Plants of the Rainforest

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Plants of the Rainforest
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Information About the the Rainforest

• The Importance of Rainforests- Rainforests have
  been called the womb of life because they are
  home to 50-90 of the species on Earth.
  Worldwide, several hundred million
  forest-dwelling people live in or depend on
  rainforests. Many of the worlds important food
  crops and domestic animals have been developed
  from rainforest species. Human beings depend on
  rainforests in numerous ways, but it would be
  wrong to suggest that they should be preserved
  purely so that they can be exploited by humans.

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Levels of the Rainforest

• The Emergent Layer
• The Canopy
• The Understory
• The Forest Floor

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The Emergent Layer

• The emergent layer of the rainforest is a layer
  of trees stretching 50 to 60 meters above the
  forest floor
• These trees are spread out very thinly with only
  one or two emergent trees in every acre of
  forest.
• These trees thrust their leafy heads above the
  canopy layer and are the homes to many creatures.

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Plants of the Emergent Layer

• The Cathedral Fig Tree
• The Cecropia Tree
• The Kapok Tree

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The Canopy

• The canopy of the tree forest is made up of the
  limbs and leaves of trees which form a dense
  platform of vegetation 20 to 45 meters off the
  ground.
• This layer supports most of the rainforest
  animals and insects.
• The leaves (7 meters across ) of the trees in the
  canopy generally have pointed shapes so that
  water will run off of them, this keeps the leaf
  surface dry and discourages the growth of mildew
  and mold.

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Plants of the Canopy

• Rainforest Mistletoe
• Brown Silky Oak
• Umbrella Tree

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The Understory

• The understory rises to about 20 meters and is
  made up of the trunks of canopy trees, shrubs,
  plants and smaller trees.
• Many of the plants living in this level have
  adapted to growing in the shade and don't need
  much light.
• Some of the young saplings in this layer are very
  slow growing, just waiting for an emergent tree
  to come crashing down to give them sunlight and
  space to grow larger.

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Plants of the Understory

• Hare's Foot Fern
• Native Monstera
• Rainforest Orchids

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The Forest Floor

• Soil quality in the rainforest is also very poor
  although a lot of "litter" falls to the ground
  from the upper levels of the rainforest
• This organic material, recycled into nutrients
  stays on the surface of the soil where it is
  quickly absorbed by the shallow roots of the many
  rainforest trees.

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Plants of the Forest Floor

• Stinging Tree
• Coffee Plant
• Mosses
• Luminous Fungi

DAY N IGHT
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Familiar Rainforest Plants

• Banana and Plantain
• Double Coconut
• Sugar Cane
• Bamboo
• Rubber
• Cacao
• Vanilla
• Black Pepper
• Cola or Kola
• Sacred Fig