T he Amazon Rainfor est
By: Pooja Tailor Introduction Step into the astonishing Amazon rainforest and see exquisite plants and animals that will blow your mind. A rainforest is a tropical forest full of enormous trees and creatures with daily rainfall. The Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world covering more than 2 million square miles. This rainforest is located in South America in the NW and SW hemispheres. The Amazon Rainforest takes up 9/13 of the countries in South America. The following countries are: Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. (Range for the forest: 45 0-750 west longitude, 0 0-150 latitude)
Layers of the Rainforest There are four layers of the rainforest, the forest floor, the understory layer, canopy layer and the emergent layer. The forest floor is the bottom layer of the rainforest. It is very dark, and no sunlight. There are not many plants either. Most plants grow on trees called epiphytes. There are hardly any animals on the forest floor. The Understory Layer is right on top of the Forest Floor, it rarely gets any sunlight. The redeyed tree frog and the jaguar live here. Insects scatter throughout this layer. The Canopy layer is located above the Understory layer. This layer is a labyrinth of leaves and branches. Most of the animals live here. The Emergent layer is the top layer of the Amazon. The Emergent layer is a habitat for
eagles, monkeys, and butterflies. In this layer, sunlight is plentiful.
Animals in the Amazon There are many different types of animals in the rainforest, some species undiscovered. More than half of the world’s species live in the Amazon. There are a couple ways to classify animals. A carnivore is a meat eater. An herbivore is a plant eater. An omnivore is an animal that eats both meat and plants. You can also classify plants and animals by consumer (a plant or animal that eats), producer (an animal that makes its own food), and a decomposer (an animal that breaks down other organisms). One of the animals in the rainforest is the Giant Anteater. The Giant Anteater is an organism that lives on the Forest Floor. It has light brown fur and it uses camouflage to blend in with the mud. The Anteater is a predator to termites and ants, it is a carnivore. This animal has many `different
adaptations . It walks on its knuckles and the rainforest floor is very soft and muddy so it doesn’t hurt it. The Giant Anteater has a special way of finding its prey ; it hears the ants and termites!
Another popular animal in the rainforest is the toucan. The toucan is a colorful bird with a large beak. This animal lives in the canopy layer. Large cats such as the jaguar feast on the toucan, some humans do too. The toucan eats fruits, berries, seeds, small birds, and lizards. The toucan is an omnivore. The toucan can adapt to many things. One of their adaptations is: the toucan has a long bill to squash fruit and berries,
so it can easily swallow.
Plants in the Amazon Rainforest There are thousands of plants in the Amazon. If you take a step into the enchanted rainforest, you will see a lot of foliage wherever you go.
These plants use photosynthesis for food. One of these plants is the lipstick tree. The lipstick tree is a green plant with pink/red fruit. It looks more like a bush than a tree. This tree is located on the Forest Floor. There are many uses for this plant. We use the tree’s fruits for a spice; we also use it in cosmetics. It is also used as an insect repellent, and in Columbia they used a part of this tree to treat snake bites. It is also used for heartburn. Another beautiful producer in the rainforest is the water lily. Water lilies are stunning white or pink flowers that are surrounded by large circular leaves. Water lilies live in bodies of water 6-7 feet deep. Beavers, moose, muskrats, porcupines, and deer consume the leaves and roots of the water lily.
American
Indians pound the water lily’s roots and make flour used in pancakes. We also use the water lily to treat stomach problems.
Climate The Amazon rainforest is a hot and humid place. The average temperature is 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The Amazon rainforest is located in the tropical wet and tropical dry climate zones. The average rainfall is 108 inches per year.
Tribes of the rainforest There are hundreds of tribes in the Amazon rainforest. One of these tribes is the Yanomami. The Yanomami is an indigenous or native tribe of the rainforest; each and every family has a different place where they prepare their food. They live in large, circular house called shabonos which is made of wood and palm leaves. At night, they sleep in a hammock by the fire to keep warm. The Yanomami is very dependent on the rainforest’s resources; they use fish for protein, wood for shelter and many more items. For food, men hunt and women take care of the crops. The Yanomami’s culture is very different from the Tikuna tribe. The Tikuna tribe is another tribe in the Amazon rainforest. Their culture has been influenced a lot by contact from the outside world. They used to use bow and arrow to kill animals for food, but now they use a shot gun. They still have some traditions that are still alive. One of the traditions is they hollow a tree trunk and uses it as a
canoe. They live in houses made of small trees, palm leaves, and bark. The Tikunas are nomads because they have to move to replant their crops once their
farming area is used.
Human Environment Interactions Deforestation is a major problem of the rainforest. People are cutting down too many trees and destroying habitats for paper and buildings. People mine for minerals and gems in the Amazon. They also cut down trees for cattle ranching because of the good soil. The rainforest use to cover 14% of the earth’s surface, now only 6%. We are striving to conserve the rainforests and encourage ecotourism . We retrieve many different products from the rainforest, we get: coffee beans, rich fertile soil, fruits, wood, rubber, minerals, and gems. For transportation in the rainforest, they take boats and rafts through the long Amazon River to share ideas. They also cut down trees and build
dirt roads. The tribes in the rainforest trade goods with the outsiders.
Conclusion The Amazon rainforest is a fascinating place, Protecting this rainforest is a hardworking race. We are striving to save, These animals and plants, And all the different species of ants. Let’s save this beauty, For others to see. If we don’t save it, We won’t be able to breathe.
Works Sited www.unique- southmerica- travel- experience.com www.maryt.files.wordpress.com www.palmbeachzoo.org/images/aniamals www.dictionary.com www.makalapa.k12 www.peakwater.org http://librarythinkquest.org
www.nationalgeographic.com www.survivalinternational.org/tribes www.eduweb.com/rain/rainfall www.micktravels.com www.amazon- indians.org www.tradewindsfruit.com www.conservalnature.org www.thesaurus.com www.nksandeep.files.wordpress.com Place and people: Amazonia: Living in the Forest (video)