By: Cody Brentlinger and Brandon Turner

TROPICAL RAINFOREST

WORLD MAP OF RAINFORESTS

The climate of a Tropical Rainforest is hot and moist as they are only located near the Equator

Tropical Rainforests are receive great amounts of precipitation a year averaging out to be around 60 to 160 inches

Tropical Rainforests usually averages around 64F for common temperature

TROPICAL RAINFOREST CLIMATE

CLIMATOGRAM

The soil is the Tropical Rainforest has low nutrient quality rendering most soil in these type areas infertile

Oxisols which are mixtures of quartz, kaolin, free oxides, and organic matter

The soil is infertile because the high humidity supports rapid decay and recycling of nutrients back into the rainforest, never leaving nutrients in the soil for long

SOIL TYPES AND CONDITIONS IN TROPICAL RAINFORESTS

Kapok Tree : T h e s t a t e l y k a p o k

t r e e i s f o u n d i n t r o p i c a l r a i n f o r e s t s a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d , I t i s a n e m e r g e n t t r e e , r e a c h i n g 1 5 0 f e e t o r h i g h e r , w i t h a s t r a i g h t t r u n k , h u g e b u t t r e s s r o o t s a n d a n d u m b r e l l a s h a p e d c r o w n . M a n y s p e c i e s o f b i r d s a n d a n i m a l s m a k e t h e i r h o m e i n t h e k a p o k ' s b r a n c h e s .

Comet Orchid T h e C o m e t

o r c h i d , w h i c h g r o w s m a i n l y i n A f r i c a , i s a n e x a m p l e o f a n e p i p h y t e , a l s o k n o w n a s a n a i r p l a n t . E p i p h y t e s g r o w o n t h e t r u n k s a n d b r a n c h e s o f t r e e s b u t a r e n o t p a r a s i t e s ; t h e y o b t a i n w a t e r f r o m r a i n a n d f o g , a n d n o u r i s h m e n t f r o m c o m p o s t e d m a t e r i a l o n t h e b r a n c h e s . L i v i n g h i g h u p o n t h e b r a n c h e s o f t r e e s i n s t e a d o f o n t h e f o r e s t fl o o r , o ff e r s e p i p h y t e s t h e a d v a n t a g e o f g r e a t e r a m o u n t s o f s u n l i g h t , a n i m a l p o l l i n a t o r s a n d w i n d d i s p e r s a l o f s e e d s . O t h e r t y p e s o f e p i p h y t e s i n c l u d e b r o m e l i a d s , f e r n s a n d m o s s e s .

TYPES OF PRODUCERS

Rattan is one of more than 2,000 species of l ianas, woody vines that grow up from the forest fl oor, using trees as support to reach the upper layers of the rainforest to get more sunl ight. Some l ianas are as large in diameter as trees, and thousands of feet long. Rattan is a species of l iana that is used to make rope and furniture.

TYPES OF PRODUCERS (CONT)

The Toco Toucan i s the largest of the toucans. I t can get to about twenty- four to twenty s ix inches in length. I ts b i l l i s br ight ly co lored orange and black and can get to about e ight inches in length. The Toco Toucan weighs about ten to seventeen ounces. The Toucan's massive b i l l i s not as heavy as i t looks; i t has a hard outs ide and a hol low ins ide. A br ight b lue patch of b lue sk in surrounds the eye.

The Vampire bat looks sort of l ike a p ig with fangs and large pointy ears. The Vampire bat is about 3 inches long and has a wingspan of about 8 inches. I t weighs about 1 ounce. I t has strong legs. The Vampire bat has a c lawed thumb that comes out of the f ront edge of the wing.

TYPES OF CONSUMERS

The King Cobra's biome is the Southeast Asian rainforest. Its habitat are the clearings, bamboo stands, and edges of the forest and it is also commonly found near rivers and swampy areas. The climate that the King Cobra lives in is rainy and humid. The average temperature is usually 95°F.

TYPES OF CONSUMERS(CONT)

1 in 4 ingredients in common medicine originate from Tropical Rainforest plants

Amazon Rainforest produces about 40% of Earth’s oxygen

Humans get almost everything from Tropical Rainforests such as: Chewing gum(chicle latex) Eucalyptus Oil(perfumes and cough drops) Guava(fruit) Quinine(anti-malarial and pneumonia treatment) Various Woods such as Rosewood

• 70% of the plant species identified by the US National Cancer Institute as holding anti-cancer properties come from rainforests

FACT SHEET

Human mines leave waste rock(700000 tons per day) near the highlands that have raised copper and sediment levels so high the fi sh have been driven out up to 90 sq. miles. (The white on the picture to the right is the waste rock.)

When removing Mercury from gold and gravel most of it will end up in the river and can possibly enter food chains of the area.

The second picture to the right is a pie chart i l lustrating the various causes of tropical deforestation, humans being root cause behind all of them.

HUMAN EFFECT ON TROPICAL RAINFORESTS

http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/trforest.htmhttp://www.savetherainforest.org/

savetherainforest_007.htm

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