Tropical Rainforests

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Tropical Rainforests

• By Harley Nefe, Katie Altabet, and Sharon Slakter
  
• 1st Period

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What Is a Tropical Rainforest?

• An ecosystem that occurs roughly within the
  latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the
  equator.
• Can be found in Asia, Australia, Africa, South
  America, Central America, Mexico, and many of the
  Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean Islands.

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Characteristics

• Receives around 50-260 inches of rainfall
  yearly.
• Temperature is usually around 68ºF- 93ºF.
• Humidity will be between 77-88.

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Ecological Services

• Nutrient cycling and soil formation, rain
  making, regulating air quality, providing human
  necessities, and creating a sustaining culture.

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Economic Services

• Wood sources

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Abiotic Factors

• Amount of water
• Sunlight
• Climate

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The Layers of the Tropical Rainforest

• Top-most layer emergent layer, where the
  tallest of the trees reach
• Upper Canopy 60-130 ft tall trees that receive
  a lot of sunlight, blocking it to areas down
  below. Most animals live in this layer
• Understory layer only a little sun reaches
  here, a little wind, and a lot of humidity. The
  plants here are broad-leafed and do not get tall
• Forest floor the last layer, no sunlight,
  vegetation growth is nearly impossible

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Indicator Species- Animals

• Great Apes Monkeys- including gorillas,
  orangutans and spider monkeys
• Sloth
• Toucans
• Tropical frogs

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Indicator Species- Plants

• Chocolate tree
• Coconut palm tree
• Strangler figs
• Durian

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Keystone Species

• Agouti (small rodent)
• Brazil nut trees depend on them to open their
  seed pods
• Orangutan
• Dispersing seeds and keeping diversity

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Invasive Species

• Tropical Ash tree- it is taller than the native
  trees, therefore allowing them to receive less
  sun, causing them to die out, which is changing
  tropical rainforests tremendously. The Tropical
  Ash tree was introduced in the 1930s as a timber
  species to be used for wood products.

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Unique Creatures

• Axoltl
• Jesus Lizard
• Capybara
• Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko
• Proboscis Monkey
• Rhinoceros Hornbill
• Aye- Aye
• Bornean Flat-Headed Frog
• Okapi
• Glass Frog

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Endemic Species

• Jaguars
• Ocelots
• Cougars
• Wetas
• Macaws
• Toucans
• Gorillas
• Kiwis
• Orangutans

• Tree Kangaroos
• Platypus
• Sugar Gliders
• Dingoes
• Tasmanian Devils
• Kookaburras
• Tuataras
• Poison Dart Frogs
• Chimpanzees

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Common Animals

• Anaconda
• Jaguar
• Toucan
• Poison Dart Frog
• Boa Constrictor
• Macaw
• Tree Snail
• Morpho Butterfly
• Rhinoceros Beetle

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Common Plants

• Bromeliads
• Epiphytes
• Saprophytes
• Buttress Roots
• Lianas

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Plant Adaptations

• Bark- helps limit moisture evaporation from the
  trees trunk, in the rainforests, trees will have
  thin barks
• Drip tips- many trees have these leaves to allow
  for rain to fall off quickly
• Large leaves- to absorb more sunlight

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Animal Adaptations

• Camouflage
• Higher up living- the spider monkey adapted to
  living in a higher layer than most other animals
  so there is less competition for food
• Diets- Toucans eat a diet heavy on fruit to
  lower the amount of competition and they have
  sharp strong beaks to grab the fruit with
• Bright colors- Poison Dart Frogs have bright
  colors to attract animals but watch out, theyre
  poisonous!

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Food Web
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Symbiotic Relationships

• Mutualism- leaf cutter ants and fungi
• Parasitism- Strangler fig and trees- the
  strangler fig will eventually kill the tree its
  been living on by stealing sunlight and root
  space by enveloping it
• Commensalism- Bromeliads will grow on other high
  branches of trees to get enough sunlight
• Competition- Between all the trees, only the
  tallest ones will get the right amount of
  sunlight needed

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Threats to the Biome

• Human population growth
• Industrialized agriculture
• Logging
• Climate Change shifting rain patterns