tropical rainforests

• Tropical rainforests contain more animal species than any other ecosystem
• Many indigenous people have adapted to live in the rainforest and they make a living by hunting, farming and fishing
• Plants and soil in tropical rainforests

  • Most of the trees are evergreen to help them take advantage of the continual growing season
  • Trees are very tall and the vegetation cover is dense
  • There's very little light that actually reaches the forest floor
  • There are lots of epiphytes which are plants that grow on other living plants and take the nutrients from the air
  • The soil is not very fertile as heavy rain washes away the nutrients but there is surface nutrients due to decayed leaf fall
• Climate of tropical rainforests

  • The climate is the same all year round generally between 20 to 28 degrees celsius
  • Rainfall is very high around 2,000 millimetres per year
  • It rains daily
• Why the climate is the same all year round

  The sun's energy is most intense near the equator as it is overhead all year round
• How tropical rainforests are interdependent

  1. Sucropia trees have hollow stems and produce energy rich food at the base of their leaves

  2. Azteca ants rely on the trees for this food and shelter

  3. These ants fight off other insects trying to also feed from the same tree

  4. Without these ants, sucropia trees would be much more vulnerable to other predators
• Adaptations of plants in tropical rainforests

  • Lianas are woody vines that have roots in the ground but climb up trees to reach the sunlight
  • Tree trunks are tall and thin to allow trees to reach the sunlight
  • The bark on these trees are smooth to allow water to flow down to the roots easily
  • Drip tips on leaves allow water to run off the leaves quickly without damaging or breaking them
  • Buttress roots are large roots which have ridges which create a large surface area that help to support large trees
  • Epiphytes are plants which live on the branches of trees high up in the canopy and get their nutrients from the air and water but not from the soil
• Adaptations of animals in tropical rainforests

  • The sloth uses camouflage and moves very slowly to make it difficult for predators to spot
  • The spider monkey has long strong limbs to help it to climb through the rainforest trees
  • The flying frog has fully webbed hands and feet and a flap of loose skin that stretches between its limbs which allows it to glide from plant to plants
  • The toucan has a long large bill to allow it to reach and cut fruit from branches that are too weak to support its weight