The Amazon Rainforest by: Hailey E.-Block 1

The Rainforest is the Earth’s oldest living ecosystems. A rainforest is also known as a jungle. The reason it is also called a rainforest is because it is very rainy there and it is very humid. The climate in the Amazon varies greatly according to where you are. The climate however is mostly tropical wet and tropical dry. The rainforest is located on South America. The hemispheres are, North, South, and West. The latitude and longitude range is 10 degrees north-20 degrees south, 50 degrees west-80 degrees west. The countries that have a part of the Amazon Rainforest in them are Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, and Venezuela.

The top layer in the rainforest is the Emergent Layer. The Emergent layer is the tallest layer. The Emergent layer that gets the most sunlight. The trees in this layer have small waxy leaves. The waxy coating helps stay moist and not to dry out from the hot conditions. Some Eagles, Monkeys,

Bats, and Butterflies live there. The plants that live there can grow up to 200 feet high. The second layer is the Canopy Layer. The canopy layer is the second level from the sun. Most canopy trees have smooth, oval leaves that point. They shed rain quickly, the canopy stops rain from reaching down below. Toucans, snakes, tree frogs, lots of trees and branches can be seen in the canopy layer. There are lots of mazes of leaves and branches. The understory is the 3rd layer from the sun. The understory is

also known as the dark layer under the canopy and above the forest floor. The understory layer produces most bacteria for the smaller animals so they won’t have too many of a certain animal. The understory layer is directly above the forest floor so it also gets barely any sunlight or water but, just enough to have a few plants. Growth here is very dense. It is a dark layer, sometimes a natural habitat to some animals. The understory is entangled with vines. Large concentration of insects, plants could grow up to 12 feet high. The forest floor is the bottom of the rainforest the 4th layer from the sun. It is a very dark layer. There is poor soil, no plants, and lots of little animals but also a few bigger animals. The little plants that are there is really like fungus, moss, ferns, vines, and roots from all the trees.

The Kapok tree is a giant tree around 200 feet high it has mostly green foliage sometimes red or yellow. The Kapok tree uses photosynthesis to make its food. The Kapok trees habitat is in the Emergent layer of the

Amazon rainforest. Most of its predators are humans, or birds. People use its bark, resin seeds, the resin seeds are leaves used to fever, kidney disease, and dysentery.

The Orchid is a light pink or white small flower. It is in the understory living in some of the tree trunks. Some of its predators are birds, and insects. Sometimes the orchid is

decomposed by different insects when starting to die. The Orchid helps humans by, absorbing moisture, beauty, and also the good smell.

The Jaguar is a type of an organism. It is a big cat about the size of a grown man. They are orange with black spots. They can kill, run really fast, and climb trees. It has a long tail and is fierce hunters. The jaguar lives

in the understory and the forest floor. Sometimes the jaguar will sleep on a tree branch to watch for their prey they use camouflage to hide from its predators. The only predator the jaguar has is poachers, hunters, and people who hunt it down to use its skin. The food it eats is almost any animal it can get including, deer, cattle, tapirs, penuries, spider monkeys, the jaguar is a carnivore. The jaguar uses its skin to help blend in while sleeping and trying to catch a prey. Most of the jaguar’s predators are omnivores because they eat both meat and plants.The Morpho butterfly is blue & black. The wings are outlined with black and small white dots. The morpho butterfly lives in the highest part of the canopy in the rainforest. It lives in or near the trees. The predator that the butterfly has is flycatcher, jacamar, and spiders.

The food that the morpho butterfly eats is rotten food, fruits, leaves, their diet can change throughout its lifespan. The butterfly is an herbivore. When the butterfly is flying the underside of its wings is brown with eyespots so when its wings are flapping it helps make it look like it is appearing and disappearing which confuses the predator.

The Yanomami tribe lives in the rainforest, the population is 25,000. Their culture has many different things that involve their whole family working together and effort. They use

small villages grouped by family’s 40-300 individuals small round huts called Shabonos. They use river fish, trees, caves, roots, to make animal meals in nature. They also hunt for meat gardens that are where they get 80% of their food. Most of the time the indigence leader of the tribe goes off to hunt. He is usually is the only one who is allowed to hunt.

The Witoto tribe lives in the Northwest Amazon basin. They are smart and they use lots of medicinal plants. They also have communal houses and hollow log signal drums. The nomadic person is

always moving around from house to house and trying to find more stuff in the rainforest that they did not have before or stuff that could help the people who are sick. They are very skilled hunters that will hunt for survival. When the warriors are successful in battle, they celebrate

by eating the meat of the people they had killed and use the bones to make things like, necklaces or bracelets. No longer isolated from the rest of the world.The roads are not big enough for cars. They get around by canoes or walking. Roads are only big enough to walk on. The Amazon rainforest has produced 20% of our world’s oxygen, as it is rich in plants. When it’s being destroyed, the oxygen levels will affect us humans. The natural products of the rainforest include, natural rubber (latex), brazil-nut, Guarani, aecia, iron, manganese, uranium, bauxite, copper, gypsum, lignite, nickel, gold, diamonds, other less valuable gems, crafts, craftwork, wood, and medicinal plants.

They cut down the Amazon (or burn) to make room for agriculture; this causes animals and plants species that never be brought back become extinct as their habitats are destroyed. This causes deforestation because the trees, plants,

and animals are all being destroyed because of us humans are cutting down the rainforest. Experts agree that by leaving the rainforests intact and harvesting its many nuts, fruits, oil-producing plants, and medicinal plants, the rainforest has more economic value than if they were cut down to make grazing land for

cattle or for timber. If managed properly the rainforest can provide the worlds need for theses natural resources on a perpetual basis. Promoting the use of these sustainable and renewable sources could ye stop the destruction of the rainforest? By creating a new source of income harvesting the medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, fruit nuts, and other sustainable resources, the rainforest resources the rainforest is more valuable alive than cut down or burned.Ecotourism is rapidly becoming a leading way for developing countries to bring in foreign revenue by preserving the rainforest. Ecotourist pay to see a country’s natural beauty, not the destruction caused by short-run exploration. Money spent directly in the local economy helps give value to forest preservation. The locals, along with the government, can see the importance of keeping the forest intact. Most tourists are willing to pay directly for preservation in the forms of park entrance fees and donations. The rainforest was 14% now we only have 6% left. So let’s conserve the Rainforest! Do more to learn about the animals and plants in the rainforest. Come on take a stand. Everybody do something and make a difference. The plants and animals have adapted to their home and are dying out as we are taking their home away.

Cites:

Information: http://nationzoo.si.edul/animals/amazonia/facts/basinfacts.cfm

http://www.Srl.caltech.edu/personal/krubal/rainforest/edit56056/www/whlayers.html

Pictures: http://www.tortiselibary.com/south_amereica_climate_map.gif http://www.duke.edu/web/nicholas/bio217/jmz28/s_america-map2.gif http:// www.srl.caltech.edu/personal/krubal/rainforest/Edit56056/www/whlayers.html

The rainforest has lost over half of its original area. The plants and animals are slowly disappearing.