Tropical Rainforest More than half of the world’s tropical rainforests can be found in Central and South America, however they are also present in south eastern Asia and Africa. All of the world’s tropical rainforests can be found at the approximate location of -20 degrees latitude, also known as the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. These types of areas exist because of the specific climate, soil types, and diversity present in these regions. This specific area falls in the equatorial and tropical zone and are therefore their climates are controlled by the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and it’s low pressure centers around the equator. Winds present are moist equatorial (mE) and moist tropical (mT). There is no clear seasonality in these regions, where the temperature rarely gets higher than 34 degrees C (93F) or below 20 degrees C (68F) in a diurnal pattern; with an average humidity around 83% due to the precipitation regimes of about 103 inches of rain annually - thus providing an overall very wet climate (Fan, 2014). In terms of landscape, tropical rainforests are generally found at an elevation between 0-3000m depending on the type: Tropical lowland evergreen, tropical semi-evergreen, montane, heath, peat swamp, mangrove, or freshwater swamp. There is no seasonal change in vegetation, the main plants in the biomes are trees which compose about 70% of the vegetation. The thick canopy due to the rather dense amount of trees present provides as a shield from the intense sunlight to the plants and other organisms below. Vegetation in the rainforest is restricted to species that can tolerate high amounts of precipitation, humidity, low sunlight, low nutrient levels, and acidic soi... ... middle of paper ... ...a.gov/wed/pages/projects/globalclimatechange/TerrestrialCarbonCycle.pdf>. "The Tropical Rain Forest." Biomes. Marietta College, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. . "Tropical Rainforest Biome." Tropical Rainforests. Botany Department University of Wisconsin, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. . "Tropical Rainforest." Earth Floor: Biomes. Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA-supported Classroom of the Future., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. . "Vertical Pattern." ACEER Foundation. The ACEER Foundation and Rainforest Conservation, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. . Whitmore, T. C. An Introduction to Tropical Rain Forests. Oxford: Clarendon, 1990. Print.
Depending on the biomes, rainfall and soil can vary. However, the rainfall is typically ranges from 30 cm to 200 cm. In mountainous regions and forest biomes, there would be plenty of rainfall. While in the grasslands, there’s little rainfall. In the temperate zone, there are two main types of trees, coniferous and deciduous. The deciduous trees, in the South, drop their leaves in the winter. Generally, the trees are usually small in height unless in the forest areas. The forests tend to have wide leaves and tall, large trees. The soil in deciduous forests is found to be very fertile. The different amount of rainfall in the forest areas and the grasslands cause the difference between the trees and plant height. The rainfall in forest regions can lead them to be very common with the rainforests. Furthermore, the changes and variation of weather could be the reason as to why the forests shed or don’t shed their leaves. The leaves show a correlation between the fair amount of sunlight during the summer causing the leaves
Woodward, S.L. "Boreal Forest (Taiga)." Biomes of the World. N.p., 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Tropical rainforests are an extremely unique and diverse ecosystem that are located around the earth’s equator. They once covered roughly 7% of the world, but due to human encroachment that has dwindled to just 2%. It is a highly moisture rich environment that typically receives anywhere between 60 and 400 inches of rainfall annually and average humidity ranges from 70 to 90%. A high average year round temperature, coupled with the moisture rich environment, creates an ecosystem that allows for a level of biodiversity seen nowhere else on the planet. This also results in a specific type of layering design that allows the system to survive and recycle its nutrients.
The ecosystem I have chosen is tropical rainforest. In the following paragraphs, I am going to firstly introduced the structure of tropical rainforest in brief, with the second part of the plant ecology and last the diversity within this ecosystem.
The following paper will explore two different biomes: Boreal Forest and the Tropical Rainforest. An examination of these two biomes will provide an understanding of how these biomes exists and the various types and forms of processes that acted on it and are acting on it both biologically and through abiotic factors.
Bruijnzeel, L.A. Hydrological functions of tropical forests: not seeing the soil for the trees? Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 104:1 185-228
Moeller, Karla (2013, July 24). Revealing the Rainforest. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved November 29, 2013 from http://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/rainforest
The Yasuni National Park possesses very diverse rainforest which significantly impact how the ecosystem functions; yet the the processes of disturbance and succession greatly affect them ("Yasuni National Park, Ecuador", "Ecuador Yasuni ITT Trust Fund" ). Just one hectare of the park contains more species of trees and bushes than all of North America ("Foreseeable Impacts of Oil Industry Activity in Yasuní")! There are a staggering 1762 species of trees and shrubs that have been identified in Yasuni, and approximately 400 of them are inherent to the region (“Foreseeable”). Hundreds of the plants in the previously untouchable zones have not even been classified or studied in depth (“Foreseeable”). The park is also paradise to a multitude of animal...
a) The Daintree rainforest at Cape Tribulation, in far north Queensland is diverse in many ways. It holds 12 of the 19 primitive plant families in the world (Cairns Today, 2007). The forest covers an area of 1100 square kilometres and is approximately eighty kilometres wide. This dense and luxuriant rainforest has the greatest diversity than any other in Australia and many in the world. The Daintree is also the home of rare and threatened of being extinct plant and animal species. The importance of this ecosystem is the very high. This ecosystem contributes to the overall health of this plant in many ways. The diversity contributes in the breakdown of pollution and helps to control the climate to name a few. This rainforest also is a great ‘carbon sink’. It has many photosynthesising plants and this allows the control of carbon dioxide (CO2). The plants take in the CO2 from the atmosphere and return oxygen (O2)
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type which occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north and south of the equator. The forests are dominated by tall, closely spread trees, with a predominately continuous canopy. This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall during the year. Elements of the biophysical environment of the biome and their interaction with each other Ecosystems develop in response to the interactions between biotic and abiotic components. Certain conditions in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere must occur for the formation of tropical rainforests.
Tropical rainforests which is located between tropic of Capricorn and tropic of Cancer covered 12% of land surface few thousand years ago. However, today they o...
Lindsey, Rebecca. "Tropical Deforestation : Feature Articles." Tropical Deforestation : Feature Articles. NASA, 30 Mar. 2007. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. .
Simply speaking, rainforests are basically the foundation of the earth. The most important role that rainforests play is ‘the lungs of the earth’. This is extremely vital to the earth’s survival as the trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide which they use to help grow and let out oxygen which we need to live. This system is known as the carbon-oxygen cycle and with numbers of rainforests declining, it is highly threatened. The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, alone is known to produce half of the world’s oxygen. A break down in the carbon-oxygen cycle means that we will not only have less oxygen, but an increase in carbon dioxide which eventually leads to global warming. This occurs as carbon dioxide traps heat which actually keeps the earth warm, with the right amount of carbon dioxide that is. This is called the greenhouse effect and occurs naturally however due to decreasing number of trees, there is more carbon dioxide than needed which traps extra heat making the earth hotter than needed, this is known as global warming which also causes a rise in sea level.
Tropical rainforests have many species of plants and animals. They are very interesting and many scientists today study it. Rainforests are an important part of our environment and it is important for us to protect it. That’s why we have to stop global warming.
The Redesigned Forest. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited, 1990. Newman, Arnold. Tropical Rainforest. New York: Checkmark Books, 2002.