http://rainforests.mongabay.com/1024.htm
www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/rforest.html
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Plants
- rainforest plants made adaptations that help them shed water off their leaves so the over 80 inches of rain per year doesn't weigh them down
- plants have drip tips, grooved leaves, or oily coatings to shed water
- in the understory, leaves are very large to absorb as much sunlight as possible
- in the upper canopy, leaves are dark green, small and leathery to reduce water loss in the strong sunlight
- over 2,500 species of vines grow in the rainforest
- vines grow from one tree to another and make up 40% of canopy leaves
- animals depend on the staggered blooming and fruiting of rainforest plants to supply them with a year- round source of food
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm
Layers of the Rainforest
Emergent- widely spaced trees with small pointed leaves that are 100 to 240 feet tall
Upper Canopy- home to most of the rainforest's animals. Some animals never go down to the forest floor because of the amount of food at this level.
Understory- consists of 60 foot trees and has little air movement. Humidity is high and shade is constant.
Forest Floor- completely shaded except where a canopy tree has fallen and created an opening. The top soil is very thin and has poor quality. Most areas of the forest floor receive so little light that few bushes or herbs can grow there
About: The tropical rainforest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth and abundant precipitation. of rain falls yearly. It is said that rainforests cover about 6%of Earth's land surface and that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests.They produce 40% of the earth's oxygen.
Climate: Rainforests belong to the tropical wet climate group and have an average of 50 to 260 inches (125 to 660 cm.). The temperature in tropical rainforests rarely gets any higher than around 93°F or drops below 68°F. The average humidity ranges between 77-88%. There's a short season of less precipitation in monsoonal areas. Rain forests are so hot because they are found near the equator.
Location: Tropical rainforests are found in three primary geographical locations around the world.
Location: Tropical rainforests are found in three primary geographical locations around the world.
- Central America in the 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.
Madagascar:
Zaire Basin:
New Guinea:
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