What is the average rainforest

Other plants grow in the upper canopy on larger trees to get sunlight. These are the epiphytes such as orchids and bromeliads.

Many trees have buttress and stilt roots for extra support in the shallow, wet soil of the rainforests. Over 2, species of vines grow in the rainforest. Lianas start off as small shrubs that grow on the forest floor. To reach the sunlight in the upper canopy it sends out tendrils to grab sapling trees.

The liana and the tree grow towards the canopy together. The rattan vine has spikes on the underside of its leaves that point backwards to grab onto sapling trees. Other "strangler" vines will use trees as support and grow thicker and thicker as they reach the canopy, strangling its host tree.

They look like trees whose centers have been hollowed out. Dominant species do not exist in tropical rainforests. Lowland dipterocarp forest can consist of many different species of Dipterocarpaceae, but not all of the same species. Trees of the same species are very seldom found growing close together. This bio diversity and separation of the species prevents mass contamination and die-off from disease or insect infestation. Bio diversity also insures that there will be enough pollinators to take care of each species' needs.

Animals depend on the staggered blooming and fruiting of rainforest plants to supply them with a year-round source of food. Many species of animal life can be found in the rain forest. Common characteristics found among mammals and birds and reptiles and amphibians, too include adaptations to a life in the trees, such as the prehensile tails of New World monkeys.

Other characteristics are bright colors and sharp patterns, loud vocalizations, and diets heavy on fruits. Insects make up the largest single group of animals that live in tropical forests.

They include brightly colored butterflies, mosquitoes, camouflaged stick insects, and huge colonies of ants. The Amazon river basin rainforest contains a wider variety of plant and animal life than any other biome in the world.

The second largest population of plant and animal life can be found in scattered locations and islands of Southeast Asia. The lowest variety can be found in Africa. There may be 40 to different species in 2. When early explorers first discovered the rainforests of Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, they They were amazed by the dense growth, trees with giant buttresses, vines and epiphytes. The tropical vegetation grew so dense that it was difficult to cut one's way through it.

It was thought at the time that the soil of a rainforest must be very fertile, filled with nutrients, enabling it to support the immense trees and other vegetation they found. Today we know that the soil of the tropical rainforests is shallow, very poor in nutrients and almost without soluble minerals. Thousands of years of heavy rains have washed away the nutrients in the soil obtained from weathered rocks.

The rainforest has a very short nutrient cycle. Nutrients generally stay in an ecosystem by being recycled and in a rainforest are mainly found in the living plants and the layers of decomposing leaf litter. Various species of decomposers like insects, bacteria, and fungi make quick work of turning dead plant and animal matter into nutrients. Plants take up these nutrients the moment they are released. When a rainforest is burned or cut down the nutrients are removed from the ecosystem.

The soil can only be used for a very short time before it becomes completely depleted of all nutrients. The tropical rain forest can be found in three major geographical areas around the world. Animals in the tropical rainforest are specially adapted to live in this unique environment. A common characteristic found among mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, is an adaptation to living in trees. One example is New World monkeys that have prehensile tails that curl around branches allowing the monkey to hold onto the tree with its tail!

Other animals are brightly colored, sharply patterned, have loud vocalizations, and like to eat lots of fruit. Most of the animals in the tropical rainforest live in the canopy. There is so much food available up there that some animals never go down to explore the forest floor! Birds are important to rainforests because they like to eat seeds and fruit. Their droppings grow into new plants and help rainforests to survive.

In turn, tropical rainforests are important to birds because they provide winter grounds as migratory destination. Parrots are not the only type of birds you will see in the rainforest. Insects make up the largest single group of animals that live in tropical forests. They include bright beautiful butterflies, menacing mosquitoes, camouflaged stick insects, and colossal colonies of ants. Most of these animals live on, or near the forest floor where they are protected from the wind and rain by the trees above.

Many birds and small mammals, such as chipmunks, like to eat seeds that fall on the forest floor. Lots of insects live in the temperate rainforest. Most of them live in tree bark, decomposing dead plant matter, or mossy areas. Birds and amphibians like to eat these insects.

Some mammals in the temperate rainforest include deer and bobcats. Cougars and bobcats are the top predators in this biome. However, people also rely on tropical rainforests for food, medicine, timber, travel, and more.

Rainforests around the world provide people with food and spices, for example, allspice, vanilla, cacao, cassava, ginger, bananas, black pepper, sugar cane, nutmeg and more. Many people are also moving from crowded cities where they cannot find jobs into the rainforest where they are becoming small-scale farmers. What Are the Trophic Levels in the Savanna? Where Are the Temperate Zones Located? Facts on the Himalayas for Kids.

The Ecosystems of Ghana. How to Compare the Biodiversity of Temperate Forest Appalachian Plateau Animals and Plants. Facts About Mountains in Mexico. Forest Ecosystem Classification. Definition of a Land Ecosystem. Language English. Inside the Amazon. Spanning 6. The Amazon River flows for more than 6, km, and with its hundreds of tributaries and streams contains the largest number of freshwater fish species in the world.

Natural and cultural diversity Equally impressive are the unfathomable numbers of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles4 found across the biome. The Amazon is home to more than 30 million people living across a vast region subdivided into nine different national political systems.

And yet, for all of its magnitude and apparent remoteness, the Amazon Biome is surprisingly fragile and close to each one of us. The economic transformation of the Amazon based on the conversion and degradation of its natural habitat is gaining momentum.

Yet, as those forces grow in strength, we are also finding that the Amazon plays a critical role in maintaining climate function regionally and globally, a contribution which everyone—rich or poor—depends on.

Given the enormous amount of carbon stored in the forests of the Amazon, there is tremendous potential to alter global climate if not properly stewarded. The Amazon contains billion metric tons of carbon, the release of even a portion of which would accelerate global warming significantly. Currently, land conversion and deforestation in the Amazon release up to 0. Ranitomeya benedicta, new poison frog species.