Download Rainforest In Costa Rica

Rainforest In Costa Rica
• Covering less than 2 percent of the Earths total surface area,
the world's rainforests are home to 50 percent of the Earths
plants and animals.
• Rainforests can be found all over the world, from as far north
as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa.
• Rainforests are found on every continent across the Earth
except Antarctica.
• There are two major types of rainforest: temperate
rainforests (with season changes) and tropical rainforests
(hot and rainy).
• Rainforests are very important in keeping the Earth's limited
supply of drinking and fresh water.
• Tropical rainforests also supply medicine as well as keeping
the air clean.
Costa Rica
• The Central American country of Costa
Rica, despite its small size, has high levels
of biological diversity with some:
– 12,000 species of plants
– 1,239 species of butterflies
– 838 species of birds
– 440 species of reptiles and amphibians
– 232 species of mammals
Poison-dart frog
• Poison-dart frogs derive their name from the fact
the toxins they secrete for defense have been
used in hunting by indigenous peoples in South
America.
• This species has a fascinating life history in
which it carries its eggs from the forest floor high
into the canopy where they are placed in the
water of a tank bromeliad.
• After the eggs hatch, the frog provides food for
the tadpoles by laying unfertilized eggs in the
water.
Vested Anteater
•
Like all anteaters, this Tamandua
(Tamandua Mexicana) or vested
anteater has no teeth.
• It uses the long sticky tongue in its
tube-like snout to entrap insects
in the narrow fissures of termite
or ant nests.
• Its forepaws have large hooked
claws to rip open these nests or for
defense, while the prehensile tail
allows it to climb easily.
• These solitary animals can be seen
foraging in the canopy or on the
ground, often in thick tangled
vegetation.
Squirrel monkey
• Central-American Squirrel Monkeys is
sometimes considered a subspecies of the
common squirrel monkey
• These highly active monkeys travel in groups
and feed on fruits and insects.
• They are endangered due to habitat
destruction; only a few isolated populations
remain.
Mating Heliconids Butterflies
• These heliconid butterflies are mating.
• Their coloration, although standing out in this
photo, makes them difficult to see against the
sun-dappled greenery in which they feed.
River Turtles
• These river turtles were found in Costa
Rica's Atlantic costal rainforest.
• They are always highly vigilant and drop
into the water at the first sign of danger.
• For that reason they are difficult to
approach closely unless concealed (these
turtles repeatedly took to the water
whenever someone got within sixty feet!).
Monkeys
• There are four species of
monkeys in Costa Rica, all of
which are descendants of Asian
and African monkeys that
evolved into the New World
monkeys about 40 million years
ago.
• Sloths live in the
canopy story of the
rainforest.
• They are arboreal
folivores, which
means that they eat
the young leaves at
the tops of mature
trees.
• Toucans are common residents in the various
regions in which they occur, except where
there is extensive deforestation. None of the
family are currently threatened in Costa Rica.
Plant Life
• Costa Rica is home to over 9000 identified
species of vascular plants, including over
900 different species of trees, and more
are being described each year!
• The tallest trees are the
emergent, towering as
much as 200 feet above
the forest floor with trunks
that measure up to 16 feet
around. Most of these
trees are broad-leaved,
hardwood evergreens.
Sunlight is plentiful up
here. Animals found are
eagles, monkeys, bats and
butterflies.
Emergent
• This is the primary layer of the forest and forms a roof
over the two remaining layers. Most canopy trees
have smooth, oval leaves that come to a point. It's a
maze of leaves and branches. Many animals live in
this area since food is abundant. Those animals
include: snakes, toucans and tree frogs.
• Canopy trees can grow up to 250 feet tall. Under these
trees there are thousands of species of smaller trees,
like the prehistoric fern-tree, as well as shrubs
(understory).
• Canopy trees adapt by reaching up to sky for light. The
vines adapt by cling to the trees and working their way
up.
Canopy
• Little sunshine reaches this
area so the plants have to
grow larger leaves to reach the
sunlight. The plants in this
area seldom grow to 12
feet. Many animals live here
including jaguars, red-eyed
tree frogs and leopards. There
is a large concentration of
insects here.
Understory
Forest Floor
• The forest floor receives only about 1-2% of the light that falls onto
the trees of the canopy.
• There are few plants down at that level. Instead, the floor is littered
with dead leaves, twigs, and fallen fruit, which help to feed insects
and lizards.
• They eat whatever has fallen from above.
• There is no underbrush for them to deal with, so travel in this dim
world is easy.
• It's very dark down here. Almost no plants grow in this area, as a
result. Since hardly any sun reaches the forest floor things begin to
decay quickly. A leaf that might take one year to decompose in a
regular climate will disappear in 6 weeks. Giant anteaters live in
this layer.
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