Tropical Rainforest

The rainforest that we have chosen to do our project on is in South America and is called the Amazon Rainforest. You can see on the picture in the upper left corner that the Amazon is the dark green area on the map. This zone which covers much of the northern half of South America that is east of the Andes and north of the Chaco which centers at the equator. It extends through large parts of Middle America. This biome is surrounded by dry forests and savannas. But it is the most extensive area of tropical rain forest and is much larger than any rainforests in Africa or Asia.

In an average year in a tropical rainforest, the climate is very humid do to all of the rain which amounts to about 250cm per year. The rainforest has lots of rain because it is very hot and wet.

The climate is found near the equator. That means that is more sunlight hitting that area than any where else. The average temperature of a rain forest is about 77° Fahrenheit. In the winter the temperature is

40o F. The most amount of rain that the rainforest has ever gotten is 180 inches.

This is red fungus (Pycnoporus sanguineus) these would be classified in the Fungi kingdom. One interesting fact about this red fungus is it may have significant medicinal effects. It can be seen on jungle walks.

This is white fungus (Lentinus) and it would be classified in the Fungi kingdom. One interesting fact about this white fungus is it attracts fruit flies and often lay their eggs on it.

This is the fern leaf. It grows on the forest floor. An interesting fact about ferns is that they are adapted to the low light intensity because they are on the forest floor and not a lot of light gets to them.

This is the Cattleya Plant. It would be classified in the Planate Kingdom. There are said to be around 60 types of these plants located in the Amazon Rainforest. The interesting part about this plant is its ability to produce beautiful colors.

This is the Toco Toucan. It would be classified in the Animalia Kingdom. There diet mainly consists of fruits. It could easily adapt if its habitat was destroyed. It is the largest of all the toucans.

This is the vampire bat. It would be classified in the Animalia Kingdom. Its mouth has two pointy front teeth inside. The vampire bat mates yearly. When the baby is born the mother bat usually feeds it blood. To do this is throws up the blood and puts it in the babies mouth.

This is Euglena. It would be classified in kingdom Protista. An interesting fact about Euglena is that if you place it in the dark it can live as a heterotroph. It does this by absorbing organic nutrients from the enviorments related species that lack chloroplasts.

This is an Actinopod. They are components of the rainforests lakes and streams and other various water sources. One interesting fact about these organisms is that they contain an internal skeleton.

Howler Monkey

The howler monkey is the loudest monkey in the rainforest. It is know as the “baboon”.

The howler monkey can get up to 2ft and there tail 30”. It has dark black fur and lives up in the trees.

The Baboon can live up to 20years.Howler monkeys are vegetarians they eat flowers, fruits, and leaves. The howler monkey can be heard from miles in the rainforest. The monkeys are friendly with the other monkeys. The howler monkeys daily life is hunting and eating. The howler enemies are men because they cut down the trees. Their Kingdom is classified as Animalia. Their Phylum is: Chordata. Their class is Mammalia. Their Order is: Primates. Their family is: Atelidae. Their Genus is: Alouatta.

One plant that is adapted to the rainforest is the fern leaf. The fern leaf is adapted to the rainforest because it lives on the rainforest floor and doesn’t get much sunlight. Because it lives on the ground, not only does it not get a lot of sunlight it does not receive a lot of rainwater since the canopy absorbs much of it. So its roots have adapted by anchoring the plant to the ground and saving the little water it receives. It also leans towards the sunlight that comes through the canopy.

One animal that is adapted to the rainforest is the howler monkey. It has many adoptions to the rainforest that help it with its everyday life. One adaptation is its long tail that allows them to hang a great distance down from branches where it lives. Their hands with opposable thumbs allow them to climb trees easier and to grab food. Their black fur also helps hide them in the trees where they live.

Every second a Tropical Rainforest is being either burned down, or bulldozed down. The reason they are burned down because people “need” the wood for different reasons: for paper, for construction and etc. They go through the rainforests and take plants that they believe contain medicinal value but if it doesn’t contain any it was just a waste of plant. Many animals have their habitat destroyed when people come in and cut down the trees. This is becoming an increasing problem; many animals are losing not just their habitat but their existence.

An example of symbiosis in the rainforest is the howler monkey and insects. It is an example of communalism. The insects eat bugs and pieces of food off the howler monkeys back. They often just ride along on the howler monkeys back. The howler monkey doesn’t mind and is therefore unaffected. So this is an example of communalism.

1. What is one adaptation of the fern leaf to the rainforest?

2. What example of symbiosis did we talk about?

3. How much rain can the rainforest receive per year?

4. This plant has 60 different species of it- what is it?

5. What does the howler monkey do on a daily basis?

1. www.earthobservatory

2. www.mbgnet.mobot.org

3. http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/5798/world.html

4. http://www.pbs.org/tal/

5. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/animals/Rfbiomeanimals.shtml

Desiree Young and Alex Metzler Return to Mrs. Jones Biome Web page