Tropical
Rainforest
By: Rachel Nichols and Olivia Erskine
Abiotic Factors
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Temperature: rarely gets higher than 93 °F or drops below 68 °F (20 °C);
Climate : average humidity is between 77 and 88%, rainfall is often more
than 100 in. a year
Weather: rainy season: December to June
Dry season: July to November
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Sunlight: canopy layer provides coverage and reduces sunlight, but not so
much so that plants on the forest floor don’t survive
Soil: lack of nutrients, except for the topsoil which is composed of
decomposing matter that provide nutrients
Climograph
Location
National Parks
Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
The Cabo Orange National Park
Gunung Leuser National Park
Slogan
If what you love is being diverse,
then into the rainforest you must immerse.
Organisms
Some of the animals in this biome
include:
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Bengal Tiger
Chimpanzee
Golden Lion Tamarin
Jambu Fruit Dove
King Cobra
Linne’s Sloth
Proboscis Monkey
Vampire Bat
Wagler’s Pit Viper
Some of the plants in this biome
include:
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Bengal Bamboo
Bougainvillea
Coconut Tree
Jambu
Kapok Tree
Strangler Figs
Tualang
Adaptations
The African Forest Elephant:
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Straight tusks since curved ones would get stuck in the underbrush and
vines
The elephants are smaller so they can move around the dense forest
better
Wagler’s Pit Viper:
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Pits behind the nostrils with organs that allow them to sense heat and
locate warm-blooded animals since they hunt at night
Silvery Gibbon:
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Long arms and fingers, and lean bodies which allow them to swing below
the branches suspended by only their arms
Food Chains
Frogs
King Cobra
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Mongoose
Unripe
Proboscis
Clouded
Fruit
Monkey
Leopard
Leaves
Linne’s Sloth
Harpy Eagle
Toucan
Frogs
Food Web
King Cobra
Mongoose
Unripe
Proboscis
Clouded
Fruit
Monkey
Leopard
Leaves
Linne’s Sloth
Harpy Eagle
Ecological Pyramid
Mutualism in Rainforests
Capuchin monkeys and flowering trees
The capuchin monkey feeds on nectar in these flowers and gets pollen on its
face. This transfers the pollen to other flowers in the process of feeding on
them.
The trees provide the capuchin species with food, and the monkey pollinates.
Commensalism in Rainforests
Ecitoninae, a type of ant, and antbirds
The antbirds follow ants and feed on whatever is left behind.
The ants shake the floor as they march, which causes the insects on the forest floor to fly out. These insects are eaten by the
antbirds.
The antbirds benefit from the ants, but the ants are not benefited from the antbirds.
Parasitism in Rainforests
Phorid flies and leaf-cutter ants
When these leaf-cutter ants collect leaves, the phorid flies attack them and lay their eggs in the spaces on the worker ant's head.
When the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into the ant's body and feed on it, killing the ant.
The phorid fly benefits from the leaf-cutter ants, who are harmed.
Competition in Rainforests
Plants compete for sunlight under the canopy
Endangered Species:
Golden Lion Tamarin:
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One of the most endangered
mammals in the world
Poachers hunt them for their
majestic manes
Their fur can be sold for up to
20,000 dollars on the black
market
They live in the heavily
populated coastal region of
Brazil, where less than 2% of
the forest remains
Environmental Issues
Human population growth:
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As the population of humans in these
rainforests grow, more land is cleared
for sustenance farming
Once cleared, they lose their nutrients
and new areas are cut down
Many trees are prized for their lumber
or used for everyday items
We are cutting down so many trees and
destroying homes for over half of the
world’s species of plants and animals
Once trees are cut down, there is less
evaporation, therefore less rainfall
making the forests much drier
Solution:
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Each country must create laws
restricting, or even prohibiting, the
cutting down of trees
It has a spiral effect on the biome,
making extinct plants and animals
found only in these parts of the world
and altering the climate
Regulatory laws will keep logging at a
healthy level, thus protecting the biome
Sources
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/symbiotic-relationships-in-the-rainforest.html
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/troprain.htm
http://tropicalrainforestscience10.weebly.com/uploads/2/0/9/7/20970574/812444_orig.png