Emma D. - Block 3 by Andrew Contafio

The Rainforest! By Emma D. Block 3 A Rainforest is Earths oldest living ecosystems. They are lush, tropical and beautiful forests. Let’s go explore!

I am on a Tropical Retreat to the Amazon Rainforest! This place is amazing and beautifully lush. Our small plane hasn’t even landed yet and I have already seen lush tree tops, exotic animals swooping around and many breath taking landscapes. The plane radio screeches with a message. “What are your coordinates?” The pilot calls back “Latitude O 0and 150 N, Longitude 450W and 750W”. “Prepare for a landing” the Radio calls back! We land its bumpy and rough but, we land. I will be able to visit Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. I can’t believe the vast Amazon covers all of this land and countries. I am excited for this colorful fun-filled adventure! As we set off for our adventure, we encounter many different animals such as the Morpho Butterfly and the Toucan, the butterfly is blue and has beautifully long wings measuring at 5-6 inches our guide told us and it also lives in high in the canopy so seeing it is a very rare experience. The Toucan is so loud I can hear its high pitched call all through the forest and bright flashes of color. This tropical bird is also a part of the population of the canopy!

The Blue Morpho Butterflies predators are man, spiders, birds and fish. It is a herbivore and its diet is juice of rotting fruit, tree sap and wet mud. An adaptation of the butterfly would be to use its wings for camouflage to hide from predators. This butterfly is tropical and has large wings making it able to fly very well. The colors and detail to the body and wings make it a very noticeable creature. Sometimes being a bad thing too making it even more noticeable to predators as well.

The Toucan is very colorful, loud and a smaller bird. It is also part of the population of the canopy along with the Morpho Butterfly. It lives in Central and South America. Its predators are jaguars, big cats, snakes and owls. A Toucan is an Omnivore, its diet consist of seeds, berries, small insects, reptiles and birds. An adaptation that the Toucan has is it uses its long beak for protection from its many predators and to eat fruit off the trees. It also attracts mates with its loud call and to wrestle for the girl. “Did you guys know a Jaguar is a carnivore, which means it eats only meat?” Surprisingly we came upon a road. I can’t believe that this rural forest has these. I must have mistaken the Amazon people’s abilities. We came upon a large area of land scattered with little huts. The guide explained this was the Yanomami Tribes territory. “They live in the parts of Venezuela and Brazil”, the guide explained. “They live in about hundreds of small villages”, he continued. “What are all these little huts or houses?” I questioned. He answered with a knowing reply, “They are called a Shabono.” The Yanomami tribe has many nomadic members! Nomadic members have a spot but they move around from place to place.

The Shabono huts of the Yanomami Tribe! The villages contain 30 to 400 individuals. The Yanomami tribe is indigenous which means they have been around for a long time and their culture as well. They hunt many fish and tend to their many farms and gardens that surround the village. “The villages are grouped in families with disc shaped structures with an open-air central plaza is an Earthly version of their Gods abode”. He explained to us. These people sound very interesting I thought to myself! We saw many people moving back and forth, back and forth. They were helping with jobs, carrying rifles, and baskets with goods inside! “As you can tell this village is constantly interacting with one and other and many other villages.” Yanomami means human being. Each subdivision has its own unique language that all the people in the village know and speak fluently. I could already tell they used up many of the Rainforests resources. Such as trees for long canoes, much land cleared of trees for growing crops, gold from mining from the soil and rock, and wild tobacco for spiritual beliefs.

“We are going to help this people with their environment and make it better for them”. Explained the guide. As we moved along on exploring we came along another community, known as the Ticunas. They are a native tribe from the Amazon Rainforest. They live in parts of Brazil, Colombia and Peru. The villages are set up with large hut-like dwellings called Malocas. The Axis or religious ceremonies held in what is called a “Long House.” They live by hunting and fishing. They catch the fish by spearing them or using poison to stun the fish and paralyze their gills, they come to the surface to get air and the Ticunas catch them! Other foods consist of marlio (like potatoes), pineapple, bananas and corn. Some food is traded for clothes, medicines or goods. The Ticuna tribe is very artistic. They make basketry, wood and stone sculptures and maskmaking! Some unique things that they make are bark cloth and many colorful paints from different wild berries. This tribe is very modern they are influenced by the Western culture or beliefs of the western people. They get around by using canoes down the long streams or simply walk. As we continued along down the road I started to feel sweaty and hot. The climate I had realized is humid, warm and rainy, all in one! The average overall temperature of the Amazon is 800F. The climate zone is tropical it must be this for all the lush plants and animals to live here. The average rainfall is 250cm a year!

The people wear not very covering clothes this is also because of spiritual beliefs and because of climate. The men wear a piece of cloth around their lower body and the women as well but the women also wear a tunic or tank top. The movement includes canoeing, walking, and jungle planes. They have built roads for tourist and just to have a certain path. You wouldn’t think there would be much diversity or culture but the Amazon has been shaped for many years now. The culture already existing influences many who visit. And a little piece is taken back!

The climate is mostly like this, any given day it will be raining in the forest. The animals that live here stay content with this and are able to have a habitat they can live comfortably. The humid climate makes the air very sticky and uncomfortable. The people that live here have to be able to adapt very well. If not they will have a very rough time. The climate can change very quickly from tropical wet to dry. The changing climate depends on the latitude and longitude, and location. One part could be something and another completely different.

“How in the world are we supposed to get around??” I ask. “Canoe or walk, these people haven’t even heard of cars!” He answers. “I call canoeing”, Mackenzie calls! And I and the guide race after her. Once were canoeing, with Mackenzie in the front, me in the middle and the guide in the back, he starts explaining what goods we do get from the Rainforest. “ Okay, we get almost tons of products from the Rainforest but some of them are bananas, cocoa, coffee, wood, medicine, many other foods, plants such as the Orchid and the Bromeliads, etc. Natural rubber, the Brazil nut, Guaranasmall like berry, Acai-diet berry, many minerals such as iron and copper, etc. Diamonds and other less valuable gems, craftwork and medicinal plants! “Woah, so we really do get a lot of our products from the Rainforest!” “Yes we really do, we don’t even realize it with all the everyday uses!”

As we emerge from a thick curtain of foliage we come into an almost field like area with barely any trees, anywhere! “What happened here??” I ask. “Very sadly, deforestation” he replies with a grim look. Deforestation is to divest or to clear of the forest trees. This clears of all the flora or foliage of an area. This causes habitat loss for animals but causes land to farm for tribes such as the Ticunas or Yanomamis. The whole world needs to help, we need the Rainforest! The Rainforests trees provide 80% of the world’s oxygen; if those were gone we’d have almost none. “So how are we supposed to stop this?!” “Conservation”, he answers. “Well what is that?” I and Mackenzie ask. “Conservation is to prevent injury, decay or loss of.”

Conservation is caused by the cutting down many areas of trees, fires, Ecotourism and landclearing for farming. “Well what is ecotourism?” Mackenzie asks. Ecotourism- Taking a vacation or visiting a place without disrupting that places natural environment, going to enjoy nature. But at times Ecotourism can become a nuisance, while traveling things get cut down and taken without us even realizing it.

“But on this retreat we are doing good ecotourism and not being a nuisance to the forest, we are here to help this forest to conserve and protect from more deforestation.” As we walked along we came into a very lush area full of Bromeliads and Orchids, the orchid floating on a little pond. The Orchids are floating elegantly in the still water. They are neat, beautiful and tall. There is almost over 20,000 known Orchid species, all very beautiful. The habitat of the Orchid is mostly tropical regions, and they grow on trees or like they are now in water. The Orchids have no predators except humans. They have no animal predators because they have a poison in their pedals that can kill an animal if ingested. Humans take them for a decorative plant to have in the house or are locally grown, but these are less tropical. They are also sold to the public and green houses. The Orchids grow on trees, this does not benefit the tree nor hurt it. It’s just basically there not hurting or helping. The Bromeliads are bright pink and green, they are also short and leafy. They grow on the forest floor and are also grown in the Tropical regions. Its predators are humans, monkeys, worms and bacteria. This flower is related to the pineapple. It catches rain water and it contains miniature ecosystems. Bacteria and small organisms live in the huge leaves. They are both producers which means that they use photosynthesis to make food. Photosynthesis is using sunlight as the source of energy and with the aid chlorophyll and associated pigments. Bromeliads!

Orchids!

“But anyway back to Human Environment Interaction, many of the Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed. 14% of the Rainforest used to exist now only 6% exist and are still being cleared every day. Conservation is the act of conserving wildlife or protecting. We have many foundations that raise money to protect and conserve the plants and animals of the Rainforest. Ecotourism is the tourism to places having unspoiled natural resources, with minimal impact on the environment being a primary concern. After reviewing this there is much more that we do to affect the environment. Mining has natural resources and minerals that make up a large part of the region’s economy. Rainforest mining has become more prevalent in the last two decades. This causes decrease in the economy and natural resources. After mining is complete, much effort is put in to restore the natural state of the area. Mining is the main cause for clearing the lush Rainforest. Another effect of Human Environment Interaction is cattle ranching, trees must be cut down to have room to farm, this causes many trees to be cleared of and are restored but take years to grow back to how they originally were .Cattle ranching is now the biggest cause of deforestation during farming time in the Amazon! Nearly 80% of deforested areas in Brazil are now used for pasture area. The Amazon is under threat because of cattle ranching, being cut down at an astonishingly fast rate. We need help here to stop this!

Land of the Rainforest- the layers of the Rainforest are the Emergent, the uppermost layer. The canopy is the primary layer, right under the emergent. The understory is under the canopy and above the forest floor. The forest floor is the end of layers! The emergent layer has broad leaved trees and sunlight is plentiful. Eagles, monkeys, bats and butterflies live in this layer. Food is abundant and the trees have smooth, oval leaves. Snakes, toucans, and tree frogs all live in this layer. The understory has little sun, and plants grow seldom to 12ft. Jaguars, red eyed tree frog, and leopards live here. The forest floor is very dark, and has almost no plants. Giant Anteaters live here. In the end I’m so glad I got to have this experience and be able to help the forest!

Learning and exploring the Rainforest has been so much fun! Now I realize anything is possible if we put our minds to it. Thanks for reading! 

Citations http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/what.html http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/organism http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/amazon-rainforest-animals.html http://leslietaylor.net/gallery/animals/mammals.htm http://leslietaylor.net/gallery/life/life.htm http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/index.html http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ljt25/food.html http://www.amazon-indians.org/yanomami.html http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/people.html http://crazyidiot74.tripod.com/id4.html http://www.untamedpath.com/Ecotourism/what_is_ecotourism.html http://news.amazon-rainforest.org/amazon-rainforest-still-threatened-by-cattle-ranching.html http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/how-cattle-ranching-chewing-amazon-rainforest-20090129 http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/amazon-products.html\ http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_map.html