Unit 4: Kinds of Ecosystems Chapter 1: Jungles

Homework Questions Please describe the climate of the tropical rainforest. Describe the climate of the temperate rainforest.

Tropical Rainforests

Tropical Rain Forests Tropical rain forests occur in belts around the world. Tropical rainforests are hot and humid. About 100 inches of rain per year. Plants grow slowly in rain forests.

Climate of the Rainforest The rain forest has lots of rain because it is very hot and wet. This climate is found near the equator. That means that there is more direct sunlight hitting the land and sea there than anywhere else. It rains more than ninety days a year and the strong sun usually shines between the storms. The main plants in this biome are trees. Trees in this climate reach a height of more than 164 feet.

Plant Adaptations In Tropical Rainforests, plants grow in layers. Tall trees, 100 meters (300 ft) grow in a thick canopy. 95% of light is absorbed by the canopy. Faster growing trees are better adapted for rainforest.

Trees of the Rainforest Trees in the rainforest must grow rapidly to reach the sun at the canopy. To be competitive, they grow tall without growing as wide as trees in moderate climates.

Animal Adaptations The canopy is the home of many animals which stay there for shelter to avoid predators on the forest floor and to seek fruits and seeds from the trees and epiphytes of the rainforest canopy. Tropical rainforests have the greatest diversity of animals on the earth. Most animals are specialists.

Specialists Specialists are organisms that are adapted to exploit a particular resource to avoid competition. An example is a koala that eats only eucalyptus leaves.

Avoiding Predation Some animals in the rainforest have adapted ways to avoid being eaten. Camouflage Brightly colored animals show that they are poisonous.

The biggest threat to the rainforest is man. The ever-expanding human population is exerting tremendous pressure on the resources and the space of the rainforest.

Threats to Rainforests Tropical rain forests used to cover about 20% of the earth’s surface. Rainforests now cover about 7% of the earth’s surface. Clear cutting of rainforests occur at an alarming rate. Logging Grazing