ECOLOGY

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

HOW ARE WE CONNECTED TO THE RAINFOREST?

R-Strategist K-Strategist Baird’s Tapir Brazil Nut Cecropia Oryzomys rice rat

K-Strategist Baird’s Tapir Brazil Nut Species that produce a few, often large offspring or seeds, but invest a great deal of time and energy to ensure that most of the offspring or seeds will reach reproductive age…. A K-strategist is characterized by: 1) large parental investment in the young or seeds. K-strategists reproduce slowly, with long gestation periods, to permit the young to develop more in the womb. After birth, the young are tended until they can be reasonably expected to care for themselves, and... 2) the ability to exploit stable environmental situations. Once the population of a K- strategist has reached the carrying capacity of its environment, the population size stays relatively constant.

R-Strategist Cecropia Oryzomys rice rat An R-Strategist is characterized by: 1) small parental investment in the young or seeds. The prenatal period is short and postnatal care is minimal. To compensate, an r-strategist produces a large number of offspring or seeds, most of which will not survive long enough to reproduce, and... 2) the ability to rapidly exploit unpredictable environment opportunities. An example of this is the Cecropia.

BAMBOO

BROMELIADS

Aechmea sp. bromeliads in the canopy at Tiputini Biological Station, eastern Ecuador

fallen leaves in bromeliad along ACEER Canopy Walkway, Rio Napo, Peru

water in tank bromeliad along ACEER Canopy Walkway, Rio Napo, Peru

Dendrobates reticulatus

Osteocephalus sp.

Giant damselfly - Mecistogaster marchali

SLOTHS

Three-toed Sloth

Snout Moth on a Three-toed Sloth

rainforest structure