Biome: RainforestPaige Lamb and Callie Victoria
Climate
Very humid due to heavy rainfall (250cm per year)
Very hot and wet
Near the equator giving it more sunlight
77 degrees on average
Temperature never drops below 64 degrees
Plants
Main plants are trees
Trees act as a shield between the rain and the ground: the canopy
The canopy also keeps sunlight from reaching the plants below
Forest floor is called the understory
The understory is made up of smaller trees, ferns, and mosses
Some of the major plant are Bromeliads, Lianas, Strangler Figs, Pitcher Plants, and Rubber Trees.
Bromeliads
Thick waxy leaves which form a bowl shape to catch rainwater
Can hold up to several gallons of water
Have miniature ecosystems within themselves (frogs, salamander, snails, and beetles)
Lianas Climbing vine
Thick woody stems
Various lengths (up to 3000ft)
Begin life on the understory, but climb trees for sunlight
Attach themselves to trees with sucker roots, tendrils, or wind themselves around the trees.
Spread to other trees once the reach the top of one.
Strangler Figs
Start life high in the trees
Seedlings send roots to the ground
Surrounds the host tree and eventually suffocates the host (Parasitism)
When the host dies, it leaves the Strangler with a hollow core
Pitcher Plant
Grows to be 30ft tall
Pitchers grow to be 12in in length
Filled with digestive fluid and insects
Eat small animals and reptiles when they try to steal the
insects inside of the plant
Rubber Trees
Grow to be 100-130ft
Can live up to 100 years
Famous for its milky white sap, known as latex
In order to reproduce, the fruit bursts open, scattering
the seeds up to 100ft away from the tree.
Animals
Extremely diverse wildlife
Support a broad array of animals (mammals, reptiles, birds, and invertebrates)
Animals are well adapted to life there
Many animal species are tree-dwelling
Some of the animals include Poison Dart Frogs, Harpy Eagles, Jaguars, and Anacondas
Poison Dart Frog
Eat termites, crickets, flies, and ants
Grow to be 1-7cm in length
Lay group eggs in water and take 12 days to hatch
More than 100 species
Skin contains poison
Harpy Eagle
Diet consists of sloths, monkeys, and other small animals
Grow to be 35-41 inches
Will lay 1-2 eggs in a 2-3 year timespan, in which only one egg hatches
Talons can be as large as the claws of a Grizzly Bear
Jaguar
Diet consists of turtles, deer, and tapirs
Grow to be 5.5-8 feet
Females have a 100 day gestation period
Can give birth to 2-4 cubs
3rd largest big cat in the world
Can live up to 20-30 years
Anaconda
Diet consists of rodents, fish, turtles, and larger mammals
Take several weeks or longer to digest a meal
Hunt by submerging all but its nostrils in the water
Can reach 37 feet in length
Bear live young snakes
Kills its prey by squeezing the animal until it can
no longer breath
Swallow its prey whole.
Interesting Fact
A lot of the rain never reaches the ground, it stays in the trees
The trees can reach up to 164ft tall
Contain more than 50% of all species on earth
An area the size of a football field is being destroyed each second
1 in 4 ingredients in our medicine is from rainforest plants
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