Sebastian Rivera Mrs. Kretzer APES – Period 4

Map Location (Dark Green Areas)

Climate Diagram The following chart/diagram is an example of Tropical Rainforest: Amazon's in Brazil.

Major Physical Characteristics Soil Tend to be very poor quality due to high rainfall. Nutrients are quickly washed out of the topsoil unless they are incorporated in the forest plants. Minerals are found in the forest plants not in the soil and they are removed the soil quickly lose fertility. Temperature It has about the same temperature year round. Rain forests belong to the tropical wet climate group. Rain Forests are so hot because they are found close the equator. The tropical rain forest is classified as Af. The A is given to tropical climates that are moist for all months, which have average temperatures. The f stands for sufficient precipitation for all months. Precipitation The annual precipitation of a rain forest is greater than 150 cm. In only a month the rain forest receives 4 inches of rain. 50 % of the precipitation comes from its own evaporation.

Major Plant Life More than two thirds of the world’s plant species are found in the tropical rainforests. The plants provide shelter and food for the animals as well as taking part in the gas exchanges which provides much of the world’s oxygen supply. These plants live in a warm humid environment that allows an enormous variation. Competition for light and food has lead to evolution of plants which live on the branches of other plants or even strangle large trees fighting for survival.

Example of Animals African Forest Elephant Chimpanzee Toco Toucan

Other Interesting Information An area of a rainforest (size of a football field) is being destroyed each second. Giant bamboo plants can grow up to 9 inches a day. The trees of a tropical rainforest are so densely packed that rain falling on the canopy can take as long as 10 minutes to reach the ground. Some rainforest monkeys are omnivores, eating both animals and plants. 1 out of 4 ingredients in our medicine is from rainforest plants. The four layers of the Rainforest are the forest floor, the understory, the canopy and the emergent layer.