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Tropical Rain Forest Biome
Sounds of the Rainforest:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/habitats/Tropical_and_subtropical_mo
ist_broadleaf_forests
Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical rainforests lie in the "tropics", between the Tropic of
Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer.
Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical rainforests are located near the equator. Fifty seven
percent of all tropical rainforests are found in Latin America.
One third of the world's tropical rainforests are in Brazil. Other
tropical rainforests are located in Southeast Asia and the
Pacific Islands (25% of the world's tropical rainforests) and
West Africa (18%).
Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical
Rainforest
Controlled by
tradewinds and
doldrums
Tropical Rain Forest
Because of the ample
solar energy, tropical
rainforests are
usually warm year
round with
temperatures from
about 72-93F (22-34C)
Tropical Rainforest
Warm and humid all year-round
because found near equator.
High surface heat and humidity cause
cumulus clouds to form early in the
afternoons almost everyday.
Humidity is between 77% and 88%.
High sun angles throughout the year
make the high annual temperatures
with very little seasonal variation
Tropical Rainforest
Daily rain from 60 – 103
inches a year.
In monsoon areas – there
is a wet season and dry
season. One part of the
year a moist ocean wind
creates a wet season.
Another part of the year,
the wind changes direction,
and a dry land wind
creates a dry season.
Tropical Rainforest
Monsoon in Mawsynram, India has an average yearly
rainfall of 450 inches (37.5 ft), but all this comes in six
months during the wet season!
Tropical Rainforest
Average temperature: 80°F.
High sun angles throughout the
year make the high annual
temperatures with very little
seasonal variation.
Tropical Rain Forest
Tropical rain forests are home to more species of plants and
animals than all other biomes combined.
Tropical Rain Forests
Abiotic Factors: climate is hot and wet all
year and the soil is thin and nutrient poor.
Abiotic Factors
Tropical Rain Forest
Both tropical and temperate rainforests are very lush and
wet. Rainfall falls regularly throughout the year. The tropical
rainforest receives 80-400 inches of rainfall per year.
Tropical Rain Forests
Limiting Factor:
human
development
Tropical rainforests
comprise only 40% of
the world's tropical
forests and only 20%
of the world's total
forests. They cover 67% of the Earth's land
surface. Half of the
world's plant and
animal species live in
the tropical rainforests
of the world. Thirty
acres of trees are cut
in the tropical
rainforests every
minute. As you read
this, tropical
rainforests are
shrinking. Each
second a portion of
rainforest the size of a
football field is
destroyed or damaged.
Tropical Rain Forest
What makes the tropical rainforest
so special and unique? Is it the
diverse life? The intense
vegetation? Or is it the lush
tapestry of interdependent
creatures?
LAYERS OF A RAINFOREST
EMERGENT LAYER
The tallest trees are the emergents, towering
as much as 200 feet above the forest floor
with trunks that measure up to 16 feet
around. Most of these trees are broadleaved, hardwood evergreens. Sunlight is
plentiful up here. Animals found are eagles,
monkeys, bats and butterflies.
CANOPY LAYER
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
treefrogs.
UNDERSTORY LAYER
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.
FOREST FLOOR
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.
Identify the
limiting factors
that influence
plant and animal
communities.
Different
animals and
plants live in
various
layers of the
rainforest.
Each layer is
an unique
community.
Tropical Rainforest
An important characteristic of rainforests is apparent in their name.
Rainforests get around 100 inches of rain per year. Rainforests are
found mainly around the equator. During the parts of the year when
less rain falls, the constant cloud cover is enough to keep the air
moist and prevent plants from drying out.
Tropical Rain Forest
The moisture of the rainforest from rainfall,
constant cloud cover, and transpiration
(water loss through leaves), creates
intense local humidity. Each canopy tree
transpires some 200 gallons (760 liters) of
water annually, translating to roughly
20,000 gallons (76,000 L) of water
transpired into the atmosphere for every
acre of canopy trees. Large rainforests
(and their humidity) contribute to the
formation of rain clouds, and generate as
much as 75 percent of their own rain. The
Amazon rainforest is responsible for
creating as much as 50 percent of its own
precipitation.
Tropical Rain Forest
Bamboo
It does very well in a moist
environment with a lot of rainfall. It
likes temperatures between 40
degrees Fahrenheit and 100
degrees Fahrenheit.
This particular bamboo can grow
anywhere between 40 feet and 80
feet in height.
Tropical Rain Forest
Figs are one of the most
important plant species of a
rainforest ecosystem. There are
close to 1,000 different species
of Ficus, which can be found in
every major rainforest, tropical
continent and islands around
the world. Hundreds of animals
like pigeons, parrots, hornbills,
toucans, monkeys, gibbons, and
fruit-eating bats, feed on the
sweet fruit of the fig tree.
Tropical Rainforest
Bromeliads are
related to the
pineapple family.
Their thick, waxy
leaves form a bowl
shape in the centre
for catching
rainwater. Some
bromeliads can
hold several
gallons of water
and are miniature
ecosystems in
themselves
providing homes
for several
creatures
including frogs
and their tadpoles,
salamanders,
snails, beetles and
mosquito larvae.
Most rainforest soil is
very poor with all the
nutrients available
largely remaining at
surface level.
Because of this
rainforest trees have
very shallow roots.
Tropical
Rain Forest
Some very tall trees
have developed ways
of obtaining much
needed additional
support by forming
buttressed roots,
which 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.
Tropical Rainforest
Spider monkeys like to
hang upside-down with all
four limbs and the tail
holding on to branches
which makes them look
like a spider
They are unusual
monkeys in that they have
only four fingers and no
thumb. Spider monkeys
are heavily hunted and are
in danger of becoming
extinct.
Tropical Rainforest
A toucan's bill is sharp and has saw-like edges.
The bill is used to squash the many kinds of fruit
and berries he eats.
Tropical Rainforest
Poison-arrow frogs are about the size of
a man's thumbnail (less than one inch).
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.
Tropical Rainforest
Some sloths stay in the
same tree for years. Their
huge hooked claws and
long arms allow them to
spend most of their time
hanging upside-down from
trees. Since they have a
slow metabolism, they
need very little food.
Sloths are
extremely slowmoving mammals
Sloths also sleep upside-down for up to 18
hours at a time. Mothers also give birth to
babies upside-down.
Tropical Rainforest
Interdependence—whereby all
species are to some extent be
dependent on one another— is a
key characteristic of the rainforest
ecosystem. Biological
interdependency takes many
forms in the forest, from species
relying on other species for
pollination and seed dispersal to
predator-prey relationships to
symbiotic relationships.
Tropical Rainforest
Each species that disappears from the
ecosystem may weaken the survival
chances of another, while the loss of a
keystone species—an organism that links
many other species together, much like the
keystone of an arch—could cause a
significant disruption in the functioning of
the entire system.
Tropical Rainforest
For example, Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) are
dependent on several animal species for their survival.
These large canopy trees found in the Amazon
rainforest rely on the agouti, a ground-dwelling rodent,
for a key part of their life cycle. The agouti is the only
animal with teeth strong enough to open their grapefruitsized seed pods. While the agouti eats some of the
Brazil nut's seeds, it also scatters the seeds across the
forest by burying caches far away from the parent tree.
These seeds then germinate and form the next
generation of trees. For pollination, Brazil nut trees are
dependent on Euglossine orchid bees. Without these
large-bodied bees, Brazil nut reproduction is not
possible. For this reason, there has been little success
growing Brazil nut trees in plantations—they only
appear to grow in primary rainforest.
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Tropical Rainforest
Abiotic Factor:
soil
Why is the soil in the tropical
rainforest so nutrient poor?
Over the years, nutrients have
been washed out of the soil by
rain.
How are nutrients returned to
the soil? On the forest floor,
decomposers immediately
break down organic matter,
making nutrients available to
the plants again.
Tropical Rainforest
The rain forest's lush vegetation gets
its nutrients at the soil's surface.
Heavy rains, high humidity and high
temperatures lead to rapid decay of
leaves and limbs that fall from the
canopy to the floor. But the fast rate
of decay keeps humus, the darkcolored, nutrient-rich upper soil from
forming. So all soil nutrients are near
the top layer, not deep into the soil.
And to be fertile, soil needs humus.
Tropical Rainforest
Tropical rain forests are very important to
the overall health of the planet Earth, and
are responsible for replenishing a
significant portion of the atmosphere’s
oxygen supply.
Tropical Rainforest
Deforestation:
Farmers that live in the tropical areas
clear the land to farm and to sell the valuable
wood. Since the soil has only a thin layer of
nutrients, farmers can only grow crops in an
area for only a few years. After a while, more
land must be cleared to grow crops or grow
cattle.
For example, the thin nutrient soil
can only support cattle for a year So old
pastures are abandoned. More rain forest is
then cut for replacement pastures.
As a result, tropical rainforest
habitats are being destroyed. In 1950 rain
forests covered 15 percent of the earth.
Today, only a shrinking six percent.
Limiting Factor:
Deforestation
Tropical Rainforest
Tropical Rainforest
In 1950, we had lost only
8% of the tropical
rainforests that existed in
1750; by 2000, we had
lost 30% of what existed
in 1750, and we are now
losing a football field of
rainforest every second.
-- from the Awakening the
Dreamer, Changing the Dream
Symposium
Tropical Rain Forests
Are all Tropical Forests, Rainforests?
Only a small percentage of the tropical forests are rainforests. To be a tropical
rainforest, forested areas must:
Lie between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Receive rainfall regularly throughout the year (80-400 inches per year).
Remain warm and frost free all year long (mean temperatures are between
70° and 85°F) with very little daily fluctuation.
Tropical Rain Forest
Consequently, many forested areas in the tropics
are not rainforests.
Forests that receive irregular rainfall (monsoons
followed by a dry season) are moist deciduous
forests. Trees in these forests may drop their
leaves in the dry season. These are called tropical
dry forests.
Tropical Rainforest Resources
http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/rforest/index.htm
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/pl
ants/bromeliads.html
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/w
hlayers.html
http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/biomes/rai
nforest/tropi_rain/rainweb.html