The Tropical Rainforest Biome

1. The Tropical Rainforest Biome Jake and Lauren

2. Tropical rainforests have: A warm annual mean temperature High humidity Heavy rainfall Tropical rainforests cover about 2% of the earth’s surface, but are habitats for over 50% of the world’s terrestrial species

3. Tropical Rainforests are found in Latin and South America, Africa, and in Southeast Asia . Most of the tropical rainforests of Africa exist in the Congo (Zaire) River Basin. In Latin and South America, tropical rainforest are mainly found from Southern Mexico to Brazil. In Southeastern Asia, tropical rainforest are mostly found in Northern and Western India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the surrounding islands.

4. *Tropical rainforests usually have from 160-400 inches of rain a year. • *You can expect between 130-250 days of rain per year. • The relative humidity never falls below 80% • The temperature during the day averages of 31 C (88 F) and lows of 22 degrees C (72 F) during the night. • Many tropical rainforests are characterized by distinct dry and wet seasons.

5. Plants in the Tropical Rainforest Orchids are one of most abundant and varied of flowering plant families. There are over 20,000 known species which vary in shape, color, size. They usually grow in the soil or grow non-parasitically on trees. Lianas are a type of climbing vine found throughout tropical rainforests.They have thick, woody stems and come in various lengths (up to 3,000 ft) and varying shapes. They attach themselves to trees by attaching their sucker roots to sapling and grow upward with them. Stranglers are members of the fig family. They begin in the high branches of trees and then send their roots down to the ground, surrounding the host tree. It grows quickly and eventually suffocates the tree and kills it. Venus Fly Trapsis a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey. The trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves. It is a small herb, with four to seven leaves which arise from a short subterranean stem which

6. Bananas are native to Southeastern Asia. The name is applied to both the plant and its elongated fruit, a fake berry, which grow in hanging clusters.

7. Firefly Lemur Animals in the tropical rainforest Monkey Fossa Nile crocodile

8. Symbiotic Relationships Between Species in Tropical Rainforest Commensalism; The flower benefits by living off the tree but the tree isn’t affected. Parasitism: The strangler grows on the tree and eventually suffocates the tree and kills it

9. A sample food web of the tropical rainforest

10. Images of the Tropical Rainforests

11. Common Abiotic Features • Sunlight • Temperature • Precipitation • Wind • Fire Frequency • Soil

12. The soil *The soil is often red because of mineral deposits such as bauxite. *The soil is generally not suitable for agriculture because the soil is thin, infertile, and low in nutrients that plants need. *The only tropical soil suitable for cultivation is found near volcanoes. *People cultivate it anyway, leading to erosion. 330 tons of earth are lost each year to erosion.

13. Human Impact • Every second, a football-field size of tropical rainforest is cut down. • 15 million hectares of tropical rainforest are cut down per year. • An estimated 27,000 species become extinct along with this destruction each year. • The rainforest is cut down so that people can use the trees and use the land for agriculture or settlement.

14. Human Impact Only 15% of the world’s rainforest is undamaged.

15. Environmental Damage • Clearing and degradation of tropical rain forests for timber, grazing land and agriculture • Causes severe soil erosion of already nutrient-poor soils. • The rapid rate of clearing is destroying the homes and biodiversity in one of the most animal and plant prolific biomes on earth. • Nearly half of the world’s rainforests have been chopped down in the last century. • Disrupts world climate patterns

16. Environmental Damage

17. Possible Solutions Three Easy Steps! 1. Cut down fewer trees! 2. The U.S. and Europe could ban imports of valuable tropical wood, reducing the demand for rainforest products. 3. Create national parks so that trees and animals can live.

18. Bibliography: • http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/biomes/rainforest/tropi_rain/rainweb.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Banana.arp.750pix.jpg • http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/plants/carniverous.html • http://www.mongabay.com/images/rainforests/world-rainforest-map.jpg • http://www2.kpr.edu.on.ca/cdciw/biomes/kenya/kenyapage3.htm • http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/GEOsystem/Rainforests/climate.html • http://www.enfo.ie/leaflets/bs26.htm • http://www.sumatranorangutan.org/site_mawas/UK/EDUCATIONAL/dias_wonderland/tropical_wonderland_doc.htm • http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/rainforest/rainfrst.html • The textbook • THE END