☼ Why is it tropical?

☼The rain forest contains more species of plants (and therefore animals) than any other biome

☼There are so many plants in the rain forest that it accounts for 40% of the oxygen produced in the entire

world

It’s between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn – next to equator

50% of the world’s species are in tropical rainforset

Rainforests only COVER 6% of the Earth’s SURFACE

The AMAZON jungle is the world’s largest tropical rainforest

EMERGENT LAYER:TALLEST trees (200 Feet!)

Much SUNLIGHT! Animals such as Bats, eagles, and monkeys live hereCANOPY LAYER:PRIMARY Layer!Many ANIMALS! Very DENSE!

UNDERSTORY LAYER:LITTLE Sunlight!

Animals devise UNIQUE ways to surviveMany ANIMALS and INSECTS!

FOREST FLOOR:Very DARK!NO PLANTS!DECOMPOSING material

The Canopy☼ Canopy is the primary layer of the

rainforest☼ It absorbs up to 95% of all the sunlight☼ The canopy is split in to an upper and

lower portion☼The lower portion receives less light

☼ Most animals of the rainforest live in the canopy because that is where most of the flowers and fruits are located

Understory The understory is the portion of the

rainforest that gets the least amount of sunlight

Most plants are short and have broad leaves– Why would plants be short and have wide

leaves?

Few animals live on the rain forest floor

Rain Forest Soil

Think about what you know about the Rain Forest. Is the soil going to be rich with nutrients? Why or why not?

Surprisingly, the soil in the rain forest has very few nutrients

Most of the nutrients in a rain forest are in the plants, not in the soil

This means that when they clear-cut to make farms, they can’t grow anything :(

Animals of the Rain Forest

If you were an animal in the Rain Forest, what sorts of adaptations would you need in order to live?– Think about all of the heat and water– Think about where the food is– Think about how many predators there are

Let’s look at a few species and their adaptations to the rain forest

Animals of the Rain Forest

This is a collared anteater

What sorts of adaptations does it have to stay alive in the Tropical Rain Forest

Animals of the Tropical Rain Forest

This is a Costa Rican Mantis– Similar to our Praying

Mantis

What adaptations does it have to the rain forest?

Animals of the Rain Forest

This is a poison dart frog

What adaptations does it have?

Anyone know how they got their name?

Tropical Rain Forest Animals

This is a spider monkey

What adaptations does it have to the rain forest? Prehensile Tail Opposable thumbs

Rain Forest Facts Rain Forests used to cover 20% of the

Earth’s Surface, now it is only 6% Every minute of every day, 100 acres of

Rain Forest are destroyed– In a day we’ve cleared all of Philadelphia

Satellite Images

Threats to the Rain Forest Deforestation – Cutting down trees in a forest to

clear the land

Does anyone know why they are cutting down the Rain Forest?

They want the land for logging, agriculture and palm oil.– The countries that have rain forests are usually

developing and poor– They’ll do anything for money, even destroy their

homes

Environmental Effects

What happens when we cut down lots of trees?

Mass clearing of land has greater global effects than most would think– Floods– Less Oxygen– More CO2, which increases global warming– Fewer Animal and Plant Species– Fewer Medicines

WHAT MIGHT YOU SAY IN A LETTER TO A COMPANY THAT DESTROYS THE

RAINFORESTS?

HOW ABOUT A LOCAL POLITICIAN WHO GIVES BREAKS TO THAT COMPANY?

WHAT REASONS WOULD YOU GIVE THEM FOR SAVING THE RAINFORESTS?

For the rest of the period, construct a letter to a company to persuade them to help save

rainforests.

Types of Forests We have talked all about tropical rain

forests, but there are three other types of forests as well:

1. Temperate Rain Forests

2. Temperate (Deciduous) Forests

3. Taiga – a.k.a. Coniferous Forest

Temperate Rain Forest Just from the name, you know that

there is going to be a lot of rain

You also know that the temperatures will be moderate or “Temperate”

Temperate actually means 30°-50° latitude.

Temperate Rain Forest

Temperate Rain Forest

They are a very rare biome – often forgotten Only the green areas are temperate rain forests. (some ppl add Japan to this group) What can you see in common about their location?

QUESTION:

Do you think that the temperate rainforest has nutrient-poor soil, like the tropical rainforest?

The soil of a tropical rainforest is nutrient poor because it gets recycled so quickly

Temperate rainforests do not recycle that quickly – too cool!

Temperate rainforest soil is rich!

Temperate Rain Forest The Layers of the temperate rain forest

are similar to the tropical rainforest– Canopy: Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Western

Red Cedar, Western Hemlock– Understory: Dog woods, vine maples– Floor: Huckleberries, sword ferns, mosses,

lichen, etc. Soil quality

– Good soil quality with lots of nutrients– Nutrients are being used by decomposers and

plants– Plants grow ON PLANTS! Crazy!

Temperate Rainforest

Animal Life– Animals live on or

near the forest floor

– Most food on floor– Trees provide

shelter

CREATE A VENN DIAGRAMTO HAND IN

On one side is tropical; the other is temperate

Things that should be in your venn:– Climate details (precip, temp, seasons)– Types of organisms (plants and animals)– Layers– Locations– How the biome recovers from

disturbances (succession)

Temperate Rainforest

Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest

Tropical Rainforest

One long, wet winter/spring season with a dry, foggy summer

Both wet and dry times of the year

Two wet seasons, 2 dry seasons

5-16 feet of rain a year

Lots of rain! 6-30 feet of rain a year

Cool temperatures most of the year

Warm temperatures most of the year

Temperate Rainforest Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest

Tropical Rainforest

Located 30°-50° on the western coast

Located in a 3,000 mile wide belt near the equator

Mostly conifer trees, some broadleaf trees

Huge amounts of plants

Mostly broadleaf evergreens like palms, bamboo and tree ferns

Largest biomass of any biome

Huge amounts of animals

Largest biodiversity of any biome

Temperate Rainforest

Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest

Tropical Rainforest

3 layers of the forest

Canopies, understories, and forest floors

4 layers of the forestEmergent layer

Most of the animals live on the forest floor

Most of the animals live in the canopy

Jungle-like appearance with epiphytes, ferns, and mosses

Jungle-like appearance

Jungle-like appearance with palms, tree ferns, and vines

Temperate Rainforest Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest

Tropical Rainforest

No venomous snakes

Venomous snakes and other creatures

Large predators are bears and cougars

Has a food chain with predators and consumers

Large predators are jaguars and large snakes

Soil is rich Soil is poorFaster recovery from destruction

Vulnerable to destruction

Slower recovery from destruction

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Let’s break down the name:– Temperate: means moderate (like temperate

rain forest had moderate temps) – and location?– Deciduous: A type of tree

Anyone know what kind? Trees with broad, flat leaves that fall off when the

weather gets cooler deciduous means, literally, fall off

– Forest: we all know is a place with lots of trees

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Climate

Located between 30° and 50° north or south of the equator

This makes for 4 distinct seasons, which can be very hot and very cold– Think about our winters and summers

Climate – what do you think?

Climate

Plants Temperate Deciduous Forest has the same

layers as the Temperate Rain Forest– Canopy: Tallest Trees– Understory: Small Trees and Shrubs– Forest Floor: Ferns, Mosses, Herbs

Can have more plants on the forest floor because more light gets through than in a tropical rain forest

Plants All the water helps to decompose dead organic

matter and get the nutrients in to the soil

Deciduous plants shed their leaves in the fall– Save energy when there isn’t as much sunlight

Leaves and seeds grow back in the Spring when there is more water and sunlight– “April Showers bring May Flowers”– Good example of this is flowers that have “bulbs”

Animals Animals in the temperate deciduous forest

can eat almost anything– Bears eat berries, nuts, fish and other

animals: They are omnivores

They have adapted to the seasons as well– Bears and other mammals and insects

hibernate in the winter– Birds migrate south to warmer climates until

the Spring

Taiga – northern coniferous forest that stretches across the Northern Hemisphere below the Artic Circle – why not Southern Hemisphere.

Taiga

Climate Which month(s) have an

average temp above 10°C?– June, July, Aug, Sept

Which month(s) have a temp below freezing?– Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb,

March Which month(s) have the

most rain?– June, July Aug; between 8-

9cm

Climate

Winters are long (6-10 months) and very cold (often below freezing)

In the summer there is almost 24 hrs of sunlight, but almost complete darkness in the winter

Greater precipitation in the summer

Plants Trees are mostly conifers

– Conifers have seeds develop in cones– Their leaves are like needles

Think of pine trees as a prime example

Needles keep water in, which is important in the dry environment

Needles (and shape of tree) also keep snow and ice off of the trees so they don’t break

Plants The soil is poor because the cold

temperatures keep decomposers from working efficiently

Plants can’t grow much in the winter because of such little sunlight

Animals Many birds migrate south for the winter to

avoid the low temps

Under ground animals burrow in to the earth to stay warm

Other animals completely change their colors to blend in with the season

Snowshoe Hare - adaptations

Look at the fur – brown in the summer; white in the winter

Look at hind legs

How do wolves change rivers? (and what biome is

Yellowstone park?)

Trophic Cascade An alteration in an ecosystem caused

when a top predator limits the number or alters the behavior of the organisms lower than that predator in the food chain.

Example: wolves of Yellowstone Opposite: biomagnification

Time For a Video!!

Which is which?1

2

3 4

Forest Activity Fill in the paper from your notes!