FAUNA AND

VEGETATION OF THE

TROPICAL RAINFOREST

By Javier, Pablo, Isabel, Claudia and Sofía

Index: 1.What´s a tropical rainforest? 2. Fauna of a tropical rainforest

-1.1. Golden lion tamarin-1.2. Jaguar-1.3. Capybara-1.4.Poison dart frogs-1.5. Monarch Butterfly

3. Vegetation of the tropical rainforest-2.1. Asai-2.2. Tabebuia serratifolia-2.3 Carniverous Plants-2.4 Orchids -2.5. Bromeliads

Tropical rainforests are a world like none other; and their importance to the global ecosystem and human existence is paramount.

1. What´s a tropical rainforest?

In terms of their biological diversity, tropical rainforests are a natural reservoir of genetic diversity which offers a rich source of medicinal plants, high-yield foods, and a myriad of other useful forest products. They are an important habitat for migratory animals and sustain as much as 50 percent of the species on Earth, as well as a number of diverse and unique indigenous cultures.

Tropical rainforests play an elemental role in regulating global weather in addition to maintaining regular rainfall, while buffering against floods, droughts, and erosion. They store vast quantities of carbon, while producing a significant amount of the world's oxygen.  

Today, more than two-thirds of the world's tropical rainforests exist as fragmented remnants. Just a few thousand years ago, tropical rainforests covered as much as 12 percent of the Earth's land surface, but today less than 5 percent of Earth's land is covered with these forests.

More than half of the world's species of

animals are found in the rainforest.

Many rainforest species are rapidly disappearing

due to deforestation, habitat loss and pollution

of the atmosphere.

2. Fauna of a tropical rainforest

1.1 Golden Lion Tamarin

It´s a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae.

It gets its name from its bright reddish orange pelage and the extra long airs around the face ears which give it distinctive name.

Its original habitat is Brazil. They are social and groups

typically consist of 2-8 members

1.2 Jaguar

Panthera is a genus of the family Felidae (cats), which contains four well-known living species: the tiger, the lion, the jaguar, and the leopard.

Is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas.

The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

A study based on mitochondrial genomes suggests that the about 11.3 million years ago Panthera separated from other felid species and then evolved into the several species of the genus.

1.3 Capybara

Capybaras have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies and short heads with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of their body that turns yellowish-brown underneath.

Is the largest extant rodent in the world.

It is a highly social species and can be found in groups as large as 100 individuals, but usually lives in groups of 10–20 individuals.

The capybara is not a threatened species, though it is hunted for its meat and skin.

1.4 Poison Dart Frog

Is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America.

These species are diurnal and often have brightly-colored bodies. Although all wild dendrobatids are at least somewhat toxic

Levels of toxicity vary considerably from one species to the next and from one population to another.

1.5 Monarch Butterfly

It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies.

Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer.

It is resident in the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, and is found as an occasional migrant in Western Europe and a rare migrant in the United Kingdom.

2. Vegetation of tropical rainforest

More than two thirds of the world's plant species are found in the tropical rainforests: plants that provide shelter and food for rainforest animals as well as taking part in the gas exchanges which provide much of the world's oxygen supply.

Rainforest plants live in a warm humid environment that allows an enormous variation rare in more temperate climates: some like the orchids have beautiful flowers adapted to attract the profusion of forest insects.

2.1. Asai: The prodigy fruit

Cientific Name: Euterpe Oleracea Common names: Asaí, Acaí, Acay Usable parts: Fruit What is it?

-Is the palm tree´s fruit in the rainforest of the north of Brazil. It´s round, with a diameter of about 10mm, -its color is dark purple and it grows with a bunch form. The name of these bunches receives the name of “cacho”. -The Asai has unique properties and there aren´t any natural product that can level them.

2.2 Tabebuia serratifolia

This plant grows in the Cerrado vegetation of Brazil, reaching up to French Guiana, Bolivia, Paraguay and Northern Argentina.

It is one of the largest and strongest of tropical forest trees, growing up to 150 feet tall while the base can be 4 to 7 feet in diameter.

It is a commercially farmed hardwood notable for its extreme hardness and resistance to fire and pests.

2.3 Carniverous Plants

Some plants are adapted to obtain nutrients from animal matter.

The best known of these is probably the Venus fly trap, but more impressive is the pitcher plant Nepenthes rafflesiana, found in southeast Asia.

This plant grows to 30 feet tall and may have pitchers 12 inches in length, usually crammed full of digested insects.

Pitcher plants also eat small mammals and reptiles that attempt to steal the insects from the pitcher.

2.4 Orchids

Orchids comprise one of the most abundant and varied of flowering plant families.

There are over 20,000 known species and orchids are especially common in moist tropical regions.

Temperate orchids usually grow in the soil, tropical orchids are more often epiphytes which grow non-parasitically on trees.

Orchid flowers vary considerably in shape color and size, although they share a common pattern of three petals and three petal-like sepals. The lower petal has a very distinctive appearance.

2.5 Bromeliads

Bromeliads are related to the pineapple family.

Their thick, waxy leaves form a bowl shape in the centre for catching rainwater.

Some bromeliads can hold several gallons of water and are miniature ecosystems in themselves providing homes for several creatures including frogs and their tadpoles, salamanders, snails, beetles and mosquito larvae. Those that die decompose and furnish the plant with nutrients.

One bromeliad was found to contain several small beetles, crane flies, earwigs, a frog, a cockroach, spiders, fly larvae, a millipede, a scorpion, woodlice and an earthworm!