The Tropical Rainforest
By: Divya, Lilly, and Tatiana
The Rainforest In General
Rainforests are found between the latitude range 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south. They are located in: North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia
Contd. The climate is hot, wet, and humid. It gets 12 hours of sunlight a day. It is very diverse and threatened. 50% of plants and animals live in this biome. The soil is poor in nutrients because rain washes them out. However, volcanic soil is very fertile.
Layers of the Rainforest Emergent Layer Consists of the giant trees above the canopy layer
Canopy Layer Is 60-90 feet above the ground; home to 90% of the rainforest's animal.
Understory Layer It receives 2-15% of sunlight; it's dark and very open.
Forest Floor
2% of sunlight reaches there so not a lot grows there. The ground is a thin layer of fallen matter that decomposes quickly.
Temperature and Precipitation Temperature Averages: 70-85 degrees F 21-30 degrees C
Ranges 68-93 degrees F 20-34 degrees C
Precipitation 80-400 inches per year 200-1000 cm per year In the form of rain.
Sloth
Sloths enjoy tall trees that are easily found in the tropical rainforest. Most sloths prefer sleeping while curled into a ball in the fork of a tropical tree. They also like to sleep hanging by their claws from tree branches. They are unable to walk well due to their long claws. Because of this, they travel by climbing from branch to branch. Their arms are also much longer than their legs so they would have a difficult time walking anyway. Even though they are very slow creatures, it helps them stay hidden from predators. Sloths tongues are can also extend up to 10-12 inches out of their mouths just like armadillos and anteaters, many don't know this however they are all actually related.
Anteater
Young anteaters stop feeding from their moms after two months, although they may continue to be carried on their mother's back until they are nine months old. When they are young, they are carried on their mother's back, aligned with the white stripe, so that they are camouflaged. Their long noses and great sense of smell enables them to smell ants or termites from long distances. Many anteaters can smell up to 40 times better than humans. Also most anteaters tongues can stretch up to two feet out of their mouth, their tongues are also sticky and that is how they easily catch prey.
Toucan
Toucans mostly live in the tropic. Toucans are highly social and most species occur in groups of up to 20 or more birds for most of the time. Pairs may retire from the groups during the breeding season, then return with their offspring after the breeding season. Larger groups may form during irruptions, migration, or around a particularly large fruiting trees. They also nest in holes in trees. They are extremely noisy birds, which makes them obvious targets for their predators. Toucans have sharp strong claws which enable them to hold tightly onto branches. Toucans are also omnivorous, so they eat both plants and animals. Some Toucans eat insects, eggs, other young birds, tree frogs, and lizards. Many toucans have small wings as well, so it is difficult to fly high and fly for a long time, they mainly hang out on tree branches.
Mangroves
A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. With oval-shaped leaves and long thin interlocking roots all over, the mangrove tree is incredibly easy to distinct. Red mangroves, prop themselves above the water level with stilt roots and can then absorb air through pores in their bark. Black mangroves live on higher ground. Mangroves can limit the amount of water they lose through their leaves. Mangrove seeds are buoyant because of their shape and weight and are therefore more suited to dispersal through the water. Which is why you will find many mangrove seeds along beaches. The seeds which are called propagules can survive without water, and stay dormant for almost a year before arriving in an environment that is suitable for their needs.
Epiphytes Plant
An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rainwater. The epiphyte is a vine that grows on trees. It lives on the surface of other plants and uses them to climb to the top and receive more sunlight through the canopy above. It also steals nutrients and sunlight from the plant that it is growing on. One-third of all ferns are epiphytes. The epiphytes may be found in every major group of the plant kingdom. It creates a noticeably cooler environment in the canopy that is living in.
Venus Flytrap
The Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant, which traps and eats about anything that it can catch. Its two leaves are in the shape of two half circles.With spines along the top edge. Because the Venus Flytrap is still a plant, it is photosynthetic even though it is carnivorous, and catches its own food. The Venus flytrap is part of a very small group of plants which are capable of fast movement. Plants that are carnivorous have adapted to catch and eat their food because of growing in nutrition-poor soil. Digesting the prey takes about ten days, in which the prey is reduced to a husk.
Challenge
COCONUT FRENZY
THE CHALLENGE- TEAMS WILL RUSH TO CLIMB TREES TO COLLECT COCONUTS AND PUT THEM IN THEIR BASKETS. THE TEAM TO HAVE THE MOST COCONUTS IN THEIR BASKETS AFTER TIME IS UP WILL WIN THE CHALLENGE AND GETS THE REWARD LOCATION- THE AMAZON RAINFOREST IN BRAZIL REWARD- THE TEAM WHO WINS WILL WIN IMMUNITY