Biome Presentation
Tropical Rainforests
http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/esp133/rainforest.jpg
Elena Whitlock and Ceci Tucker
Location
• Tropical rainforests are located in a band around
the equator, mostly in the area between the
Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This
3,000 mile wide band is called the “tropics.”
Tropical rainforests are found in South America,
West Africa, Australia, Southern India, and
Southeast Asia. One specific rainforest, the
Amazon Rainforest, is located in the upper
section of Brazil south of the equator. The
Amazon jungle is the world’s largest tropical
rainforest and cover the basin of the Amazon, the
world’s second longest river.
Climate
• Rainforests belong to the tropical wet climate
group. The temperature in a rain forest rarely
gets higher than 93 degrees Fahrenheit and or
drops below 68 degrees Fahrenheit
• Average humidity is between 77 and 88%
• Rainfall is often more than 100 inches per year
but there is usually a brief season of less rain
Species
• Many species of plant and animal life can be
found in the rain forest. Common
characteristics found among mammals and
birds (as well as reptiles and amphibians)
include adaptations to a life in the trees.
Other characteristics are bright colors and
sharp patterns, loud vocalizations, and diets
heavy on fruits. The Amazon river basin
rainforest contains a wider variety of plant and
animal life than any other biome in the world.
Species (Cont.)
• Insects- Monarch butterfly, the longhorn beetle, green
grasshopper, and wolf spider
• Mammals- Jaguar, sloths, howler monkeys, bats, and
spider monkeys
• Birds- Queztal, macaw, hummingbirds, eagles, toucans,
and parrots
• Reptiles- Anacondas, iguanas, lizards, boas, coral
snakes, and the poison arrow frog
• Fish- Electric eel and piranha
• Plants- Liana vines, Kapok trees, palms, ferns, mosses,
herbs, fungi, bananas, avocados, pineapples, and
papayas
Ecological Importance
• Tropical rainforests are a critical link in the
ecological chains of our earth’s biosphere. For
instance, it produces about 40% of the earth’s
oxygen, one in four pharmaceuticals comes
from a plant in the tropical rainforests, 1400
rainforest plants are believed to offer cures for
cancer, and contains over 50% of the earth’s
animal, insect species, and plants. The
rainforest cools the planet and balances
rainfall and fresh water production.
Economic Importance
• The Amazon rainforest is very important to the South
American economy. It is one of the most important
producers of natural rubber in the world. In the
twentieth century mining became a great economic
sector in the rainforest. The pharmaceutical industry
also has much importance in the Amazon (25% of
medicine used today comes from plants in the
rainforest). Tourism is also a sector that can bring great
economic benefits to the region along with
environmental protection. Biological trade is one of the
worst activities in the Amazon because it exploits the
wildlife. However, wood cutting continues to be a
major economic activity.
Major Threats
• Commercial logging is the single largest cause of
rainforest destruction, both directly and indirectly
• Clearing land for grazing animals
• Subsistence farming
• Governments and their unplanned and uncoordinated
development of natural resources
• Most rainforests are cleared by chainsaws, bulldozers,
and fires for its timber value and then are followed by
farming and ranching operations, or even by world
companies such as Georgia Pacific and Texaco
• We are losing about 137 plant, animal, and insect
species every day due to rainforest deforestation
Environmental Issues
• The destruction of the rainforest has followed the
pattern of seeing natural land and natural world
peoples as resources to be used, and seeing wilderness
as idle, empty, and unproductive. Destruction to the
rainforest is causing not only the extinction of plant
and animal species, it is also wiping out indigenous
peoples who live there. We are now facing air and
water pollution, soil erosion, malaria epidemics, and
the release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to
name a few issues. Fewer rainforests mean less rain,
less oxygen for us to breathe, and an increased threat
from global warning.