Amazing Amazon Rainforest
By: Elizabeth Helms The rainforest is the oldest living ecosystem on the Earth. The rainforest is a forest with annual rainfall. The Amazon Rainforest is located in South America. It is about 20 degrees south to 10 degrees North and 50 degrees west to 80 degrees west. The 3 hemispheres the Amazon is located in are the North, South and West. The
rainforest is located in Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. People that live in the Amazon get around by canoes and also walking. The roads aren’t big enough for car they are only big enough to walk. The climate in the rainforest is 79 degrees Fahrenheit and the average rainfall is about 100 inches a year. The climate zone is tropical wet.
Layers: There are 4 layers of the Amazon rainforest. The highest layer is the emergent layer. The emergent layer has the tallest trees and gets lots of sun. Trees in the emergent layer are about 200 feet tall and 16 feet around. Herbivores are more likely to live in the emergent because of the plentiful fruits. Some
animals that live in the emergent layer are eagles, monkeys, bats, and butterflies. The 2nd highest layer of the rainforest is the canopy. The canopy has lots of food and forms a “roof”. Snakes, toucans, and tree frogs are all examples of animals in the canopy. The 2nd lowest point in the forest is the understory. The understory has large leaves to reach the little amount of sunlight. There are insects, jaguars, and leopards in the understory. The bottom layer of the rainforest is the forest floor. The forest floor gets barely any sun so it’s dark. There are barely any plants since there isn’t a lot of sun. Plant 1: In the Amazon there is a tree called the kapok tree. The kapok tree uses photosynthesis to produce its own food. The kapok tree is about 200 feet high and about 9-11 feet around. It lives in the emergent layer. Predators of the kapok tree are humans and birds. Uses of the kapok tree are the bark, resin, and the foliage, leaves, are used to treat fever, asthma, and kidney disease.
Plant 2: The 2nd plant is the orchid. The orchid is a producer because it uses sunlight to make its own food. The orchid is light pink or white. The orchid is small and beautiful. It lives in the understory on tree trunks. Predators of the orchid are insects and birds. The orchid absorbs lots moisture. The orchid has a good smell and is used for perfume. It is also used for decoration since it is so beautiful.
Animal 1: The Toco Toucan lives canopy layer of the Amazon rainforest. The toco toucan has an orange beak, white bib, and the rest of it is black. Adaptations of the toucan are the beak, colors, claws, feathers, and that it changes colors. The toucan has a colorful camouflage to blend in with the bright colors. Predators of the toco toucan are humans, bid cats, and jaguars. The toco toucan is an omnivore. The toco toucan’s prey is fruit, insects, young birds, eggs, and lizards.
Animal 2: Another organism that lives in the Amazon Rainforest is the poison dart frog. The poison
dart frog is colorful and small. Adaptations of the frog are the poison and that it is brightly colored. The poison dart frog’s habitat is in the understory. The frog eats fruit flies, ants, and termites. It is a carnivore. Only decomposers and 1 kind of snake eat the poison dart frog.
Tribe 1: The Yanomami tribe lives in the Amazon rainforest. The Yanomami culture is very different from our culture. The Yanomami tribe has a population of 25,000. The Yanomami people are grouped by families. They live in small villages with 40 to 300 individuals. The people live in huts called shabonos. The shabonos are large circular huts with hanging hammocks to sleep in. The Yanomamis eat animals, fish, and crops from their gardens. The fish from the river is 10% of all the food they eat. Animals the Yanomamis catch are 10% of
their food. The crops they grow in their gardens are 80% of all their food. The Yanomamis get canoes, fruits, and roots from trees. They use the plants for food, medicine, and house building. Some of the Yanomami beliefs are that all people are treated equally, they have no chiefs, and that no hunter ever eats the meat he kills. The Yanomami people are one of the most known tribes in the Amazon. Tribe 2: The Enawene Nawe tribe is indigenous to the Amazon Rainforest. The entire tribe lives in one village. The houses are made of wood and thatch. Homes can have up to 50 people. The houses are around a circle in the center of the village. Enawene Nawe has dozens of clans. The crops they grow include corn, manioc, honey, and fish. Like the Yanomami tribe the Enawene Nawe tribe gets the majority of their food from the gardens they have. Some beliefs of the Enawene Nawe tribe are they don't eat red meat, they don't hunt, they fear dams will pollute water and destroy fish.
About 10 years ago the rainforest covered 14% of the world, because of deforestation 14% has been reduced to 6%. If the deforestation problem continues the Amazon rainforest will be gone in less than 10 years. There are lots of animals in the Amazon if we don’t save the Amazon these animals will be extinct. There are
still animals we haven’t discovered. The Amazon is a big part of our lives even though it is so far away. We get oxygen, nuts, iron, copper, wood, and medical plants from the rainforest. Ecotourism helps the Amazon because the tourists are not causing much damage to the environment and are helping protect the environment. When we conserve we are preventing the loss of the Amazon and protecting the Amazon. We conserve by not using as much paper, wood, and oil.
Cites:
Information: http://www.amazonrainforest.org/amazon-products.html http://www.projectamazonias.org/amazo nfacts http://www.survivalinternational.org/trib es/enawenenawe http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnal/krubal/r ainforest/Edit560s6/www/whlayers.html
http://amazonrainforestanimalsfacts.blo gspot.com/search/label/Amazon
Pictures: http://www.tortoiselibary.com/South_A merica_climate_map.gif http://www.duke.edu/web/nicholas/bio21 7/jmz28/s_america-map2.gif http://waynesword.palomar.edu/dartfrog.ht m http://animals.natiomalgeographic.com/anim als/birds/toucan