Tropical forest ecosystem

Tropical forest ecosystem

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  TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEM By:- Charu Jaiswal
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  What is thetropical rainforest?  Ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants and animals) sharing an environment.  A forest ecosystem is a natural woodland unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms (Biotic components) in that area functioning together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment.  The largest ecosystems are called biomes e.g. Tropical Rainforest  Rain forests are called "cradles of diversity “  The Tropical Rainforest occurs in a broad zone outside the equator.  It is a forest occurring in tropical areas of heavy rainfall. Temperature and humidity are relatively high through the year.  Rainforests grow in the tropics, close to the equator and the plants have a twelve month growing season.  As a resultant, the rainforest is the most luxuriant vegetation system in the world. It is abundant with many species of wildlife and vegetation  Rainforests cover less than two percent of the Earth's surface.
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  Climate  Warmand wet describes the tropical rain forest climate. The average annual temperature is above 30 C; there is never a frost  Annual rainfall, which exceeds 2000 to 2250 millimeters, is generally evenly distributed throughout the year.  In general, tropical rainforests have hot and humid climates where it rains virtually every day.  The rainy season is from December to May. Notice how much the rainfall varies over the year - the highest monthly rainfall is in March with over 300mm, while the lowest is in August with less than 50mm. Over the year, the temperature only varies by 2°C. The graph shows average rainfall and temperature in Manaus, Brazil, in the Amazon rainforest
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  Where are tropicalrainforests found?  The tropical rainforests are, located in the tropics, a band around the equator from 23.5 N (the Tropic of Cancer) to 23.5 S (the Tropic of Capricorn  Central America in the Amazon River basin.  Africa - Zaire basin, with a small area in West Africa; also eastern Madagascar.  Indo-Malaysia - west coast of India, Assam, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Queensland, Australia.  Other tropical rainforest places are in Hawaii and the islands of the Pacific & Caribbean.
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  Types of tropicalrainforest  Lowland equatorial evergreen rain forests =Occurs at the belt of the equator , Amazon Basin of South America, the Congo Basin of Central Africa, Indonesia,  Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen seasonal forests = warm summer • winter dry season• Some trees shed off their leaves on winter season• Central America and around the Caribbean, in coastal West Africa, parts of the Indian subcontinent,  Montane rain forests or cloud forests = Found in mountain areas• altitude is between 1500 to 3300 m  Flooded forest = waterlogged swamp forest areas. Tropical forest ttt
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  Soil  Theprofile of the soil in the rainforest is called a Latolsol. Latosols are reddish brown.  Red color comes from the oxides of iron and aluminum in the soil. They are very deep soils.  The heavy rain in the rainforest leads to leaching (minerals washed out)  Top layer of soil is often light in color.  These are infertile soil.
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  Adaptations Despite theinfertile soil the rainforest survives because :- • Plant and animal remains soon decay in the warm, humid climate. • Shallow rooted trees quickly absorb the nutrients released by decomposition • Few nutrients are lost from the nutrient cycle as the forest literally feeds on itself. • Most nutrients are stored in vegetation, when they die they decay and are then absorbed by the trees.
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  Vegetation • Speciesof Flora is highly diverse: a square kilometer may contain as many as 100 different tree compared to 3 or 4 in the temperate zone. • The various trees of the tropical rain forests are closely spaced together and form a thick continuous canopy some 25 to 35 meters tall. • Epiphytic orchids and bromeliads, as well as vines lianas, are very characteristic of the tropical rainforest. Some other common plants include ferns and palms.
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  What is thestructure of vegetation in the rainforest?  Emergent’s are the tallest trees and are usually over 50 meters tall. The Kapok tree is an example of an emergent.  The sea of leaves blocking out the sun from the lower layers is called the canopy. The canopy contains over 50% of the rainforest wildlife. This includes birds, snakes and monkeys. Lianas (vines) climb to the canopy to reach this sun light.  The under canopy mainly contains bare tree trunks and lianas.  The shrub layer has the densest plant growth. It contains shrubs and ferns and other plants needing less light. Saplings of emergent’s and canopy trees can also be found here.  The forest floor is usually dark and damp. It contains a layer of rotting leaves and dead animals called litter. This decomposes rapidly (within 6 weeks) to form thin humus, rich in nutrients.
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  Adaptation  Leaveshave drip tips that shed moisture quickly after heavy downpours.  The wide buttress roots at the base of the tall trees help to prevent them falling over. Shallow buttress roots help to give support in the thin infertile soils. They have a shallow spreading root system to collect as much nutrients as they can.
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  Lianas are creeping plants that grow up the tree trunks and use them to get to the sunlight. This tall “tree” is actually a fern. Some tree ferns grow 40 to 50 feet tall! Ferns on the forest floor are able to cope in low-light conditions.
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   Epiphytes –(epi = outer and phyte = plants) – are plants that grow on other plants. By growing up off the forest floor epiphytes have access to higher quality light (red and blue). A diversity of plants have adapted to an epiphytic life. There are epiphytic flowering plants, mosses, cacti, ferns, and liverworts.  The large epiphyte in the center is a bromeliad. Large bromeliads like this one are called “tank bromeliads” because their cup of leaves holds a lot of water. That water is the drinking source for arboreal animals. Several species of frogs lay their eggs in it and the tadpoles develop in the treetops.
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  Animal Life •Commoncharacteristics found among mammals and birds (and reptiles and amphibians, too) •Small animals, including monkeys, birds, snakes, rodents, frogs, and lizards are common in the tropical rainforest. •Other characteristics are bright colors and sharp patterns, loud vocalizations, and diets heavy on fruits. •Insects make up the largest single group of animals that live in tropical forests. They include brightly colored butterflies, mosquitoes, camouflaged stick insects, and huge colonies of ants.
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  Adaptations  Toucanshave adapted by developing long, large bill. This adaptation allows this bird to reach fruit on branches that are too small to support the bird's weight. The bill also is used to cut the fruit from the tree.  The sloth uses a behavioral adaptation and camouflage to survive in the rainforest. It moves very, very slowly and spends most of its time hanging upside down from trees. Blue-green algae grow on its fur giving the sloth a greenish color and making it more difficult for predators to spot.  Adaptations to a life in the trees, such as the prehensile tails of New World monkeys.  Poison Dart Frogs have such brilliant colors to warn predators that they are poisonous.
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  What is theimpact of humans? • 40 Hectare is lost every minute, 5 times the size of Switzerland every year. • Deforestation is a major problem . Reasons behind it are :- • Logging • Cattle Ranching • Mining • Rubber tapping - some trees provide natural rubber from the sap • Tourism - increasing number of tourists want to visit the rainforest • Farming - farms vary from tiny subsistence farms to huge plantations growing a single crop such as palm oil. • Hydro Electric Dams • Cities such as Manaus • Roads such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway
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  What are theeffects of Rainforest Deforestation? • Changes in Biodiversity - Removal of the forest causes the loss of plant species. • Changes in Hydrology - Without the trees the water cycle is disrupted. • Changes in Soils - Without trees to protect it, the soil is easily eroded. • Changes in Climate - Transpiration is reduced and evaporation increases. This leads to a drier climate.
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  Why are rainforestimportant? • Rainforest help stabilize the world’s climate • provide a home to many plants and animals • maintain the water cycle • protect against flood, drought, and erosion • are a source for medicines and foods • support tribal people and • an interesting place to visit
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  How can therainforest be managed for sustainable development? • (Sustainable Development - means using the resources in such a way to be able to preserve them for future use) • Rubber Tapping - This collects latex from trees and causes no lasting damage to trees. Likewise collecting fruits such as Brazil Nuts does not harm the forest and can bring in more income than cattle ranching. • National Parks & Reserves - Some countries have set up parks to protect their rainforest as in the Korup National Park in Cameroon. The aim is to preserve their unique flora and fauna and try to develop ecotourism. • Sustainable Logging - The aim is to produce timber in such a way that the forest is not permanently damaged and recovers quickly. Trees are replanted and there needs to be a strict quota on how much timber is allowed to be cut down. This takes place in Peru. • Agroforestry - This is where a variety of plants are grown to produce crops, fruit and larger trees. The idea being to use some large trees to protect the soils and smaller plants but allowing more light in to enable more produce in the form of palm trees, oil palms, coconuts, pineapple and bananas as well as crops on the forest floor. • Education - Teach others about the importance of the environment and how they can help save rainforest.
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  Tropical Rainforest Facts  There are more plant and animal species in the rainforest than anywhere else on earth - in fact 90% of it is found here.  It rains everyday in the afternoon and in every month of the year.  Its growing season is 365 days a year - in other words no seasons.  The trees of a tropical rainforest are so densely packed that rain falling on the canopy can take as long as 10 minutes to reach the ground.  Rainfall is heavy and mainly convectional - up to 1800 mm a year.  Because of deforestation and destruction some experts estimate that the last remaining rainforest could disappear in 40 years.  More than 2,000 tropical forest plants have been identified by scientists as having anti-cancer properties.
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  Thank you!!!