Transcript Biome Presentation Tropical Rainforests

Biome Presentation
Tropical Rainforests
Elena Whitlock and Ceci Tucker
Location
• Tropical rainforests are located in a band around the equator, mostly in the
area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This 3,000
mile wide band is called the “tropics.” Tropical rainforests are found in
South America, West Africa, Australia, Southern India, and Southeast Asia.
One specific rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest, is located in the upper
section of Brazil south of the equator. The Amazon jungle is the world’s
largest tropical rainforest and cover the basin of the Amazon, the world’s
second longest river.
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Climate
• Rainforests belong to the tropical wet climate
group. The temperature in a rain forest rarely
gets higher than 93 degrees Fahrenheit and or
drops below 68 degrees Fahrenheit
• Average humidity is between 77 and 88%
• Rainfall is often more than 100 inches per year
but there is usually a brief season of less rain
Species
• Many species of plant and animal life can be found in the rain
forest. Common characteristics found among mammals and
birds (as well as reptiles and amphibians) include adaptations
to a life in the trees. Other characteristics are bright colors
and sharp patterns, loud vocalizations, and diets heavy on
fruits. The Amazon river basin rainforest contains a wider
variety of plant and animal life than any other biome in the
Liana Vine
world.
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Species (Cont.)
• Insects- Monarch butterfly, the longhorn beetle, green grasshopper, and
wolf spider
• Mammals- Jaguar, sloths, howler monkeys, bats, and spider monkeys
• Birds- Queztal, macaw, hummingbirds, eagles, toucans, and parrots
• Reptiles- Anacondas, iguanas, lizards, boas, coral snakes, and the poison
arrow frog
• Fish- Electric eel and piranha
• Plants- Liana vines, Kapok trees, palms, ferns, mosses, herbs, fungi,
Macaw
bananas, avocados, pineapples, and papayas
Jaguar
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Electric Eel
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Ecological Importance
• Tropical rainforests are a critical link in the
ecological chains of our earth’s biosphere. For
instance, it produces about 40% of the earth’s
oxygen, one in four pharmaceuticals comes
from a plant in the tropical rainforests, 1400
rainforest plants are believed to offer cures for
cancer, and contains over 50% of the earth’s
animal, insect species, and plants. The
rainforest cools the planet and balances
rainfall and fresh water production.
Economic Importance
• The Amazon rainforest is very important to the
South American economy. It is one of the most
important producers of natural rubber in the
world. In the twentieth century mining became
a great economic sector in the rainforest. The
pharmaceutical industry also has much
importance in the Amazon (25% of medicine
used today comes from plants in the rainforest).
Tourism is also a sector that can bring great
economic benefits to the region along with
environmental protection. Biological trade is one
of the worst activities in the Amazon because it
exploits the wildlife. However, wood cutting
continues to be a major economic activity.
Rubber Tree
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Major Threats
• Commercial logging is the single
largest cause of rainforest
destruction, both directly and
indirectly
• Clearing land for grazing animals
• Subsistence farming
• Governments and their unplanned
and uncoordinated development of
natural resources
• Most rainforests are cleared by
chainsaws, bulldozers, and fires for
its timber value and then are
followed by farming and ranching
operations, or even by world
companies such as Georgia Pacific
and Texaco
• We are losing about 137 plant,
animal, and insect species every day
due to rainforest deforestation
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Environmental Issues
• The destruction of the rainforest has followed the
pattern of seeing natural land and natural world
peoples as resources to be used, and seeing wilderness
as idle, empty, and unproductive. Destruction to the
rainforest is causing not only the extinction of plant
and animal species, it is also wiping out indigenous
peoples who live there. We are now facing air and
water pollution, soil erosion, malaria epidemics, and
the release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to
name a few issues. Fewer rainforests mean less rain,
less oxygen for us to breathe, and an increased threat
from global warning.