☼ Why is it tropical? ☼The rain forest contains more species of plants (and therefore animals)...
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Transcript of ☼ Why is it tropical? ☼The rain forest contains more species of plants (and therefore animals)...
☼ Why is it tropical?
☼The rain forest contains more species of plants (and therefore animals) than any other biome
☼There are so many plants in the rain forest that it accounts for 40% of the oxygen produced in the entire
world
It’s between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn – next to equator
50% of the world’s species are in tropical rainforset
Rainforests only COVER 6% of the Earth’s SURFACE
The AMAZON jungle is the world’s largest tropical rainforest
EMERGENT LAYER:TALLEST trees (200 Feet!)
Much SUNLIGHT! Animals such as Bats, eagles, and monkeys live hereCANOPY LAYER:PRIMARY Layer!Many ANIMALS! Very DENSE!
UNDERSTORY LAYER:LITTLE Sunlight!
Animals devise UNIQUE ways to surviveMany ANIMALS and INSECTS!
FOREST FLOOR:Very DARK!NO PLANTS!DECOMPOSING material
The Canopy☼ Canopy is the primary layer of the
rainforest☼ It absorbs up to 95% of all the sunlight☼ The canopy is split in to an upper and
lower portion☼The lower portion receives less light
☼ Most animals of the rainforest live in the canopy because that is where most of the flowers and fruits are located
Understory The understory is the portion of the
rainforest that gets the least amount of sunlight
Most plants are short and have broad leaves– Why would plants be short and have wide
leaves?
Few animals live on the rain forest floor
Rain Forest Soil
Think about what you know about the Rain Forest. Is the soil going to be rich with nutrients? Why or why not?
Surprisingly, the soil in the rain forest has very few nutrients
Most of the nutrients in a rain forest are in the plants, not in the soil
This means that when they clear-cut to make farms, they can’t grow anything :(
Animals of the Rain Forest
If you were an animal in the Rain Forest, what sorts of adaptations would you need in order to live?– Think about all of the heat and water– Think about where the food is– Think about how many predators there are
Let’s look at a few species and their adaptations to the rain forest
Animals of the Rain Forest
This is a collared anteater
What sorts of adaptations does it have to stay alive in the Tropical Rain Forest
Animals of the Tropical Rain Forest
This is a Costa Rican Mantis– Similar to our Praying
Mantis
What adaptations does it have to the rain forest?
Animals of the Rain Forest
This is a poison dart frog
What adaptations does it have?
Anyone know how they got their name?
Tropical Rain Forest Animals
This is a spider monkey
What adaptations does it have to the rain forest? Prehensile Tail Opposable thumbs
Rain Forest Facts Rain Forests used to cover 20% of the
Earth’s Surface, now it is only 6% Every minute of every day, 100 acres of
Rain Forest are destroyed– In a day we’ve cleared all of Philadelphia
Satellite Images
Threats to the Rain Forest Deforestation – Cutting down trees in a forest to
clear the land
Does anyone know why they are cutting down the Rain Forest?
They want the land for logging, agriculture and palm oil.– The countries that have rain forests are usually
developing and poor– They’ll do anything for money, even destroy their
homes
Environmental Effects
What happens when we cut down lots of trees?
Mass clearing of land has greater global effects than most would think– Floods– Less Oxygen– More CO2, which increases global warming– Fewer Animal and Plant Species– Fewer Medicines
WHAT MIGHT YOU SAY IN A LETTER TO A COMPANY THAT DESTROYS THE
RAINFORESTS?
HOW ABOUT A LOCAL POLITICIAN WHO GIVES BREAKS TO THAT COMPANY?
WHAT REASONS WOULD YOU GIVE THEM FOR SAVING THE RAINFORESTS?
For the rest of the period, construct a letter to a company to persuade them to help save
rainforests.
Types of Forests We have talked all about tropical rain
forests, but there are three other types of forests as well:
1. Temperate Rain Forests
2. Temperate (Deciduous) Forests
3. Taiga – a.k.a. Coniferous Forest
Temperate Rain Forest Just from the name, you know that
there is going to be a lot of rain
You also know that the temperatures will be moderate or “Temperate”
Temperate actually means 30°-50° latitude.
Temperate Rain Forest
Temperate Rain Forest
They are a very rare biome – often forgotten Only the green areas are temperate rain forests. (some ppl add Japan to this group) What can you see in common about their location?
QUESTION:
Do you think that the temperate rainforest has nutrient-poor soil, like the tropical rainforest?
The soil of a tropical rainforest is nutrient poor because it gets recycled so quickly
Temperate rainforests do not recycle that quickly – too cool!
Temperate rainforest soil is rich!
Temperate Rain Forest The Layers of the temperate rain forest
are similar to the tropical rainforest– Canopy: Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Western
Red Cedar, Western Hemlock– Understory: Dog woods, vine maples– Floor: Huckleberries, sword ferns, mosses,
lichen, etc. Soil quality
– Good soil quality with lots of nutrients– Nutrients are being used by decomposers and
plants– Plants grow ON PLANTS! Crazy!
Temperate Rainforest
Animal Life– Animals live on or
near the forest floor
– Most food on floor– Trees provide
shelter
CREATE A VENN DIAGRAMTO HAND IN
On one side is tropical; the other is temperate
Things that should be in your venn:– Climate details (precip, temp, seasons)– Types of organisms (plants and animals)– Layers– Locations– How the biome recovers from
disturbances (succession)
Temperate Rainforest
Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest
Tropical Rainforest
One long, wet winter/spring season with a dry, foggy summer
Both wet and dry times of the year
Two wet seasons, 2 dry seasons
5-16 feet of rain a year
Lots of rain! 6-30 feet of rain a year
Cool temperatures most of the year
Warm temperatures most of the year
Temperate Rainforest Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest
Tropical Rainforest
Located 30°-50° on the western coast
Located in a 3,000 mile wide belt near the equator
Mostly conifer trees, some broadleaf trees
Huge amounts of plants
Mostly broadleaf evergreens like palms, bamboo and tree ferns
Largest biomass of any biome
Huge amounts of animals
Largest biodiversity of any biome
Temperate Rainforest
Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest
Tropical Rainforest
3 layers of the forest
Canopies, understories, and forest floors
4 layers of the forestEmergent layer
Most of the animals live on the forest floor
Most of the animals live in the canopy
Jungle-like appearance with epiphytes, ferns, and mosses
Jungle-like appearance
Jungle-like appearance with palms, tree ferns, and vines
Temperate Rainforest Temperate AND Tropical Rainforest
Tropical Rainforest
No venomous snakes
Venomous snakes and other creatures
Large predators are bears and cougars
Has a food chain with predators and consumers
Large predators are jaguars and large snakes
Soil is rich Soil is poorFaster recovery from destruction
Vulnerable to destruction
Slower recovery from destruction
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Let’s break down the name:– Temperate: means moderate (like temperate
rain forest had moderate temps) – and location?– Deciduous: A type of tree
Anyone know what kind? Trees with broad, flat leaves that fall off when the
weather gets cooler deciduous means, literally, fall off
– Forest: we all know is a place with lots of trees
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Climate
Located between 30° and 50° north or south of the equator
This makes for 4 distinct seasons, which can be very hot and very cold– Think about our winters and summers
Climate – what do you think?
Climate
Plants Temperate Deciduous Forest has the same
layers as the Temperate Rain Forest– Canopy: Tallest Trees– Understory: Small Trees and Shrubs– Forest Floor: Ferns, Mosses, Herbs
Can have more plants on the forest floor because more light gets through than in a tropical rain forest
Plants All the water helps to decompose dead organic
matter and get the nutrients in to the soil
Deciduous plants shed their leaves in the fall– Save energy when there isn’t as much sunlight
Leaves and seeds grow back in the Spring when there is more water and sunlight– “April Showers bring May Flowers”– Good example of this is flowers that have “bulbs”
Animals Animals in the temperate deciduous forest
can eat almost anything– Bears eat berries, nuts, fish and other
animals: They are omnivores
They have adapted to the seasons as well– Bears and other mammals and insects
hibernate in the winter– Birds migrate south to warmer climates until
the Spring
Taiga – northern coniferous forest that stretches across the Northern Hemisphere below the Artic Circle – why not Southern Hemisphere.
Taiga
Climate Which month(s) have an
average temp above 10°C?– June, July, Aug, Sept
Which month(s) have a temp below freezing?– Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb,
March Which month(s) have the
most rain?– June, July Aug; between 8-
9cm
Climate
Winters are long (6-10 months) and very cold (often below freezing)
In the summer there is almost 24 hrs of sunlight, but almost complete darkness in the winter
Greater precipitation in the summer
Plants Trees are mostly conifers
– Conifers have seeds develop in cones– Their leaves are like needles
Think of pine trees as a prime example
Needles keep water in, which is important in the dry environment
Needles (and shape of tree) also keep snow and ice off of the trees so they don’t break
Plants The soil is poor because the cold
temperatures keep decomposers from working efficiently
Plants can’t grow much in the winter because of such little sunlight
Animals Many birds migrate south for the winter to
avoid the low temps
Under ground animals burrow in to the earth to stay warm
Other animals completely change their colors to blend in with the season
Snowshoe Hare - adaptations
Look at the fur – brown in the summer; white in the winter
Look at hind legs
How do wolves change rivers? (and what biome is
Yellowstone park?)
Trophic Cascade An alteration in an ecosystem caused
when a top predator limits the number or alters the behavior of the organisms lower than that predator in the food chain.
Example: wolves of Yellowstone Opposite: biomagnification
Time For a Video!!
Which is which?1
2
3 4
Forest Activity Fill in the paper from your notes!