Biome Project- Tropical Forest By: Alexis Bialek

Introduction I chose this biome because I have always thought that Tropical forests were interesting and they have a lot of different characteristics to them that are cool to study.

General Climate The city I picked in a tropical forest area is Rio de Janeiro because it is very tropical there and it is in Brazil kind of south east Brazil on the coast of Brazil. It is very warm there and the cities record high is 109 degrees F. and the record low is 45 degrees F. and is mountainous and surrounded by water. The general climate yearly for the high is 81.0 degrees F. and the average low is 69.8 degrees F.

Part 1: Ecosystems and Change

Secondary Succession a Tropical Forest Biome

Damaging Event An event that could damage/destroy my ecosystem could be Human Destruction. Humans coming and destroying the forest and leaving wood behind. If humans came and cut down everything and got rid of the plants than the herbivores would all die and if they all died than the carnivores would not have food, so everything would die.

Pioneer Species Two pioneer species that would grow after my damaging event. Bengal Bamboo Coconut Tree

Intermediate Species An Intermediate species is what forms after pioneer species. It is more growing but a slower processes. Things that are starting to grow after pioneer species are often smaller and more in patches. So if it is a Tropical forest there would be shrubs and things looking like they are starting to grow back.

Climax Community A Climax Community is the level of stability in an organism, what it started out at. Bengal Bamboo Bougainvillea Kapok Tree Toco Toucan King Cobra Harpy Eagle

Part 2: Energy Flow in Ecosystems

Food Web of a Tropical Forest Harpy Eagle Bengal Tiger Slender Loris Jambu Fruit Dove Silvery Gibbon Dawn Bat Red-Shanked Douc Langur Bengal Bamboo Bougainvillea Jambu

Trophic Pyramid Secondary Consumer Primary Consumer Producer Harpy Eagle Secondary Consumer Bengal Tiger King Cobra Slender Loris Primary Consumer Dawn Bat Red-Shanked Douc Langur Bougainvillea Producer Bengal Bamboo Jambu

Part 3: Populations and Communities

Predator/Prey Interactions I chose the relationship between the Bengal Tiger the Slender Loris because in the biome I picked if the predators didn’t feed on the prey, the prey could over-run the Tropical Forest and make more competition for other animals and make it harder for other animals to have resources. Predator (Bengal Tiger) Prey (Slender Loris)

Herbivory Interactions A Herbivory relationship that is specific to my biome is a Toucan eating fruit from Strangler Figs (which are trees). This relationship is important because the Strangler tree feeds a lot of animals and could have a big impact on herbivore species if it was gone. If there were a forest fire and these trees were to all burn down, many animals would suffer and eventually die because of the lack of food.

Symbiosis - Mutualism An example of Mutualism, which is when both organisms benefit, would be ants and fungi. This Mutualism relationship is beneficial to both organisms because ants actively nurture and defend the fungi and the fungi provides nutrients for the ants so they both benefit.

Symbiosis - Commensalism The relationship between the New World Army Ants, inhabiting the rainforest floor and Antbirds, a small-dull-colored South American bird species, is an example of commensalism in the Tropical Rainforest. The army ants are known for their tendency to take on anything that comes in their path while they march the forest floor. The Antbirds follow this swarm of ants and feed on whatever is left behind after the ants are done with their share. The ants manage to shake the floor when they march and the shaking makes insects on the floor fly up and their eaten by the Antibirds. The Antbirds benefit from the army ants, but the army ants are not benefited from the Antbirds. This is Commensalism because one organism benefits and the other is unaffected. Army Ants

Symbiosis - Parasitism Parasitism is when one organism benefits and the other is harmed, but not killed. An example of that in a Tropical Rainforest would be a Leech attached to some animal that lives in the water. The leech sucks out blood from the host and the blood is what is feeding the leech. So the blood that is being taken from the host is causing the host to lose a lot of blood in a short time, but is not going to die.

Niche and Competition The Orangutan is a organism in the Tropical Rainforest and their niche they live in and spend their time in, is a tree. They will live in any type of tree and stay there. Orangutan An animal that would compete with the Orangutan for food and resources could be a Silvery Gibbon because they eat the same food and live in the same type of place. This could affect both organisms niche because the more food that is being consumed by the different organisms in one place that faster the food would be gone. Silvery Gibbon This completion could have many different outcomes, but a more common one would most likely be lack of food.

Part 4: The Environment

Resources A resource that humans use from my biome is coconuts from Coconut trees. Humans drink the milk from the inside of the coconut. The coconuts are renewable resources because the grow back/reproduce over a short period of time. They replace at the same time their consumed.

Environmental Issues A way humans are negatively impacting the Tropical Forest biome is by cutting down and burning trees to clear land to build. These actions have major effects on the birds and other animals living in the trees and pretty much everything living in the Rainforest. Some actions that people can take to stop this is stop building in the area, they have so many other places they can build. Another thing that can help is to not use Bamboo to make flooring, it takes away from a lot of recourses for animals that use it.

Environmental Solutions Humans are positively impacting the Tropical Forest by educating people about how important this biome is to not only the species living there but us too. The education is teaching people that destroying these habitats could have a major danger of endangering animals in their habitat. It would be terrible if one of these beautiful species of animal went extinct. If we didn’t build, we could keep so many species alive.

Part 5: The Evolution of Organisms

Species Adaption – Toco Toucan The Toco Toucan has a long, big beak to grad and break fruit to eat it. They also have a long body to reach for food. Those two traits help them survive in this specific biome.

Natural Selection – Toco Toucan An adaption with the Toco Toucan that changed over time was their long, big beak. The long beaked birds survived in this biome because they had a bigger variety of food. The smaller beaked Toucan could not survive because they could not chew the bigger fruits, so they died. Overproduction- The Toco Toucan have many eggs and sometimes not all their eggs survive. Variation- Long body so they could reach for food. Selection- The ones with long beak could not survive because they could not fit the whole fruit in their mouth. Adaptation- So since the short beak one did not survive, the long beak ones were able to survive and make it to reproductive age.

Extinct/Endangered Organisms The Extinct animal in my biome is the Phoberomys (a guinea pig that was the size of a bull) Their niche was aquatic grassland that they fished and lived on. An endangered species in the Tropical Rainforest are the Golden Lion Tamarind Monkeys They have a monkey face but a lion-like fur coat, with a monkey body. It’s nearly extinct mostly because of its fur. Their fur is worth up to $20,000 on the black market. If this animal were to be extinct its beautiful look would be too. They are very pretty animals and it would be a tragedy to loose this species.

Sources Introduction Part 1 Picture in title slide http://world.edu/natural-levels-nitrogen-tropical-forests-increase-vulnerability-pollution/ 1st Slide Picture of Toucan http://www.mypets.net.au/pet-articles/toucanstoucanets-and-aracaris-general-info/296/1 3rd Slide http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro Picture of Rio Part 1 5th Slide http://www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/topics/rainforest.html 6th Slide Destroyed forest picture http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51282 7th Slide Bengal Bamboo picture http://biomesfirst11.wikispaces.com/Tropical+Rainforest+Organisms Coconut Tree picture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coconut_tree_orchard.JPG 8th Slide Picture of Intermediate Species http://satyogaashram.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/retreat-cabins-costa-rica/ 9th Slide Picture of Tropical Forest http://smartphonewallpaper.com/view-tropical_forest-960x854.html

Sources Part 2 11th Slide Picture of Sun http://www.zmescience.com/space/sun-perfect-sphere-in-nature-013232/ Pictures of Plants and Animals http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/ 12th Slide Pictures are from 11th Slide 14th Slide The information in the text http://blueplanetbiomes.org/rnfrst_animal_page.htm Picture of Bengal Tiger http://kncatchat.blogspot.com/2012/08/bengal-tiger-wallpapers.htmlnn Picture of Slender Loris http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slender_Loris.jpg 15th Slide Info. http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rnfrst_plant_page.htm Picture of Strangler Fig http://pressingstories.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/jowarra-national-park/strangler-fig-photo/ Picture of Toucan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Keel-billed_toucan,_costa_rica.jpg 16th Slide Info in Text http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_an_example_of_mutualism_in_tropical_rain_forests Picture of Fungi http://weknowwearecute.undebug.org/?attachment_id=1486 Picture of Ants http://www.pioneerpestmanagement.com/ant-season-is-approaching/

Sorces 17th Slide Info. in Text http://www.buzzle.com/articles/symbiotic-relationships-in-the-rainforest.html Picture of Army Ants http://www.esa.org/esablog/research/from-the-community-army-ants-beard-microbes-and-ant-mimicking-jumping-spiders/ Picture of Antbird (9th picture down) http://wildlifepicasa.blogspot.com/2012/08/antbird-wallpaper-wild-bird.html 18th Slide http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Example_of_parasitism_in_the_tropical_rainforest Picture of Leech http://islandwood.org/kids/stream_health/macros/Leech.html 19th Slide Info. In all Text http://blueplanetbiomes.org/rnfrst_animal_page.htm Picture of Orangutan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orang_Utan,_Semenggok_Forest_Reserve,_Sarawak,_Borneo,_Malaysia.JPG Picture of Silvery Gibbon http://www.silvery.org.au/home/gibbon-s-call/ Part 4 21st Slide Picture of Coconut http://www.koraorganics.com/blog/live-in-my-skin/all-things-organic/organic-certification/coconut-oil-health-and-beauty-tips/ 22nd Slide Picture of Cut Down Forest http://www.english-online.at/geography/tropical-rainforest/tropical-rainforest.htm 23rd Slide Picture of People Walking http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/protect-brazil-rainforest/photos/?pageNo=5

And More Sorces 25th Slide Picture of Toucan http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/dec/13/best-cottages-wildlife-holidays-lodges 26th Slide Picture of Toco Toucan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toco_Toucan 27th Slide Extinct Animal Website http://www.ehow.com/list_6456928_extinct-animals-amazon-rainforest.html Picture/niche http://www.phschool.com/science/science_news/articles/ratzilla.html Endangered Species info. http://www.lizasreef.com/HOPE%20FOR%20THE%20RAIN%20FORESTS/endangered_rain_forest_animals.htm Picture of Monkey http://500px.com/photo/870729