Tropical Rainforest Biome

  German Taveras                                                                           
   Ian Garay

Tropical rain forest

         The Tropical Rain Forest biome is an ecosystem that covers about 7% of the Earth’s surface. They are found all over the world but the majority of the tropical rain forest lies in South America in Brazil.  
        
 Flora and Fauna

This specific rainforest is the home of many plants such as lianas, ferns, orchids and many kinds of tropical trees. Many animals such as fish, reptiles, birds and insects also live in the rainforest and its rivers. This rainforest helps bond plants and animals so that they could live and survive. For example insects Pollinate the flowers of the rain forest. “Seeds from trees are often taken away by other animals and birds and dropped in far away areas”.

Climate

• “Temperatures stay the same the whole year round—about 20 to 30 degrees Celsius”.
• It rains heavily two season which reaches up to 10 meters/ about 32 feet.
• The farther the region is from the equator it gets dry but yet still rains  a lot.
• The temperature are usually the same which means it would not change from the morning to the night time.
• When the leftover water gets evaporated it goes up back into the sky creating clouds and makes it rain again.
• “Rain forest soils are not very fertile because the rain washes out most of the nutrients”

Physical Characteristics

Rainforests have four layers.

1. The top layer is the canopy. It consists of the tallest trees of the rain forest. They may get over 50 meters/ about 164 feet tall. But only very few reach this height. This is the part that gets most of the sunlight.
2. The subcanopy is a layer of trees that is below the canopy. More than 70 % of rainforest animals and plant species live in the canopy and subcanopy. Lianas often climb around trees.
3. The understory is the shadowy lower area. It has young trees and plants like ferns and palms that do not need much light. Only 1 or 2 per cent of the sunlight reaches the understory.
4. The floor has a thin layer of leaves, seeds or fruits and branches that fall from the trees. It decomposes fast and new material takes its place.

Environmental Importance

People benefit from the rain forest in many ways :

1. People can benefit from Economic value
2. Wood is the most important product of the rainforest. About 80 % of it is used for energy and 20 % is sold to make furniture.
3. The rainforest provides us with fruits and food..
4. Scientific Value-Scientists study the rainforest as an ecosystem. They learn a lot about how plants and animals live together.
5. Rain forests help to regulate our environment. It gives us oxygen and provides us medicine that people need to cure from diseases

Deforestation

Many people in this world do not know that we are destroying our tropical rainforests at a very fast rate. This is because of deforestation, for instance:

• the world’s population needs more and more wood to build homes or construct furniture
• people in the tropical rainforest need energy. They can’t buy oil or gas because it’s too expensive.
• governments find valuable raw materials in these areas—like iron ore, gold or silver so they destroy the land to find them underground.
• dams are built along tropical rivers.



Deforestation 

• big companies get land to grow meat and produce food.