Tropical RainforestBy: Yena Sidibe

Tori Franklin

Jessica Juarze

McClain

1st period

Where in relation to the equator are Tropical Rainforest found?

Tropical rainforests are located in a band around the equator. Mostly in the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Covers only about 7% of the Earth's surface.

Average precipitation and temperature for each month

Where in the world are Tropical Rainforest located?

Largest rainforests: Amazon River Basin (South America), the Congo River Basin (western Africa), and throughout much of southeast Asia, and Indonesia.

Smaller rainforests: located in Central America, Madagascar, Australia and nearby islands, India, and other locations in the tropics.

Rainforest Layers Reaching for bright sunlight

Very dark/Low light

The Layers of the Tropical Rainforest

Emergent Layer- Consists of giant trees that can grow 50 meters or taller. They take in the majority of the sunlight but also must endure high temperatures, low humidity, & strong winds.

Canopy Layer- This is the primary layer of the forest and forms a roof over the two remaining layers. Many animals live in this area since food is abundant.

Understory Layer- Little sunshine reaches this area so it contains saplings between the trunks of larger trees and plants have to grow larger leaves to reach the sunlight. There is a large concentration of insects here .

Forest Floor-It's very dark down here. As a result this area is covered with ferns and a deep litter of fallen leaves & branches. Since hardly any sun reaches the forest floor things begin to decay quickly.

Soil in the Tropical Rainforest Plant remains fall to the ground, are consumed and

broken down by the huge range of soil organisms in and on the soil, converted by these back into nutrients which can then be used by the dense vegetation above. It is a constant cycle. The thin layer of topsoil is the engine house for the food supply for the tropical forest and, together with climate, is responsible for the maintenance of the huge biomass.

Soil is LOW in nutrients – Dense populations of forest/plants absorb

nutrients as soon as they are available.

Low or High Diversity? Biodiversity is the degree of variation of

life. The Rainforest has a high degree of bio-

diversity because of the vast variety of plants and animals that live there.

MOST DIVERSE of ALL Biomes!

Coral Reefs - #2 in diversity

Plants: Orchids There are over 20,000

known species Orchids are especially

common in moist tropical regions

Orchid flowers vary considerably in shape color and size, although they share a common pattern of three petals and three petal-like sepals.

Plants:Venus Fly Trap &Pitcher Plants

Venus fly trap Sensitive quill like

appendages are able to detect when an insect lands on it

It then closes down on the bug trapping it and digesting it

Pitcher plants also eat small mammals and reptiles that attempt to steal the insects from the pitcher

Plants: Strangler Fig

The seed of the strangler fig starts life as an epiphyte high in the trees, borne by birds and monkeys which eat the fig fruit.

By using an adult tree as its host, the strangler fig avoids competition for light and nutrients at ground level.

Plants: Buttressed Roots

Some very tall trees have developed ways of obtaining much needed additional support by forming buttressed roots.

Grow out from the base of the trunk sometimes as high as 15 ft above the ground.

These extended roots also increase the area over which nutrients can be absorbed from the soil.

Plants: MangroveRainforest Tree

Mangrove rainforest trees require a different kind of support system.

Mangroves grow in wet, muddy soil at the water's edge which can be subject to tides and flooding.

As a means of support they develop several aerial pitchfork-like extensions from the trunk which grow downwards and anchor themselves in the soil trapping sediment which helps to stabilize the tree.

Animals: Spider Monkey Spider monkeys are large in

size. Adult monkeys grow to be

almost two feet tall excluding the tail.

They have a powerful tail that they use as an extra limb

Their fur color can be black, brown, golden, red, or tan.

Spider monkeys spend most of their time high up in the canopy where they can find fruits and seeds to eat.

They also eat plants. T They are unusual monkeys in

that they have only four fingers and no thumb.

Animals: Toucan There are about 40 different

kinds of toucans. They vary in size from about 7

inches to a little over two feet. They have short and thick necks. Toucans are distinguished by

large, colorful, yet lightweight bills. The color of the bill may be black, blue, brown, green, red, white, yellow or a combination of colors.

The toucan is very important to the rainforest because they help to disperse seeds from the fruits and berries they eat.

They also eat the occasional insect and small lizard

Animals: Poison Arrow Frogs Poison-arrow frogs are social

frogs found in Central and South America.

They are known by their bright colors which warn other animals that they are poisonous.

Its poison is one of the most powerful known and can cause paralysis or death. It is so potent that one millionth of an ounce can kill a dog and an amount smaller than a grain of salt can kill a human.

One frog carries enough poison to kill about 100 people.

Native hunters use it on the tips of their arrows which is how the frog got its name.

They eat mainly insects and are harmless if left alone.

Animals:Sloth

There are two species of sloths:two-toed and three-toed.

Most sloths are about the size of a small dog and they have short, flat flat heads.

Hair is grayish brown but, at times they look grey-green in color because they move so slowly that tiny camouflaging algae grow all over their coats

Nocturnal and sleep curled up with their head placed between the arms and the feet drawn close together.

This disguises them as part of a tree so that its enemies like the jaguar do not see them.

Sloths rarely climb down from the trees and can live for up to 30 years.

They feed on fruit, leaves, buds, and young twigs. Sloths also sleep upside-down for up to 18 hours at a time. Mothers also give birth to babies upside-down

Animals: Boa Constrictor Boa constrictors are pinkish or tan in color,

with dark crossbands. Typically, they range in lengths from 20

inches (50 cm) as neonates to 13 feet (3.9 m) as adults.

Larger members of the Boidae family have heat-sensitive pits on its head, but this snake has more simple heat-sensitive scales. These snakes are solitary and nocturnal.

Boa constrictors are found from northern Mexico to Argentina.

Both terrestrial and arboreal. This snake feeds on large lizards, small or

moderate-sized birds, opossums, bats, mongooses, rats, and squirrels. It is a nocturnal hunter and uses its heat-sensitive scales to locate its prey. The boa constrictor’s preferred prey is bats, which they catch by hanging from the branches of trees or the mouths of caves, grabbing them out of the air as they fly by, and killing them by constriction.

These snakes are seasonal breeders. The female emits a scent from the cloaca to attract males. The male and female join together at the cloaca in order for the male to fertilize the eggs. Fertilization is internal. Females give birth to live young.

9.Which river basin contains the most variety/diversity? Amazon River Basin

What are 2 natural disturbances to the rainforest Fire-Although fire is a frequent natural disturbance in

boreal forests and they usually regenerate easily after fire, frequent high-intensity fires can offset this balance.Severe fires have had a significant negative impact on plant diversity.

Wind-Wind is the major agent of natural disturbance that renews and modifies temperate rain forests. A "blowdown" is created when intense winds knock down shallow-rooted trees. Blowdowns increase forest ecosystem diversity by creating holes in the dense canopy. Sun-loving plants can grow where sunlight reaches the forest floor through these holes. Blowdowns also provide spaces for animals to browse

WIND AND FIRE

List and briefly describe 3 ecological importance of rainforest -Filtering and reprocessing the world’s

harmful carbon dioxide output -tropical forests and woodlands (e.g.

savannas) exchange vast amounts of water and energy with the atmosphere and are thought to be important in controlling local and regional climates.

-Protect against flood, drought, and erosion;

List and briefly describe economic importance of rainforest for humans

- Forests provide us with a wide range of industrial wood products that we use in daily life

- Forests are also important sources of new pharmaceuticals used to fight cancer, AIDS, and other serious human diseases

-It’s a food source!!

Provide 3 negative impacts humans have on rainforests and provide a solution for each to prevent/fix the negative impacts

Deforestation  In rainforests, the most valuable asset to people is the amount of wood. 

Solution-Buy products that use "CERTIFIED" wood. This means that the wood was legally cut down. Solution- Measuring trees  -Trees should only be cut down when they reach a certain size. This will ensure younger trees survive longer and will encourage careful management of the rainforest. Pollution- The ground, air, and water become polluted from

mining.Solution-forbid mining in tropical rainforest. Soil Erosion- When plants are removed, soil erosion occurs.

Rain washes away nutrients in the soilSolution-enforce strict laws against plant removal.