tropical climate tropical rainforest
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Tropical Rain
Forest
Characteristics
▪ Climate
▪ 250 cm per year of precipitation
▪ Humid
▪ rarely gets higher than 93 °F (34 °C) or drops below 68 °F (20 °C)
▪ Location: The area between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N latitude) and the Tropic of Capricorn
(23.5° S latitude)
▪ Rainfall: rainforests receive at least 80 inches (200 cm) of rain per year.
▪ Canopy: rainforests have a canopy, which is the layer of branches and leaves formed by closely
spaced rainforest trees. Most of the plants and animals in the rainforest live in the canopy. The
canopy may be 100 feet (30 m) above the ground.
▪ Biodiversity: rainforests have a high level of biological diversity or “biodiversity”. Biodiversity is
the name for all living things—like plants, animals, and fungi—found in an ecosystem. Scientists
believe that about half of the plants and animals found on Earth’s land surface live in rainforests.
▪ Symbiotic relationships between species: species in the rainforest often work together. In a
symbiotic relationship, two different species benefit by helping each other—you can think of it as
a partnership. For example, some plants produce small housing structures and sugar for ants. In
return the ants protect the plants from other insects that want to feed on the plant’s leaves.
Tropic of Capricorn
Tropic of Cancer
Equator
Tropical Rain Forests
Worldwide
Typical Flora and Fauna
▪ Contains up to 30 million species
▪ Around 15,000 tree species – more than
10% are threatened
▪ Over 900 threatened bird species
▪ 4 layers: emergent layer, canopy layer,
understory layer, and forest floor
▪ Many species are located ONLY here!!!
Plants
▪ Cecropia Tree: Sprays formic acid and
are covered by armies of ants.
▪ Matapalo Strangling Fig: Grow up and
tangle around the trunk of the host tree.
▪ Heliconia Flower: It’s shape fits the
hummingbirds bill. Hummingbirds
pollinate these flowers.
▪ Rafflesia: Produces largest flower in the
world. One of the worst smelling
flowers.
▪ Stag’s-Horn Fern: Epiphyte. Forms two
types of fronds
▪ Amazon Basin’s Royal Water Lily:
Support a child’s weight. Has spikes on
the bottom to keep away predators.
Animals
▪ Armadillo: It’s scaly surface protects it. Rolls up for
protection.
▪ Gorillas: Endangered species. Largest of the apes.
▪ Mandrill: Males have elaborate face patterns. They have long
mobile snouts and sharp claws for digging.
▪ Macaw: Brightly colored parrots. Crack hard nuts with their
big, strong bills.
▪ Peacocks: Males have a remarkable tail that it uses during
mating displays.
▪ Quetzal: They have emerald green heads, black and green
tail feathers, and the under parts are red, black, and white.
▪ African Snake Millipede: Reaches eleven inches. Bright red
with black head. Squirts out a stinking and irritant liquid
called benzoquinone.
▪ Ogre-Faced Spider: Makes webs above a regularly used ant
trail and hangs from the web to capture them.
▪ Theraphosa Leblondi: One of the largest spiders. Have a
potent venom and only attack if severely provoked.
▪ Darwin’s Frog: The males takes protection to an extreme
level. It holds the fertilized eggs in the mouth for protection.
Adaptations
▪ Animals – must be able to live in a warm climate with lots of annual rainfall
▪ Many animals (and reptiles, insects, etc.) disguise themselves in the forest by blending in with their surroundings
▪ Plants – must be able to live in warm climate with lots of annual rainfall, lack of sunlight (forest floor), or a lot of sunlight (emergent and canopy layers)
Dominant Species: Plants
▪ Bengal Bamboo
▪ Often grows as an undergrowth
scattered or in patches in the
forest.
▪ It likes temperatures between 40
degrees Fahrenheit and 100
degrees Fahrenheit.
▪ Coconut Tree
▪ Grow to be 50-80 feet.
▪ They all have a tall graceful trunks
topped by a crown light feathery
leaves that are 15-17 feet long.
Dominant Species:
Animals
▪ Bengal Tiger
▪ The weight of the tiger can be up to 575
pounds.
▪ The Bengal tiger can get up to ten feet long
and three feet tall.
▪ Chimpanzee
▪ Chimpanzees are about 3 to 5 feet tall and
weigh from 99 to 176 pounds.
▪ The favorite food of chimpanzees are fruits
and young leaves, but they like many
different types of food.
▪ King Cobra
▪ Adults weigh 12-20 pounds.
▪ Their fangs can grow a 1/2 inch.
▪ The King Cobra can grow up to 12-18 feet.
Food Web
Coconut TreesOrchids Seeds Banana Trees Bamboo
Macaws Fruit Bats Monkeys Insects
Chimpanzees Parrots
Vampire Bats Iguanas Red-Eyed Tree Frog
Python Jaguar
Great civilisations
▪ Today most forest dwellers live in
small settlements or practice nomadic
hunting and gathering. In the past,
tropical rainforests and surrounding
areas supported great civilizations like
the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs that
developed complex societies and
made important contributions to
science.
▪ These great civilizations faced some
of the same environmental problems
(excessive forest loss, soil erosion,
overpopulation, lack of water supplies)
that we face today. For the Maya, the
damage they caused to the
environment apparently was great
enough to cause their downfall.
Tilak
Machu picchu
Rainforest peoples
▪ Tropical rainforests are home to tribal peoples who rely on their surroundings for
food, shelter, and medicines. Today very few forest people live in traditional ways;
most have been displaced by outside settlers or have been forced to give up their
lifestyles by governments.
▪ Of the remaining forest people, the Amazon supports the largest native, or
indigenous populations, although these people, too, have been impacted by the
modern world. While they still depend on the forest for traditional hunting and
gathering, most Amerindians, as American indigenous people are called, grow
crops (like bananas, manioc, and rice), use western goods (like metal pots, pans,
and utensils), and make regular trips to towns and cities to bring foods and wares to
market. Still, these forest people can teach us a lot about the rainforest. Their
knowledge of medicinal plants used for treating illness is unmatched, and they have
a great understanding of the ecology of the Amazon rainforest.
▪ In Africa there are native forest dwellers sometimes known as pygmies. The tallest
of these people, also called the Mbuti, rarely exceed 5 feet in height. Their small
size enables them to move about the forest more efficiently than taller people.
Housing in rainforests
What they want to say about this?
We don't need walls on our houses for
anything. It doesn't get cold here, and we
don't need much privacy at all. Privacy to
us is a lot different than what you may be
used to.
If you came here and built a simple
house, put walls around it, and wrote
your name on the door, that doesn't
mean that it is “off limits” or “private”. But,
we do practice privacy when we bathe in
the river. Even though we don't wear a
lot of clothing usually, the women bathe
at one time or place and the men at
another.
Are you used to having your own room at
home? Well, you sure wouldn't get your
own room around here!
To build our house, we put up some
poles to support a thatched roof. Since it
rains here so much, we do a good job in
making the roof to have as few leaks as
possible.
Advantages of a rainforest
• help stabilize the world’s climate
• provide a home to many plants and animals
• maintain the water cycle
• protect against flood, drought, and erosion
• are a source for medicines and foods
• support tribal people
• and are an interesting place to visit
Random Facts
▪ Rainforest occupy 6% of the Earth’s surface
▪ 350 million of the world’s poorest people depend on forests for their subsistence & survival
▪ Rainforests produce 20 – 30% of the world’s oxygen
▪ U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified over 1400 tropical forest plants with the potential to fight cancer
▪ Rainforests are the source of an estimated 2500 edible fruits
▪ Every year at least 50 million acres are destroyed – an area the
size of England, Wales, and Scotland combined
▪ Over 900 threatened bird species
▪ U.S. imports over $20 million worth of rainforest plants for
medicinal purposes annually