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The Tropical Rainforest By Bryson. Introduction.
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The Tropical Rainforest By Bryson
Introduction The Jungle is a very exciting habitat. Jungles are always found close to the equator. The Jungle is also called the Tropical Rainforest. The Tropical Rainforest has a variety of plants and animals. Each one is perfect for survival in the moist Jungle. The temperatures there are usually between hot and warm. The plants that live there are very lush.
The Canopy/Upper Canopy The Canopy layer has trees that are 60 to 130 feet tall. Most of the animals that live in the Tropical Rainforest live in the Upper Canopy. So much food is available in the Canopy area that some animals never go down to the Forest Floor.
The Understory/Lower Canopy The trees that live in this layer are 60 feet tall. The Lower Canopy layer is made up of the tree trunks from the Emergent layer, the tree trunks from the Upper Canopy, trees, shrubs, and plants. There is little air movement in the Understory. The humidity there is constantly high. This level is in constant shade.
The Forest Floor The Forest Floor is usually completely shaded,, except where a canopy tree has fallen and created an opening.
The Tropical Rainforests in the world are located where the green is.
The plants in the jungle adapt to their natural environment in many unique ways.
The trees do something called transpiration, which is when the trees release water through the pores of their leaves. They have to shed water quickly so the branches don’t get weighed down and break.
Some trees have leaf stalks that turn with the movement of the sun so they always absorb the maximum amount of light.
Special plants called air plants grow on the trunks and branches of many trees. Air plants get water from the air. Air plants get food from the air and from plants rotting nearby.
The huge trees have something called a buttress to keep them from falling over. Buttresses are thick parts on the huge trees trunk’s. A buttress is a structure that grows out from the trunk and it grows down to the ground to support the tree.
Woody vines called lianas hang from trees and they also wrap around tree trunks and limbs. Vines called strangler figs can kill trees. The vines make up 40% of the canopy leaves. Over 2,500 species of vines grow in the tropical rainforest.
You can find animals in every single color and in every single size.
The animals in the Tropical Rainforest are all unique in their own different ways.
Some animals in the jungle are: frogs, snakes, sloths, monkeys, birds, gorillas, fish, and cats.
Three animals I find interesting are the two-toed sloth, the squirrel monkey, and the a howler monkey.
The Two-Toed Sloth The two-toed sloth eats and sleeps upside-down. It usually avoids coming down from the branches. It moves in slow-motion. The two-toed sloth is a leaf-eating animal. It is nocturnal, meaning it is active at night. When the two-toed sloth sleeps it places its head on its chest and it becomes a hanging ball of fur. The two-toed sloth can stand, but it can’t walk. It can only move on the forest floor by pulling itself along by its claws. The two toed sloth’s eyesight and hearing is very poor. When two two-toed sloths meet they will fight until one retreats. Their average temperature is between 85° and 90° Fahrenheit.
The Red Howler Monkey The red howler monkey feeds almost entirely on leaves, supplemented with nuts, seeds, fruits, and flowers. It can live for several weeks on a diet of nothing but leaves. The red howler monkey lives in troops high in the forest canopy. Its roar can be heard over two miles in the Tropical Rainforest.
The Squirrel Monkey The squirrel monkey eats mostly fruit, nuts, insects, berries, and small birds. It lives in a group of about 30-50 squirrel monkeys in an area of about a square mile. It often stays close to a group of capuchin monkeys because capuchin monkeys react quickly to danger, giving a bark that alerts themselves and other animals. It has an excellent eyesight and nimble hands.
What are buttresses used for? • To help support bushes • To help support trees • Medicine for humans • To help gain height
What are the temperatures in the jungle? • Below freezing • In the negatives • Super hot • Warm and hot
Where are Tropical Rainforests found in the world? • By the equator • By the South Pole • By the North Pole • In the Eastern Hemisphere
Bibliography • Google -Images • Wikipedia/ the free encyclopedia • www.blueplanetbiomes.org • Stille, Darlene. Tropical Rainforests. New York: Children’s Press, 1999. • Lovejoy, Thomas. “Jungle” World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2006. A Special Thanks To: Daniel, my brother
