Tropical Rain Forest

1. Tropical Rain Forest Period 7 Names of group members

2. Table of Contents Title: Slide 1 Introduction: Slide 3 Map of Biome: Slide 4 Animals Life: Slides 5-6 Nick Plant Life: Slides 7-8 Tyler Physical Landscape/Weather: Slides 9-10 Kaycee Human Influences: Slides 11-12 Ryan Glossary of Terms: Slide 13

3. Introduction The Tropical Rain Forest Biome is found along the equator and is one of the most productive areas on earth. It is filled with plants and animals and has more than all the other biomes combined. Tropical rainforests are located in Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Australia. All of the tropical rainforests are endangered. The climate is very humid, making the environment perfect for animals and plants to live in. http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=6&art_nm=Tropical+Rainforest http://blueplanetbiomes.org/ http://biomef.wikispaces.com/Tropical+Rainforest

4. The Tropical Rain Forest • Amazon Rainforest • Manu National Park • Borneo Rainforest • Costa Rica Rainforest • New Zealand Rainforest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:800px-tropical_wet_forests.png Definition: Luxuriant forest, generally composed of broad-leaved trees and found in wet tropical uplands and lowlands around the equator. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tropical+rain+forest?o=100074

5. Animal Life • The tropical rainforest is home to a very large number of different species. It is also the home of the most colorful birds and has many different kinds of insects, primates, microscopic animals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Some common birds that live in the rainforest are the cockatoo, cuckoo, keel billed toucan, grey parrot, scarlet macaw, and harpy eagle. • Insects in the rainforest are also very colorful. Some common insects include assassin bug, blue morpho butterfly, dragonfly, caterpillar, leaf cutter ant, monarch butterfly, and millipedes. There are many different types of butterflies and beetles. • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/animals/Rfbiomeanimals.shtml

6. Animal Life (continued) • Mammals in the rainforest vary in size from the greater apes, to mammals such as the fossa. Common mammals include giant ant eaters, gorillas, coupus, dholes, coatis, binturongs, and agoutis. • There are also very many reptiles that vary in size from small lizards to large crocodiles and alligators. Many common reptiles include the basilisk, komodo dragon, the black caiman, green iguanas, Chlamydosaurus (A.K.A the Jesus Lizard), the anaconda, and the blue-tongued skink. • Many amphibians and fish include poison dart frogs, toads, electric eels, red eyed tree frogs, newts, salamanders, and piranhas.

7. Plant Life More than two thirds of the worlds plant species are found in the tropical rainforests: plants that provide shelter and food for rainforest animals as well as taking part in the gas exchanges which provide much of the worlds oxygen supply. Rainforest Plants live in a warm humid environment that allows an enormous variation rare in more temperate climates: some of them like the orchids have beautiful flowers adapted to attract the profusion of forest insects. Competition at ground level for light and food has lead to evolution of plants which live on the branches of other plants, or even strangle large trees to fight for survival. The aerial plants often gather nourishment from the air itself using so called’ air roots’: the humidity of the rainforest encourages such adaptations which would be impossible in most temperate forests with their much prior conditions. www.srl.caltech.edu

8. Examples and Questions www.srl.caltech.edu Orchids comprise one of the most abundant and varied of flowering plant families. Lianas are a type of climbing vine found throughout tropical rainforests • What percentage of the worlds plant species found in the tropical rainforest ? • More than two thirds of the worlds plant species are found in the tropical rainforests. 2. What type of plants climb on trees searching for sunlight? Lianas is a type of vine that climbs on trees searching for sunlight.

9. Physical Landscape/Habitat and Weather The Tropical Rain Forest Biome is filled with plants and is made up of four layers. The emergents, the canopy, the forest floor and the understory. Birds, bats, and insects live in the emergents. The canopy is the highest part layer, and that’s where 90% of the life in the rainforest is found. Large animals, like elephants and jaguars live on the forest floor. The understory is where many snakes, spiders, and lizards live. The temperature stays between seventy and ninety degrees because it is located close to the equator. The tropical rainforest gets lots of rain throughout the year and the climate is very humid and moist. http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=6&art_nm=Tropical+Rainforest http://blueplanetbiomes.org/ http://biomef.wikispaces.com/Tropical+Rainforest

10. Examples and Questions The New Zealand rainforest. The four layers of a tropical rainforest. The Costa Rica rainforest. Where is the highest percentage of life found, and what percentage lives there? In the canopy, 90%. Why does the temperature in the rain forest stay between 70 and 90 degrees? Because the biome is located close to the equator. http://www.123rf.com/photo_4845661_fog-covered-mountains-in-a-new-zealand-rainforest-landscape.html http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/animals/Rfbiomeanimals.shtml http://biomef.wikispaces.com/Tropical+Rainforest

11. Human Influences • The main influence humans have on tropical rainforests is deforestization. The deforestization eliminates many trees and animals. • 78 million acres of tropical rainforests are being chopped down a year. That is an area larger then the country of Poland. • Much of the area that has been cut down is then cleared and turned into farms and ranches. • Tropical Rainforests are also cleared to build roads. The Transamazon Highway now allows increased access to the Amazon Forest. • Deforestization kills animals and the habitats for many species of animals. • According to some estimates, more then 100 species of plants and animals, most of them insects become extinct every week as a result of deforestation. http://www.green.net.au/quoll/forests/mf.jpg http://puntamona.org/files/imagecache/preview/images/troncocamion.jpg http://kanat.jsc.vsc.edu/student/callahan/ancientforest.gif http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/rainforest.html

12. 2.47 acres are cleared a day worldwide • How much of the worlds rainforests are being destroyed? 78 million acres of rainforest a year. • How do humans use the cleared rainforest land? They build roads, farms, ranches, and they mine the cleared areas.

13. Glossary • Amphibian: Any cold blooded vertebrates • Vertebrate: Having a spinal column, or spinal cord • Tropical: of, being, or characteristic of a region or climate that is frost-free with temperatures high enough to support year-round plant growth given sufficient moisture • Deforestation: the action or process of clearing of forests; also: the state of having been cleared of forests • Profusion: lavish expenditure : extravagance; great quantity : lavish display or supply http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tropical