Rainforest

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What's it like in a Tropical Rainforest?
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All AboutRainforests
What is a Rainforest?Rainforests are very
dense, warm, wet forests. They are havens for
millions of plants and animals. Rainforests are
extremely important in the ecology of the Earth.
The plants of the rainforest generate much of the
Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very
important to people in other ways many are used
in new drugs that fight disease and illness.
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Where areTropical Rainforests?
Where are tropical rainforests? Tropical
rainforests are located in a band around the
equator (Zero degrees latitude), mostly in the
area between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 N
latitude) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 S
latitude). This 3,000 mile (4800 km) wide band is
called the "tropics."           The equator
is an imaginary circle around the earth, halfway
between the north and south poles. Temperatures
at the equator are high. These high temperatures
cause accelerated evaporation of water, which
results in frequent rain in forested areas in the
tropics. There are rainforests in South and
Central America, Africa, Oceania (the islands
around Australia), and Asia. Tropical rainforests
cover only about 7 of the Earth's surface.
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What is the CLIMATE of a tropical rainforest?
Hot all year, very hot here!
Lots of rain all year round
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Why is it so hot and wet?l

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What's this?
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And inside.....
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Structure of the rainforest The dominant plants
in a rainforest are giant trees. The hot wet
climate enables them to grow all year round, and
they remain evergreen, continuously shedding
their leaves and growing new ones. The average
height of rainforest trees is about 45 metres,
although the emergence (trees which tower above
the others) may go as high as 90 metres. Smaller
trees growing the under story (layer between the
canopy and the forest floor). Several layers
can be identified within the forest
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A Emergent tree canopy
B Large trees of Middle layer
C Lower tree layer
D Shrub/small tree layer
E Ground vegetation
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• Canopy layer - formed by the crowns of the tall
  trees and
• contains a mass of branches, Leaves, flowers and
  fruit.
• Conditions in the canopy vary, and include
• Hot sunshine
• Heavy rainfall
• Tropical storms

• Middle layer - the Vegetation here is more
  sparse. The trees tend to have pointed crowns
  and, when a giant tree falls, they grow quickly
  to fill a gap in the canopy
• Conditions within the forest on more or less
  constant
• There is little variation in temperature
• The air is moist and still
• Rain on the canopy drips to the forest floor
  several minutes later
• A breeze is rare, even during storms

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Shrub layer - scattered shrubs, saplings (young
trees) and ferns. Herb layer - a few
non-woody, soft stemmed plants with thin
leaves. Leaf litter - thin layer covers
the forest floor. Soil layer - most roots
growing the top 10 centimetres
whether nutrients are found.
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• Layers of the Rainforest
• Different animals and plants live in different
  parts of the rainforest. Scientists divide the
  rainforest into strata (layers) based on the
  living environment. Starting at the top, the
  strata are                                       
                            
• EMERGENTS Giant trees that are much higher than
  the average canopy height. It houses many birds
  and insects.
• CANOPY The upper parts of the trees. This leafy
  environment is full of life in a tropical
  rainforest and includes insects, birds,
  reptiles, mammals, and more.
• UNDERSTORY A dark, cool environment under the
  leaves but over the ground.
• FOREST FLOOR Teeming with animal life,
  especially insects. The largest animals in the
  rainforest generally live here.

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       The following plant adaptations enable
tropical plants to live in the hot, humid, and
wet conditions of the tropical rainforest.
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Strong scent of fruits attracts animals, which
feed on the fruit and assist in dispersal of
the seeds
Strong scent and bright colours of flowers
attract insects which assist in pollination
Thick, waxy surface of leaves protects against
hot sun, heavy rain, and strong winds
Aerial roots of epiphytes absorb moisture from
the air
Tall straight trunks no side branches
Thin, smooth bark
Shallow spreading root system
Buttress roots
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buttress roots
Wide roots stop these enormously tall trees from
falling over. They also wind above the ground
looking for food and nutrients rather than
digging beneath the ground where nutrients are
scarce.
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drip tips
These specially designed leaves allow all the
rainwater to drip off the leaf quickly so it
doesnt get too heavy and break!
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lianas
Have their roots in the ground and then climb up
the trees to reach the sunlight.
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• Rainforest plants
• And the enormous the number of different species
  of plants grow in
• rainforests, with many species occurring only in
  one particular region.
• Unlike other forests, rain forests have an
  abundance of
• Epiphytes plants which live above the ground
  growing on
• tree trunks and branches, Example
  orchids,
• ferns, mosses
• Climbing plants including large woody climbers
  called lianas
• which are rooted in the soil and usually reach
  the
• canopy. The climbers twist around the tree
  trunks,
• and loop from one tree to another in the
  canopy,
• binding the trees together.

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Parasitic plant
Pitcher plant - a carnivorous plant.
slippery rim
tendril
Insects falling into the pitcher are digested,
and nutrients which are released are absorbed by
the plant.
Orchid - sun-loving roots attached themselves to
branches and absorb nutrients
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• Animals that Live in Rainforests
• Ridiculously huge numbers of animals live in
  rainforests, including microscopic animals,
  invertebrates (like insects and worms), fish,
  reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. The
  different rainforests of the world support
  different populations of animals. A few animals
  from each rainforest are listed below
• South America -
• insects (morpho butterfly, Julia butterfly,
  Monarch butterfly, and millions of other insects)
  
• mammals (jaguar, ocelot, didelphid opossums,
  sloth, howler monkey, spider monkey, capybara,
  many bats, marmosets, procyonids, peccaries)
• birds (quetzal, macaw, tinamous, curassows,
  hoatzins, hummingbirds, eagles, ovenbirds,
  antbirds, flycatchers, puffbirds, toucans,
  jacamars, tanagers, tapirs, troupials,
  honeycreepers, cardinal grosbeaks, xenops)
• reptiles (anaconda, caiman, iguanas, lizards,
  microteiid lizards, boas, and coral snakes),
  amphibians (poison arrow frog, etc.)
• fish (electric eel, piranha), and millions of
  other animals.

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The rainforests have a lot to offer..
So everybody wants a piece of the action!
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The trees are being cut down at an alarming rate!
DEFORSTATION
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So why are the trees being removed
Mining
Settlements
Timber
Cattle Ranching
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So what does it mean for us?
Yummy McDonalds!
Iron Ore to make steel
Luxurious furntiture
Exciting holidays!
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But its not all good news!
Trees release oxygen which we need to breath!
Medicines from the rainforest will be lost!
Burning the trees adds to global warming!
And what about the poor old animals?
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SAVE OUR TREES?