BENGAL TIGERMain attraction:

ECOTOURS invites you to the

INDIAN TROPICAL RAINFOREST

(Urwin, 2007)

CLASSIFICATION

WHO WE ARE Ecotours is a travel agency designated to promote the very best, noteworthy tours out there. This year, our most magnificent attractions are the tropical forests of India, due to their impressive biodiversity. Some of these areas (the Northeast, to be more specific) are home to our animal of the month: the Bengal tiger, or Panthera tigris tigris. We cordially invite you to take advantage of this opportunity to visit the Bengal tiger’s habitat and see how they interact with their surroundings with your very own eyes.

Sincerely,Regina Cornish, Cynthia De la Garza, Katya Villarreal

Travel agents

BIOME AND ECOSYSTEM

The major biome is the tropical rain forest, which is found in different parts of the world but always near the equator. The specif-ic ecosystem our apex predator lives in is the tropical evergreen forest in Northeast India.

SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

This ecosystem the Bengal tigers live in is located in the South of the Asian conti-nent, in Northeast India. The image to the left demonstrates the location of this ecosystem in green. The Indian states in these area are As-sam and Arunachal Pradesh, with coordinates of 26.00° N, 93.00° E and 27.06°N 93.37°E re-spectively.

(GlobCover, 2008)

(Compare Infobase, 2005)

(CIA Factbook, 2012)

(Siwanowicz, 2011)

ENVIRONMENT - ABIOTIC

CLIMATE

The tropical rainforest of Northeast India is part of the tropical wet climate group. Tem-perature is from 20 °C to 34 °C (68 °F to 93 °F). The year round pre-cipitation and amount of rainfall is more than 100 inches a year or about 250 cm.

(NASA, 2012)

ABIOTIC FACTORS

The ecosystem of the Bengal tiger is not only composed of other living organisms... it has abi-otic components as well. If this factors are present in the quanity needed, a balance in the environment is reached and the area is habitable. Examples of abiotic factors:

1. Water: Essential for organisms to live. If there’s not enough water they might die because there’s nothing to drink/absorb, and too much water can drown producers and small organisms.2. Sunlight: Major source of energy. Needed for producers to be able to make food and pass it down the food web. 3. Precipitation: The tropical forest has a high level of precipitation and keeps all of the plants alive as well as the animals.4. Humidity: Huge component of this spe-cific environment. Humidity levels are high because it rains a lot and this keeps the eco-system alive. 5. Physical space: The space that an organism has to live is crucial for it will determine the access that it will have to factors like water, food, and shelter. If there is no physical space they aren’t able to grow/survive.6. Minerals: Most are absorbed by plants, making them rich and luscious; if there isn’t enough minerals organisms grow weak.7. Fire frequency: In the tropical rainforest the start of a fire used to be unusual, but lately the fire frequency rate has increased, killing many species. The environment needs to be taken care of so it doesn’t dissappear.

Red: Both condition and resource; pink: condition; orange: resource

FLORA In an ecosystem, the flora consists on those organisms that are autotrophs. These are plants, and they make their own food that then becomes available to more organisms. Some of the producers you would be able to see in this rich Indian rainforest include:

FAUNA

HERBIVORES

1. Psittacula krameriCommon Names: Rose-ringed Parakeet

2. Moschiola indicaCommon Names: Indian Chevrotain, Mouse Deer

3. Papilio helenusCommon Names: Red Helen, Swallowtail Butterfly

4. Eonycteris spelaeaCommon Names: Dawn bat, Common Nectar Bat

5. Apis dorsataCommon Names: Giant Honey Bee

(Growin, 2011)

1. Bambusa tuldaCommon Names: Indian Bamboo, Bengal Bamboo

2. Cinnamomum zeylanicumCommon Names: Cinnamon tree

3. Ficus benghalensisCommon Names: Banyan Tree, Strangler Figs

4. Mangifera indicaCommon Names: Mango Tree

5. Elleteria cardamomCommon Names: Cardamom

The fauna are the animals of an ecosystem. They are heterotrophs, or consumers, and eat other organisms to survive. Depending on their diet, they are classified as the following: (1) Herbivores - at plants, (2) Omnivores - eat both plants and animals, or (3) Carnivores - eat animals. Now, we will tell you which animals you’ll be able to see when you visit the tropical rainforest of Northeast India.

(Ranjitsinh, 2010)

(Moore, 2012)

(Vicente, 2007)

FAUNA

OMNIVORES:

1. Macaca mullataCommon Names: Rhesus monkey

2. Dendrocitta vagabundaCommon Names: Rufous treepie

3. Hylobates larCommon Names: Lar Gibbon 4. Nycticebus bengalensisCommon Names: Slow loris

5. Buceros bicornisCommon Names: Great Indian Hornbill, Great Pied Hornbill

CARNIVORES:

1. Panthera tigris tigrisCommon Name: Bengal Tiger2. Nepenthes rafflesiana

Common Name: Carnivorous Plant3. Python molurus

Common Name: Indian Python4. Carlito syrichta

Common Name: Tarsier5. Poecilotheria regalis

Common Name: Indian Ornamental Tarantula(Krishnappa, 2008)

FOOD WEB In every ecosystem, there are feeding relationships, and the North-east India tropical rain-forest is no exception. The most complex represantation of this is presented in a food web, since it links several food chains together. In predation, a predator (hunter) eats a prey (victim/food source). This is the cycle of life... some organisms must eat others. It keeps the ecosystem function-ing properly; if one of the species disappears, the whole web is disturbed, and the predator left without prey will have to compete for another food source. Below we’ll show you a food web of the Bengal tiger’s (an apex predator, along with the python) ecosystem. Note that abiotic factors are also needed for for the producers to be able to make food to then pass to the consumers. When all organisms die, they may be eaten by vultures but end up being decomposed and form part of nutri-ent in the soil. The energy moves on the direction of the arrows, increasing trophic levels.

(Darling, 2007)

Bengal tiger

Deer

Young elephants

Python snake

Bat

Grass ShrubsMango tree fruit

Insects

Loris

Monkeys

Abiotic factors such as sunlight and water Mineral nutrients

Vultures

Bacteria, fungi

(COMPETITION)

There are several non-feeding relationships present in the tropical rainforest of Northeast India. If you’re a lucky tourist, maybe you’ll get to see these in action! Some of them are: mutualism, rela-tionship in which both of the organisms are benefited; commensalism, where one of the orgaisms is benefited and the other is neither harmed nor helped; and parasitism, in which one organism is harmed while the other one is helped.

NON-FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS

(Baker, 2012)

MUTUALISM

Dawn bats are the prime pollinators of the Durian trees; this tree gives pollen to the bats, while the bats help the tree reproduce and survive; it is a beneficial

relationship for both species.

COMMENSALISM

The silvery Gibbons, also known as lesser apes, never touch the ground, for they live their whole lives in the high canopies of the Diperocarp and fig trees; these trees sup-ply food and shelter for these animals through the whole year. These trees are neither

harmed nor helped, creating a commensalism relationship.

There are epiphyte orchids have aerial roots, which means that they grow above the grounds surface and on top of other plants for support. These Epiphyte orchids then have better access to sunlight and water avoiding competition. The plants that they are on are neither harmed nor hurt for these epiphyte orchids don’t harm nor help

these plants.

PA R AS I T I S M

Leeches live in the rainforest floor, they attach them-selves to all the mammals they can find (usually tigers or sloths). They will then feed on the animal’s blood getting the food and nutrients they need to survive, their host will then be harmed for they will lose blood. This is a

form of parasitism.

ROLE OF MATTER Matter plays an essential role in the rainforst in Northeast India, just as it does in the entire planet Earth. Matter cannot be created or destroyed; that’s why it is always being rearranged into differ-ent forms in our ecosystem, according to the Law of Conservation of Matter.

The biogeochemical cycles such as the Carbon cycle, the Phosphorus cycle,and the Nitrogen cycle are always present and active. Carbon cycle: plays an important role where naturally plants take in carbon dioxide from the at-mosphere and use it for photosynthetic activity. Later, the carbon is passed to consumers (who breathe out CO2 in cellular respiration) and eventually to decomposers, and the cycle starts over. Carbon is the backbone of all organic components and the ecosystem wouldn’t exist without it. Phosphorus cycle: is only present in the lithosphere; however, it plays a vital role in our ecosys-tem. Plants take in phosphorus as a nutrient from the soil and are able to grow because of it. In the rainforest, there are thousands of species of plants and they require these minerals to function and pass phosphorus on to other organisms. Nitrogen Cycle: this element comes mainly from the atmosphere, but most plants and animals can not use it in its diatomic molecule state; therefore,bacteria living in some plant’s roots undergo a process of nitrogen fixation to change nitrogen into a molecule usable by plants and animals in the tropi-cal rainforest. Since this ecosystem is very biodiverse, it needs all essential elements to be in its optimum, and nitrogen is no exception.

Furthermore, matter is constantly moving in this ecosystem when nutrients and compounds are either extracted from the soil or taken in from the atmosphere; a herbivore or omnivore will eventually eat the plant that absorbed them and later that animal will be eaten by another. This process will go on up to 4 trophic levels until it reaches the apex predator. After the Bengal Tiger dies decomposers eat the animal and break it into nutrients and minerals back into the soil, where matter can be used up again in another form. It is also important to note that primary productivity is very high in a rainforest, meaning that the photosynthetic activity rate is higher than in any other ecosystem which is what makes the ecosys-tem full of different varieties of plants and animals. This also increases the biomass in the ecosystem; the more primary productivity the more plants and animals, therefore, more biomass.

(Nodilo, 2012)

the Bengal Tiger in our rainforest will have very little amount of energy available. Therefore, he needs to eat in greater quantities to supply himself with enough energy. This is known as 10% rule that applies to the biomass pyramid (like the one displayed here) and explains why food chains are no more than 4 trophic levels. Once the energy reaches the 4th trophic level, the energy available is very little. As we said that energy is lost when it changes state. There are 4 common types of energy and they constantly alter between one another. It can be kinetic energy, which is for movement or sunlight; it can be potential energy which is stored energy such as in glucose; it can be chemical energy which is the energy between the bonds of ATP; or it can be thermal energy which is body heat. Every living thing undergoes through these changes of energy; this is why they use it up and leave only 10% of the energy is given to the next trophic level. There are several ways in which an organism uses the rest 90% of the energy. One is cellular respiration; it takes energy for an animal to breath. Another way of energy leaving the body is by homeostasis, because organisms need it to maintain their average temperature. Overall, energy is always being transferred and used in the tropical rainforest. It flows and changes forms, but is always present, even if it varies in form. Without energy, no processes would be possible and no organisms would be able to survive.

ROLE OF ENERGY

In an ecosystem, energy flows; it does not cycle. This refers also to the Law of Conservation, which states that energy is another component that is not created or destroyed. However, there’s also a 2nd law of Thermodynamics, which states that some energy is always lost when it’s transsfered. This means that when energy is passed on from one to organism to another some energy is not useful any-more. When an herbivore or an omni-vore eats a plant they obtain only 10% of the energy the plant has; later, when that animal is eaten by the second-ary consumer they only obtain 10% of the energy, this process occurs until it reaches the apex predator, meaning that

(Erickson, 2006)

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE

DEFORESTATION

(AFP, 2007)

Deforestation has caused the tropical rainforest to have more eroded soils; this desrupts the natural process of the biogeochemical cycles. It leaves the soil worn away and with less minerals and nutrients available for plant growth. Besides, this environmental issue contributes to the desertification and pollution of nearby waterways, so it also reduces that required abiotic factor for all the organisms living nearby. The air is also being polluted by tropical deforestation, since this releases tonnes of carbon into the atmospehere that would be otherwise absorbed by trees and used for photosynthesis. The biggest problem that deforestation has caused has been the decrease of biodiversity because of the destruction of the habitats of many species. Deforestation is one of the major reasons why many animals in the southeastern Asian rainforest are becoming extinct; this means that some organisms’ populations are decreasing in numbers because of the lack of reproduction due to the limited resources left after deforestation occurs. When their ecosystem is partially destroyed, everything in it reduces, and organisms can no longer live in optimum and are left trying to stay within their range of tolerance. However, not all of them are strong enough to survive. Another alarming fact is that many species endemic to this ecosystem are dying, therefore caus-ing an unbalance in the food web, leaving some organisms without food sources and obliging them to resort to competition with other organisms in their same or different trophic level, depending on their diet. Additionally, if there’s less food, there’s less energy available. The biggest contributor to deforestation are the timber, palm oil and agricultural industries who both legally and illegally are cutting down thousands of trees. Deforestation in Southeast Asia is com-posed by substantial agriculture 44%, intensive agriculture 44%, logging 6%, and ranching/ pasture 6% (Gibbs, 2008). People need to stop the cutting down of trees and start start planting them instead.

A major environmental issue that is currently happening because of the human impact and involvement in the southeastern Asian rainforests, including our very own Bengal tiger’s Northeast India home, is deforesta-tion. We want to discuss this topic to raise awareness of how dangerous and erroneous deforestation is. Because of it, organisms are losing their habitats and the biotic community is decreas-ing because those organisms are not able to live in the area any longer. Deforestation is the cutting down and the clearing away of trees in a forested area. It plays the role of a physical barrier, since it direclty de-creases the ecosystem’s space.

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