more consistent flow. Slatestone Brook Falls, located on private property,

6612-589: The summit of Mount Toby , Stoddard Hill, and Dry Hill. Features along the route include the Mount Toby firetower, Cranberry Pond, the Pigpen, a historic sawmill and dam, and Ruggles Pond in Wendell State Forest. Mount Toby , regarded as one of the most biologically diverse locations in New England, is a conglomerate rock massif unique in Massachusetts. The firetower on its summit provides panoramic views. Roaring Falls, located 0.25 miles (400 m) off

6699-419: The terrestrial diversity is found in tropical forests and in general, the land has more species than the ocean; some 8.7 million species may exist on Earth, of which some 2.1 million live in the ocean. It is estimated that 5 to 50 billion species have existed on the planet. Assuming that there may be a maximum of about 50 million species currently alive, it stands to reason that greater than 99% of

6786-410: The trail follows a narrow greenway that successfully weaves through a small suburban development; another passes through a revegetated landfill; and yet another follows a mowed path along railroad tracks. The Robert Frost Trail has undergone periodic extensions to its length. The most recent included routing the trail over the western half of the Holyoke Range; a proposed northern extension would bring

6873-545: The trail system. Horseback riding , fishing, ice skating, snowshoeing , cross country skiing , and mountain biking are also enjoyed in the mountain's environs. Most of the public trailheads (on the east side of Mount Toby) are not directly accessible via public transportation. Sunderland is the closest bus stop via the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority ; these buses allow the transportation of up to three bicycles. Although significant parcels on

6960-568: The trail to the Deerfield River . Outdated internet and print sources still describe the trail as either 33 or 40 miles (53 or 64 km) long. The 110-mile (180 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail intersects the Robert Frost Trail several times, as do a lengthy network of smaller trails (many managed by the Amherst Department of Conservation), allowing for a variety of loop-hike possibilities. The southernmost section of

7047-773: The way in which we interact with and use the world's forests. A new method used in 2011, put the total number of species on Earth at 8.7 million, of which 2.1 million were estimated to live in the ocean. However, this estimate seems to under-represent the diversity of microorganisms. Forests provide habitats for 80 percent of amphibian species , 75 percent of bird species and 68 percent of mammal species. About 60 percent of all vascular plants are found in tropical forests. Mangroves provide breeding grounds and nurseries for numerous species of fish and shellfish and help trap sediments that might otherwise adversely affect seagrass beds and coral reefs, which are habitats for many more marine species. Forests span around 4 billion acres (nearly

7134-630: The world's flowering plants , 12% of mammals and 17% of reptiles , amphibians and birds —along with nearly 240 million people. Many regions of high biodiversity and/or endemism arise from specialized habitats which require unusual adaptations, for example, alpine environments in high mountains , or Northern European peat bogs . Accurately measuring differences in biodiversity can be difficult. Selection bias amongst researchers may contribute to biased empirical research for modern estimates of biodiversity. In 1768, Rev. Gilbert White succinctly observed of his Selborne, Hampshire "all nature

7221-652: The world's species. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa. Since life began on Earth , six major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic aeon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion . In this period, the majority of multicellular phyla first appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses. Those events have been classified as mass extinction events. In

7308-507: Was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Destroying habitats for farming is a key reason why biodiversity is decreasing today. Climate change also plays a role. This can be seen for example in the effects of climate change on biomes . This anthropogenic extinction may have started toward the end of the Pleistocene , as some studies suggest that the megafaunal extinction event that took place around

7395-483: Was marked by periodic, massive losses of diversity classified as mass extinction events. A significant loss occurred in anamniotic limbed vertebrates when rainforests collapsed in the Carboniferous , but amniotes seem to have been little affected by this event; their diversification slowed down later, around the Asselian / Sakmarian boundary, in the early Cisuralian (Early Permian ), about 293 Ma ago. The worst

7482-401: Was proposed to explain the biodiversity latitudinal gradient. In this study, the species pool size and the fractal nature of ecosystems were combined to clarify some general patterns of this gradient. This hypothesis considers temperature , moisture , and net primary production (NPP) as the main variables of an ecosystem niche and as the axis of the ecological hypervolume . In this way, it

7569-567: Was the Permian-Triassic extinction event , 251 million years ago. Vertebrates took 30 million years to recover from this event. The most recent major mass extinction event, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , occurred 66 million years ago. This period has attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs , which were represented by many lineages at

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