Tropical Rain Forest Tropical Rain Forest

A. Rainforest-Location 1. Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, Madagascar

Location

B. Temperature 1. The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets higher than 93 °F or drops below 68 °F.

C. Rainfall An average of 50 to 260 inches of rain falls yearly. Rainfall is often more than 100 inches a year.

Layers of the Rainforest Emergent Upper canopy, most animal life found here Understory, or lower canopy, constant shade Forest floor, constant shade

D. Tropical Rainforest Facts There may be 40 to 100 different species of trees in one hectare (2.47 acres) of tropical rainforest. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests

Interesting Facts 1500 different kinds of flowering plants 125 species of mammals 400 species of birds 100 reptiles 60 amphibians countless insects 150 species of butterflies **Only 1% of these species has ever been studied**

Animals Fauna: Animal life is highly diverse. Most animal species of any other biome. Common characteristics found among mammals and birds bright colors sharp patterns loud vocalizations diets heavy on fruits.

Animals Toucan Loris Cayman

E. FAUNA Loris Toucan,hummingbirds, eagles Cayman Frogs,anaconda, caiman, iguanas, lizards, Orangutan Julia butterfly, Monarch butterfly tree kangaroo, rat kangaroo

F. Plants Less than 1 percent of the light that strikes the top of the forest penetrates to the forest floor. At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest. 1. avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews 2. Bromileads, Orchids,Epiphytes

Plants: Medicine And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

Types of Plants Epiphytes Bromeliad 2. Orchid Different epiphytes may grow on the same tree, including orchids, cacti, bromeliads, aroids, lichens, mosses and ferns. They begin their life in the canopy

Plants Banana Flower and fruit Tree with buttressed roots. Fruit

Problems Facing the Rainforest The rainforests of the world are disappearing at a rate of 80 acres per minute due to deforestation. Farming and logging are the main reason for deforestation. Ranching also causes destruction of the rainforests. Ranchers clear large areas of rainforest to become pastures for their cattle. Trees from the rainforest are used for building houses, making furniture, and providing pulp for paper products, such as newspapers and magazines. Rainforest that was chopped down can grow back over time, but they will never have the same variety of plants and animals they once did.

Problems Photos of destruction caused by logging, mining, drilling, road building and farming. http://www.leslietaylor.net/gallery/destruction/destruction.htm

Temperate Rainforest

Temperate Rainforest This is a small biome in terms of area covered. The main stretch of this habitat is along the northwestern coast of North America from northern California though southern Alaska.  There are also small areas in southern Chile, New Zealand, Australia and a few other places around the world, most of which don't show up on the scale of the map to the right.  In general, such forests form were relatively warm offshore waters affect inland climates.

Flora

Flora