Rainforest Ecosystems

The rainforest has more plants and animals in an environment (Biodiversity) than any other place on earth

The location and climate is the reason for all these organisms living together.

Just North and South of the Equator (23 degrees) is very warm and wet

This region gets plenty of sun and rain so it can support life of many plants and animals

The rainforest receives between 80 and 400 inches of rain a year

They get 12 hours of sunlight a day and average 80 degrees a day

Its hot. humid, and full of life

The rainforest consists of 4 layers/ecosystems

Each ecosystem has its own temperature, amount of light, and moisture level

1) Emergent Layer- This is the tops of the trees. It gets plenty of sun and contains birds, butterfly's and monkeys

2) Canopy- This is just below the emergent. Its the thick vegetation that blocks the floor from the sun and creates a roof over the remaining 2 layers

Canopy- has plenty of food therefore plenty of animals live there like snakes and tree frogs

3) Understory- The layer below the canopy. a hot, humid environment made up of shrubs, young trees, and vines.

the lack of sunlight means everything grows tall in order to reach the sunlight

Lots of insects in this layer including ants, beetles, and bees

4) The rainforest floor is the last layer

It is dark and humid.

No sunlight (2%) reaches the floor so there are no plants, only land animals like jaguars and leopards.

The rain forest and all of its trees provide oxygen for humans and animals

We breath in the oxygen they produce and use carbon dioxide

The trees "inhale" that carbon dioxide and "exhale" oxygen

Primarily that carbon helps the plants to feed themselves through photosynthesis

scientists believe the rain forest contains more than half of all species on earth

maybe even thousands of species still undiscovered

Some undiscovered bacteria and plants can hold the cure to many different diseases.

The largest rain forests can be found in South America, Africa, and South East Asia

They used to be much larger but humans have played a major role in the shrinking of them

They have been cut down for farming, to make wood products, or even develop on the land ( houses, buildings etc.)