tropical rainforest

Tropical Rainforest

By: Usama Ahmad

Where are they?

Enchanted Learning, 2012

Some animals …The jaguar has adapted to the rainforest for it is a nocturnal animal, meaning that its prey cannot escape. It is also has a muscular and stocky body due to evolution. Jaguars can also swim due to adaptation.

The toucan has adapted to the rainforest for it has a colourful beak for attracting mates, a narrow tongue like a feather for reaching small places and saw-like edges on their beaks for shredding fruits.

The poison dart frog has adapted to the rainforest for it is very small so its predators can’t spot it, its coloured in special colours for camouflage and the frogs skin can expel poison.American School of Lima, 2012Caltech, 2012Tropical Rainforest Animals, 2012

Some plants …The pitcher plant has adapted to the rainforest for it has downward-pointing hairs to trap insects who get stuck inside, it has a special secretion that is appealing to insects and because it grows in nutrient-poor places, it has adapted to be a carnivore.

Trees have adapted to the rainforest for they have buttress, or prop roots to keep them up in the poor, soft soil, they have leaves with a big surface area for absorbing moisture and they have smooth bark to stop other organisms from growing on it.

Strangler figs have adapted to the rainforest for they grow from seeds that birds excrete on tree branches, then they grow roots to steal the trees water and nutrients and finally, it grows up to block the trees light.

Conservatory of Flowers, 2012Globio, 2012Wheeling Jesuit University, 2012

Abiotic factors

Average Temperature: 20 to 34 ℃Annual Rainfall: More than 250 cmAverage Humidity: 77 to 88%Soil Erosion: The soil rapidly erodes when

exposed to rain after the vegetation is removed. This also causes floods as the soil is deposited on river beds.

Tropical Rainforest, 2012

ResourcesSome important resources we get from the rainforest are:• Food

– Avocados– Guava– Okra

• Medicine– Curare (muscle relaxant)– Quinine (Anti-malaria treatment)

• Everyday things– Paper – Rubber– Oil

Smithsonian Centre, 2012

How did science help us find these cure?

About 2,100 of 3,000 plants that help cure cancer come from the rainforest. Most medicines were discovered by medicine men and then, scientists confirmed the medicines. Some other examples include:

• Quinine, used in the treatment of malaria, comes from the bark of the cinchona tree

• Alkaline D-Turbocuarine, which helps in treating muscular disorders, comes from the bark of curare lianas (woody plants that hang from trees)

• In Madagascar, the rosy periwinkle contains 2 anti-tumor agents, one offers a 99% chance of recovery from leukemia, and one offers a 58% chance of recovery from Hodgkin’s Disease.

Adventure Life, 2012

How humans affect the rainforest

• DeforestationEvery year, about 78 million acres of wood are cut down. People are cutting down trees for paper, wood, housing, etc; These trees turn carbon dioxide into oxygen at a rate of 27 tons per acre every year!

• Cattle ranchingThis is a MAJOR cause of deforestation. Since 1950, 2⁄3

of lowland tropical forests have turned into cattle ranches!

Internet Geography, 2012

The Effect• Money

The use of these resources affects money because people are paid to do research on new medicines, people are paid to cut down wood, etc;

• HealthThe use of these resources affects health for we can find new cures for diseases. Trees also make most of Earth’s oxygen and rainforests are full of trees.

• EnvironmentThe use of these resources affects environments because when we cut down trees, we’re cutting down something that both plants and animals rely on to live because they get food and shelter in trees. Trees are also very important as they balance out the amount of carbon dioxide we make every day with the amount of oxygen they make, so if we had less trees, we would have more global warming.

BibliographyWebsites:• "Tropical Rainforest." Internet Geography. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.

<http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/rainforest.html>.• "Natural Resources from the Rainforest." Smithsonian Center for Folklife and

Cultural Heritage. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. <http://www.folklife.si.edu/resources/maroon/foodways/more.htm>.

Pictures:• Halasz, Peter. The Beeches Rainforest Walk 01 Pengo. 2007. Photograph.

Wikipedia, Yarra Ranges National Park. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 10 June 2007. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/The_Beeches_Rainforest_Walk_01_Pengo.jpg>.

• Buttress Roots. Digital image. Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet. Web. 7 Apr. 2012. <http://media.lonelyplanet.com/lpimg/28771/28771-64/preview.jpg>.

• Location of Major Rainforests. Digital image. Enchanted Learning. Enchanted Learning. Web. 6 Apr. 2012. <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rgifs/Rfmap2.GIF>.

BibliographyWebsites:• Medley, Tony. "The Rainforest." The Rainforest. Tony Medley. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.

<http://www.tonymedley.com/Articles/The_Rainforest.htm>.• "Medicinal Treasures of the Rainforest: Discover the Healing Resources of the

Amazon." Adventure Life. Adventure Life. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.adventure-life.com/articles/rainforest-medicine-78/>.

• Talianchich, Renny. Plant Adaptation. Conservatory of Flowers, 20 Dec. 2010. PDF.

Pictures:• O'Brien, Lee-Ann. Strangler Fig. Photograph. Australia. TripWow TripAdvisor.

TripWow TripAdvisor. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://images.travelpod.com/tripwow/photos/ta-00bb-823c-4742/-strangler-fig-fraser-island-australia+1152_12911328571-tpfil02aw-13730.jpg>.

• Mey, François Sockhom. Nepenthes. 2010. Photograph. Mount Kinabalu. Strange Fruits: A Garden's Chronicle. François Sockhom Mey, 30 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VIvbg_jVdKI/TMyUZriM7kI/AAAAAAAAADs/0jBAAu4APwI/s1600/P1190933.JPG>.

BibliographyWebsites:• "Tropical Rainforest." Globio | Where Kids Discover the World | Portland, OR. Globio.

Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=6>.• "Earth Floor: Biomes." Wheeling Jesuit University. Web. 21 Jan. 2012.

<http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/rforestP.html>.

Pictures:• Amazing Poison Dart Frog - Poison Frog Facts, Photos, Information, Habitats, News.

Photograph. WorldMostAmazingThings. WorldMostAmazingThings. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RaCDTSOccDE/TnmFpsoukaI/AAAAAAAADwg/dndv_CPyE3Y/s1600/Blue-Poison-Dart-Frog2.jpg>.

• The Jaguar of Belize! 2008. Photograph. Belize. Belize Travel Blog. Belize Travel Blog, 22 Dec. 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://www.chaacreek.com/belize-travel-blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/jaguar.jpg>.

• Toucan. Photograph. Education 101. In the Rainforest. Education 101. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. <http://ed101.bu.edu/StudentDoc/Archives/ED101sp08/costas/toucan>.

BibliographyWebsites:• Mitchell. "Abiotic Factors." The Tropical Rain Forest. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.

<http://info.rforests.tripod.com/abiotic_factors.htm>.• "The Forest Biome." University of Canada Museum of Paleontology. UCMP. Web. 18 Jan. 2012.

<http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/forests.php>.• Aleson, Martin. "Poison Arrow Frog." Colegio F.D. Roosevelt (The American School of Lima).

Web. 18 Jan. 2012. <http://www.amersol.edu.pe/ms/7th/7block/jungle_research/new_cards/01/Report1MA.html>.

• "Jaguar Animal, One Of The Largest Cats In The World • Rainforest Animals."Rainforest Animals, Tropical Rainforests, And Other Environmental Issues. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. <http://www.tropical-rainforest-animals.com/Jaguar-Animal.html>.

• "Animals of the Rainforest-Toucan." Toucans. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/animals/toucanpage.html>.

• Learning, Enchanted. "A Sampling of Tropical Rainforest Animals." Biomes - Habitats. Enchanted Learning. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/animals/Rfbiomeanimals.shtml>.