VHFH: Virtual Habitat For Humanity.
VHFH: Volunteer Habitat For Humanity.
Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) (generally referred to as Habitat
for Humanity or simply Habitat) is an international, ecumenical Christian,
non-governmental, non-profit organization devoted to building "simple, decent,
and affordable" housing. Homes are built using volunteer labor and are sold at
no profit, with no interest charged on the mortgage. The organization was
founded in 1976 in Americus, Georgia by Millard and Linda Fuller, whose vision
grew out of their experiences at Koinonia Farm. The international headquarters
located in Americus serves to support and promote the activities of local,
independent affiliate chapters, which initiate and manage all construction,
mortgages, and homeowner selection.
In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded Fuller the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, calling Habitat for Humanity “…the
most successful continuous community service project in the history of the
United States.” By 2004 Habitat had built 50,000 houses in the U.S. and over
175,100 around the world, with Habitat groups working in over 100 countries.
Although headquartered in the United States, two thirds of Habitat construction
takes place in other countries. In 2005 Habitat built its 200,000th house,
bringing the number of people sheltered in Habitat houses worldwide to one
million.
On August 4, 2005, Habitat announced the selection of a new Chief Executive
Officer for the organization, former president of stores of Musicland and
executive pastor of the Edina, Minnesota Christ Presbyterian Church, Jonathan
Reckford. check out Habitat For Humanity
Habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits") is the area where a particular
species lives. It is essentially the natural environment in which an organism
lives—at least the physical environment—that surrounds (influences and is
utilized by) a species population. We use "species population" instead of
"organism" here because, while it is possible to describe the habitat of a
single black bear, we generally may not find any particular or individual bear,
but the grouping of bears that comprise a breeding population and occupy a
certain geographical area. Further, this habitat could be somewhat different
from the habitat of another group or population of black bears living elsewhere.
Thus, it is neither the species, nor the individual, for which the term habitat
is typically used. A microhabitat or microenvironment is the immediate
surroundings and other physical factors of an individual plant or animal within
its habitat.
However, the term "habitat" can be used more broadly in ecology. It was
originally defined as the physical conditions that surround a species, or
species population, or assemblage of species, or community (Clements and
Shelford, 1939). Thus, it is not just a species population that has a habitat,
but an assemblage of many species, living together in the same place that
essentially share a habitat. Ecologists would regard the habitat shared by many
species to be a biotope.
Habitat destruction is a major factor in causing a species population to
decrease, eventually leading to its being endangered, or even to its extinction.
A biome is the set of flora and fauna which live in a habitat and occupy a
certain geography.
To conserve habitat life for wild species and prevent their extinction or
reduction in range is a priority of a great many groups that cannot be easily
characterized in terms of any one ideology.
The conservation movement seeks to do this for a variety of reasons including
the continuation of recreational hunting, fishing, hiking and birdwatching.
The ecology movement seeks to do this since it sees wild species as having the
right to exist for their own sake. Since each species competes most intensely
with its own kind, they argue, any cessation of competition between humans must
be presaged by cessation of competition between humans and other species, and a
recognition of their peaceful coexistence. This goal is shared by some elements
of the peace movement and the green movement that is the intersection of them
both.
The environmental movement shares some of these motivations, but focuses on
human health concerns, wellness, and the environmental health impact of disputed
ecosystems that have fallen into poor ecological health. It is the only movement
to be concerned about natural capital.
Historically, there has been association between conservation movement and
right-wing politics, ecology and peace movement and green politics, and
environmental movement and left-wing politics,
Over half of the Earth's land surface has been transformed due to human
activity, resulting in drastic deforestation, erosion and loss of topsoil,
extinction and such. Almost no terrestrial ecoregion, of 867 on Earth, has been
spared from the onslaught of human consumption.
The arguments to conserve habitat are now found at every level from local
religious figures to United Nations agencies. It is not really possible to
ascribe any particular motivation to those who express this goal. It has become
more common to ask who does not share this goal, and what use they seek to put
converted habitat to
Habitat fragmentation is a process of environmental change important in
evolution and conservation biology. As the name implies, it describes the
emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred
environment (habitat). Habitat fragmentation can be caused by geological
processes that slowly alter the layout of the physical environment or by human
activity such as land conversion, which can alter the environment on a much
faster time scale. The former is suspected of being one of the major causes of
speciation. The latter is causative in extinctions of many species.
Enlarge picture
Fragmentation and destruction of Great Ape habitat in Central Africa, from the
GLOBIO and GRASP projects.
Habitat fragmentation is frequently caused by humans when vegetation is cleared
for human activities such as agriculture, rural development or urbanization.
Habitats which were once continuous become divided into separate fragments.
After intensive clearing, the separate fragments tend to be very small islands
isolated from each other by crop land, pasture, pavement, or even barren land.
The latter is often the result of slash and burn farming in tropical forests. In
the wheatbelt of central western New South Wales, Australia 90% of the native
vegetation has been cleared and over 99% of the Tallgrass prairie of North
America has been cleared, resulting in extreme habitat fragmentation.
The term habitat fragmentation can be considered to include six discrete
processes:
* Reduction in the total area of the habitat
* Increase in the amount of edge
* Decrease in the amount of interior habitat
* Isolation of one habitat fragment from other areas of habitat
* Breaking up of one patch of habitat into several smaller patches
* Decrease in the average size of each patch of habitat
Habitat destruction
One of the major ways that habitat fragmentation affects biodiversity is due to
reduction in the amount of available habitat for plants and animals. Habitat
fragmentation invariably involves some amount of habitat destruction. Plants and
sessile animals in these areas are usually directly destroyed. Mobile animals
(especially birds and mammals) retreat into remnant patches of habitat. This can
lead to crowding effects and increased competition.
The remaining habitat fragments are smaller than the original habitat. Species
that can move between fragments may use more than one fragment. Species which
cannot move between fragments must make do with what is available in the single
fragment in which they ended up. Since one of the major causes of habitat
destruction is agricultural development, habitat fragments are rarely
representative samples of the initial landscape.
Reduced viability
Enlarge picture
Habitat fragmented by numerous roads near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Area is the primary determinant of the number of species in a fragment[1]. The
size of the fragment will influence the number of species which are present when
the fragment was initially created, and will influence the ability of these
species to persist in the fragment. Small fragments of habitat can only support
small populations of plants and animals and small populations are more
vulnerable to extinction. Minor fluctuations in climate, resources, or other
factors that would be unremarkable and quickly corrected in large populations
can be catastrophic in small, isolated populations. Thus fragmentation of
habitat is an important cause of species extinction.[1] Population dynamics of
subdivided populations tend to vary asynchronously. In an unfragmented landscape
a declining population can be "rescued" by immigration from a nearby expanding
population. In fragmented landscapes, the distance between fragments may prevent
this from happening. Additionally, unoccupied fragments of habitat that are
separated from a source of colonists by some barrier are less likely to be
repopulated than adjoining fragments. Even small species such as the Columbia
spotted frog are reliant on the rescue effect. Studies showed 25% of juveniles
travel a distance over 200m compared to 4% of adults. Of these, 95% remain in
their new locale, demonstrating that this journey is necessary for survival.
High dispersal in other amphibians indicate that it is crucial to the
endangerement of rare species in the class[2].
Additionally, habitat fragmentation leads to edge effects. Microclimatic changes
in light, temperature, and wind can alter the ecology around the fragment, and
in the interior and exterior portions of the fragment. Fires become more likely
in the area as humidity drops and temperature and wind levels rise. Exotic and
pest species can establish themselves more easily in such disturbed
environments, and the proximity of domestic animals often upsets the natural
ecology. Also, habitat along the edge of a fragment has a different climate and
favours different species from the interior habitat. Small fragments are
therefore unfavourable for species which require interior habitat.
Conservation implications
Habitat fragmentation is often a cause of species becoming threatened or
endangered. The existence of viable habitat is critical to the survival of any
species, and in many cases the fragmentation of any remaining habitat can lead
to difficult decisions for conservation biologists. Given a limited amount of
resources available for conservation is it preferable to protect the existing
isolated patches of habitat or to buy back land to get the largest possible
continuous piece of land. This ongoing debate is often referred to as SLOSS
(Single Large or Several Small).
One popular solution to the problem of habitat fragmentation is to link the
fragments by planting corridors of native vegetation. This has the potential to
solve the problem of isolation but not the loss of interior habitat. In some
cases a threatened species may gain some measure protection from disease by
being distributed in isolated habitats.
Another solution is to enlarge small remnants in order to increase the amount of
interior habitat. This may be impractical since developed land is often more
expensive and could require significant time and effort to restore.
The best solution is generally dependent on the particular species or ecosystem
that is being considered. More mobile species, like most birds, do not need
connected habitat while some smaller animals, like rodents, may be more exposed
to predation in open land. These questions generally fall under the headings of
metapopulations or island biogeography.
Habitat destruction is a process of land use change in which one habitat-type is
removed and replaced with another habitat-type. In the process of land-use
change, plants and animals which previously used the site are displaced or
destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Urban Sprawl is one cause of habitat
destruction. Other important causes of habitat destruction include mining,
trawling, and agriculture. Habitat destruction is currently ranked as the most
important cause of species extinction worldwide.[1] It is a process of
environmental change important in evolution and conservation biology. As the
name implies, it describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in
an organism's preferred environment (habitat). Habitat fragmentation can be
caused by geological processes that slowly alter the layout of the physical
environment or by human activity such as land conversion, which can alter the
environment on a much faster time scale. The former is suspected of being one of
the major causes of speciation. The latter is causative in extinctions of many
species.
This term, or the terms "loss of habitat" and "habitat reduction", can also be
used in a wider sense including loss of habitat due to other factors, such as
noise pollution.
Are you interested in
mult-player online internet games? Such as runescape and neopets?Internet
Game Online-games, tips, cheats and kids forumsAnother good forum is
the Internet Junction For Gamers IJFG.COM Internet
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Runescape and other cool games at IJFG.COM. RuneScape is set in a medieval
fantasy world, similar to "Guild Wars" or "EverQuest", where players control
character representations of themselves. As with most massive multiplayer online
roleplaying games (MMORPG), there is no overall objective or end to the game.
Players explore, form alliances, perform optional tasks, and complete quests for
rewards and to build character's skills.
RuneScape has often been one of
the top massive online role playing games. It is a unique game. But, with a
unique game, comes unique players. Players get bored, and then try to develop
cheats....autos or bots that will help them achieve success in their beloved
games of Runescape 2.
RuneScape is a virtual world which
is divided into two part: Members Areas and Non-Members areas. People who pay to
play (p2p), receive access to the special areas. They also have access to the
free areas. The members' places are much larger, offer "better" items for the
gameplay of rs2, and much, much more. The character that you create when you
first start playing runescape, moves around the game on foot; either by running,
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monsters, completing difficult quests, and manipulating marketing. As Runescape
2 is an RPG (Role playing game), there is no set path a person must take to play
rs. They can choose what to do, and when, whether it be training their
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Junction For Gamers, Runescape Market and More IJFG.COM IJFG.com was a
runescape 2 based site. They have now, however, taken another look....
Of course the king of all game
cheating websites is
trick
the trik (otherwise known as RPG Cheats Site), where you can find cheat
forums, mmorpg topsite, arcade games and any mmo game related topics.
The master of massive multiplayer
online role-playing games (MMORPG) cheats can be found at Trik.com
Trik.com; this site is one of the best today. The forum section,
Trik.com forum, originally came from IJFG.com (Internet Junction For
Gamers) , which was one of the best websites that discussed various gamers'
issues. The full name was Internet Junction For Gamers, Runescape Market and
More. This site had Jokes, Pranks, RuneScape and other cool games. RuneScape is
set in a medieval fantasy world, similar to "Guild Wars" or "EverQuest," where
players control character representations of themselves. As with most MMORPG,
there is no overall objective or end to the game. Players explore, form
alliances, perform optional tasks, and complete quests for rewards and to build
characters' skills.
Trik.com continues IJFG.com's
success, but Trik.com has more to offer. Trik Topsite can be found at
Trik Topsite; the TopSite is a great addition if you want to find the best
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Trik arcade. Trik.com ?Trik.com/topsite ?Trik.com/forum/arcade.php
With the rising popularity of
commercial MMORPG games came the desire from ardent players of these games to
run their own servers beside the ones run by the game's creator. Since the
original server software is not usually available, the behavior of the server
has to be re-engineered. This can be done by analyzing the data stream with the
original server, or by disassembling and analyzing the client which is
available.
Ultima Online was one of the first
large MMORPGs. Due to its openness in implementation, server emulators arose
very quickly, even during the beta stage of development. The destination to
which the client connects was changeable by simply editing a text file. In beta
stage the client-server data stream was not encrypted yet. The term server
emulator became known through Ultima Online server reimplementation such as UOX,
which was the pioneer. Many forks and reimplementations followed UOX, because
its source code was released under the GNU General Public License relatively
early. RunUO is today the most widely used UO-server emulator. After RuneScape
implemented anti-cheating measures, many gamers left and started their own
private servers. The best place to discuss the private server is at
Trik- The Master of Private Server.
Another useful site is
Rune
Web ruwb.com . This site is about more serious RuneScape gold trading,
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visual basics, java, C/C++, scar and all other languages such as PHP, HTML, ASP,
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fun stuff.
A defining moment in internet
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hygo.com. It has the best financial backing, the friendliest game community,
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Hygo.com - The Online Adventure Game. is definitely one of the top sites you
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Ezud.com is now the powerhouse of
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So come on down to the new type of runescape 2 cheating:
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