Biome: Tropical Rainforest
Aside from Madagascar, the rainforest biome is located in central Africa as well as throughout southeast Asia and South America. Rain forests account for just less than 6% of Earth's surface.
Climate:
Rain forests deal with a tropical wet climate. It is also very hot because tropical rainforests are all near the equator. The temperature can range from 20°C to 34°C and the amount of precipitation could be between 125 and 660 cm per year. The humidity in the rainforest can range from 77% to 88%.
Animals:
There are many animals which inhabit the rainforests of the world. Some of them are gorillas, anteaters, tigers, toucans, anacondas, butterflies, poisonous frogs, chimpanzees as well as many more. Some animals with adaptations include:
Anaconda - This long and heavy species of snake have adapted to the rain forest with regards to camouflage to hide among the trees and grass. Also, they possess prehensile tails to grip onto branches when hunting.
Bengal Tiger - These tigers have soft, padded feet which allow them to stalk their prey and they also have excellent nocturnal vision to allow for them to be able to hunt at night.
Jaguar - Jaguars have spots to help them with camouflage as well as long tails to assist with balance, sharp turns and for climbing.
Chimpanzee - Chimpanzees have strong arms to swing through the trees and they also have opposable thumbs which help them grip to branches.
Toucan - -Toucans in the rainforest have stronger/bigger beaks for eating fruits and they have two claws in front and 1 in the back of their feet to have an excellent grip to branches of the trees.
In most cases, species have adapted in ways involving camouflage, ability to grip to branches as well as altered body parts to enhance the stalking and hunting of prey.
Plants:
There are also an incredibly high number of species of plants in the rainforest. Some species which are present are orchids, tualang, fig trees, durian, curare, and ferns.
Almost all of the plants have adapted to the rainforest with regards to the high amount of rainfall. They have gained the ability to have bigger and stronger leaves to allow for the water to just fall off the plant in an effort to not weigh down and snap. Having bigger leaves is also beneficial as it can be very dark in the rainforest so bigger leaves will make it a little more likely for the plant to get some sunlight. Trees have thin bark to protect them from plants growing on them due to the high humidity. They also have buttress roots to allow for extra support in the shallow soil of the rainforest.
Chimpanzee - Chimpanzees have strong arms to swing through the trees and they also have opposable thumbs which help them grip to branches.
Toucan - -Toucans in the rainforest have stronger/bigger beaks for eating fruits and they have two claws in front and 1 in the back of their feet to have an excellent grip to branches of the trees.
In most cases, species have adapted in ways involving camouflage, ability to grip to branches as well as altered body parts to enhance the stalking and hunting of prey.
Plants:
There are also an incredibly high number of species of plants in the rainforest. Some species which are present are orchids, tualang, fig trees, durian, curare, and ferns.
Almost all of the plants have adapted to the rainforest with regards to the high amount of rainfall. They have gained the ability to have bigger and stronger leaves to allow for the water to just fall off the plant in an effort to not weigh down and snap. Having bigger leaves is also beneficial as it can be very dark in the rainforest so bigger leaves will make it a little more likely for the plant to get some sunlight. Trees have thin bark to protect them from plants growing on them due to the high humidity. They also have buttress roots to allow for extra support in the shallow soil of the rainforest.
Soil:
The 2 types of soils present in the rainforest are the the ultisols and oxisols. Ultisols are known as well weathered, acidic red clay soils, deficient in major nutrients such as calcium and potassium. Oxisols are acidic, old, reddish, highly weathered and leached. But they are well drained compared to ultisols. The reddish color of both soils is the result of heavy heat and moisture forming oxides of iron and aluminum, which are insoluble in water and not taken up readily by plants. The soil is very shallow and heavy rains have pretty much completely depleted the amount of nutrients in the soil.
Limiting Factors:
Examples of this are predators hunting more of a specific prey in an area due to increase in population or food supply of a species declining due to rapid growth of a population. Also, natural disasters and tropical storms are examples of limiting factors. Rainforests can be very dark due to many tall trees which leads to a competition between plants on the floor for sunlight, which makes it very difficult for plants to survive in this biome.
Human Impact:
Human activity has had a primarily negative impact on this biome with one major problem; deforestation. Deforestation is essentially completely destroying many ecosystems and habitats which is leading to many species of the rainforests becoming endangered. The tropical rainforest biomes around the world are being broken down by deforestation slowly, but surely.
http://lo2fosho.blogspot.ca/2011/01/limiting-factors-of-tropical-rainforest.html
http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/rainforest.html#humans
http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/rainforest.html#humans
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