intro, climate , location, types, soil and its adaptation , animal and its its adaptations, plants and its adaptations , impact of human,suggestions.

1. TROPICAL FOREST ECOSYSTEM
By:- Charu Jaiswal

2. What is the tropical rainforest?
 Ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants and animals)
sharing an environment.
 A forest ecosystem is a natural woodland unit consisting of all
plants, animals and micro-organisms (Biotic components) in that area
functioning together with all of the non-living physical (abiotic) factors
of the environment.
 The largest ecosystems are called biomes e.g. Tropical Rainforest
 Rain forests are called "cradles of diversity “
 The Tropical Rainforest occurs in a broad zone outside the equator.
 It is a forest occurring in tropical areas of heavy rainfall.
Temperature and humidity are relatively high through the year.
 Rainforests grow in the tropics, close to the equator and the plants
have a twelve month growing season.
 As a resultant, the rainforest is the most luxuriant vegetation system
in the world. It is abundant with many species of wildlife and
vegetation
 Rainforests cover less than two percent of the Earth's surface.

3. Climate
 Warm and wet describes the
tropical rain forest climate. The
average annual temperature is
above 30 C; there is never a frost
 Annual rainfall, which exceeds 2000
to 2250 millimeters, is generally
evenly distributed throughout the
year.
 In general, tropical rainforests have
hot and humid climates where it
rains virtually every day.
 The rainy season is from December
to May. Notice how much the
rainfall varies over the year - the
highest monthly rainfall is in March
with over 300mm, while the lowest
is in August with less than 50mm.
Over the year, the temperature only
varies by 2°C.
The graph shows average rainfall and
temperature in Manaus, Brazil, in the Amazon
rainforest

4. Where are tropical rainforests
found?
 The tropical rainforests are,
located in the tropics, a
band around the equator
from 23.5 N (the Tropic of
Cancer) to 23.5 S (the
Tropic of Capricorn
 Central America in the
Amazon River basin.
 Africa - Zaire basin, with a
small area in West Africa;
also eastern Madagascar.
 Indo-Malaysia - west coast
of India, Assam, Southeast
Asia, New Guinea and
Queensland, Australia.
 Other tropical rainforest
places are in Hawaii and the
islands of the Pacific &
Caribbean.

5. Types of tropical rainforest
 Lowland equatorial
evergreen rain forests
=Occurs at the belt of the
equator , Amazon Basin of
South America, the Congo
Basin of Central Africa,
Indonesia,
 Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen
seasonal forests =
warm summer • winter dry
season• Some trees shed off
their leaves on winter
season• Central America and
around the Caribbean, in
coastal West Africa, parts of
the Indian subcontinent,
 Montane rain forests or cloud
forests = Found in mountain
areas• altitude is between
1500 to 3300 m
 Flooded forest = waterlogged
swamp forest areas.
Tropical forest
ttt

6. Soil
 The profile of the soil in
the rainforest is called a
Latolsol. Latosols are
reddish brown.
 Red color comes from
the oxides of iron and
aluminum in the soil.
They are very deep
soils.
 The heavy rain in the
rainforest leads to
leaching (minerals
washed out)
 Top layer of soil is often
light in color.
 These are infertile soil.

7. Adaptations
Despite the infertile soil the
rainforest survives because :-
• Plant and animal remains
soon decay in the warm,
humid climate.
• Shallow rooted trees quickly
absorb the nutrients released
by decomposition
• Few nutrients are lost from
the nutrient cycle as the
forest literally feeds on itself.
• Most nutrients are stored in
vegetation, when they die
they decay and are then
absorbed by the trees.

8. Vegetation
• Species of Flora is highly
diverse: a square kilometer
may contain as many as 100
different tree compared to 3
or 4 in the temperate zone.
• The various trees of the
tropical rain forests are
closely spaced together and
form a thick continuous
canopy some 25 to 35
meters tall.
• Epiphytic orchids and
bromeliads, as well as vines
lianas, are very characteristic
of the tropical rainforest.
Some other common plants
include ferns and palms.

9. What is the structure of
vegetation in the rainforest?
 Emergent’s are the tallest trees and are
usually over 50 meters tall. The Kapok tree
is an example of an emergent.
 The sea of leaves blocking out the sun
from the lower layers is called the
canopy. The canopy contains over 50% of
the rainforest wildlife. This includes birds,
snakes and monkeys. Lianas (vines)
climb to the canopy to reach this sun light.
 The under canopy mainly contains bare
tree trunks and lianas.
 The shrub layer has the densest plant
growth. It contains shrubs and ferns and
other plants needing less light. Saplings
of emergent’s and canopy trees can also
be found here.
 The forest floor is usually dark and damp.
It contains a layer of rotting leaves and
dead animals called litter. This
decomposes rapidly (within 6 weeks) to
form thin humus, rich in nutrients.

10. Adaptation
 Leaves have drip tips that
shed moisture quickly after
heavy downpours.
 The wide buttress roots at
the base of the tall trees
help to prevent them falling
over. Shallow buttress roots
help to give support in the
thin infertile soils. They
have a shallow spreading
root system to collect as
much nutrients as they can.

11. Lianas are creeping
plants that grow up
the tree trunks and
use them to get to
the sunlight.
This tall “tree” is
actually a fern.
Some tree ferns
grow 40 to 50 feet
tall! Ferns on the
forest floor are able
to cope in low-light
conditions.

12.  Epiphytes – (epi = outer and
phyte = plants) – are plants that
grow on other plants. By growing
up off the forest floor epiphytes
have access to higher quality light
(red and blue). A diversity of
plants have adapted to an
epiphytic life. There are epiphytic
flowering plants, mosses, cacti,
ferns, and liverworts.
 The large epiphyte in the center is
a bromeliad. Large bromeliads
like this one are called “tank
bromeliads” because their cup of
leaves holds a lot of water. That
water is the drinking source for
arboreal animals. Several species
of frogs lay their eggs in it and the
tadpoles develop in the treetops.

13. Animal Life
•Common characteristics found
among mammals and birds
(and reptiles and amphibians,
too)
•Small animals, including
monkeys, birds, snakes,
rodents, frogs, and lizards are
common in the tropical
rainforest.
•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.

14. Adaptations
 Toucans have adapted by
developing long, large bill. This
adaptation allows this bird to reach
fruit on branches that are too small
to support the bird's weight. The bill
also is used to cut the fruit from the
tree.
 The sloth uses a behavioral
adaptation and camouflage to
survive in the rainforest. It moves
very, very slowly and spends most
of its time hanging upside down
from trees. Blue-green algae grow
on its fur giving the sloth a greenish
color and making it more difficult
for predators to spot.
 Adaptations to a life in the trees,
such as the prehensile tails of New
World monkeys.
 Poison Dart Frogs have such
brilliant colors to warn predators
that they are poisonous.

15. What is the impact of humans?
• 40 Hectare is lost every minute, 5
times the size of Switzerland every
year.
• Deforestation is a major problem .
Reasons behind it are :-
• Logging
• Cattle Ranching
• Mining
• Rubber tapping - some trees provide
natural rubber from the sap
• Tourism - increasing number of
tourists want to visit the rainforest
• Farming - farms vary from tiny
subsistence farms to huge
plantations growing a single crop
such as palm oil.
• Hydro Electric Dams
• Cities such as Manaus
• Roads such as the Trans-Amazonian
Highway

16. What are the effects of Rainforest Deforestation?
• Changes in Biodiversity
- Removal of the forest
causes the loss of plant
species.
• Changes in Hydrology -
Without the trees the
water cycle is disrupted.
• Changes in Soils -
Without trees to
protect it, the soil is
easily eroded.
• Changes in Climate -
Transpiration is reduced
and evaporation
increases. This leads to
a drier climate.

17. Why are rainforest important?
• Rainforest help
stabilize the world’s
climate
• provide a home to
many plants and
animals
• maintain the water
cycle
• protect against flood,
drought, and erosion
• are a source for
medicines and foods
• support tribal people
and
• an interesting place to
visit

18. How can the rainforest be managed for
sustainable development?
• (Sustainable Development - means using the resources in such a way to be
able to preserve them for future use)
• Rubber Tapping - This collects latex from trees and causes no lasting damage
to trees. Likewise collecting fruits such as Brazil Nuts does not harm the forest
and can bring in more income than cattle ranching.
• National Parks & Reserves - Some countries have set up parks to protect their
rainforest as in the Korup National Park in Cameroon. The aim is to preserve
their unique flora and fauna and try to develop ecotourism.
• Sustainable Logging - The aim is to produce timber in such a way that the
forest is not permanently damaged and recovers quickly. Trees are replanted
and there needs to be a strict quota on how much timber is allowed to be cut
down. This takes place in Peru.
• Agroforestry - This is where a variety of plants are grown to produce crops,
fruit and larger trees. The idea being to use some large trees to protect the
soils and smaller plants but allowing more light in to enable more produce in
the form of palm trees, oil palms, coconuts, pineapple and bananas as well as
crops on the forest floor.
• Education - Teach others about the importance of the environment and how
they can help save rainforest.

19. Tropical Rainforest Facts
 There are more plant and animal species in the rainforest than
anywhere else on earth - in fact 90% of it is found here.
 It rains everyday in the afternoon and in every month of the
year.
 Its growing season is 365 days a year - in other words no
seasons.
 The trees of a tropical rainforest are so densely packed that rain
falling on the canopy can take as long as 10 minutes to reach
the ground.
 Rainfall is heavy and mainly convectional - up to 1800 mm a
year.
 Because of deforestation and destruction some experts estimate
that the last remaining rainforest could disappear in 40 years.
 More than 2,000 tropical forest plants have been identified by
scientists as having anti-cancer properties.

20. Thank you!!!