Rainforest Biome

The awesome manner in which the rainforest biomes of the world and all the life that they support, function is really worth observing. The soil on which the rainforest biomes are found is, in fact very poor and shallow. The recycling methods that the nature has mastered in order to overcome the difficulties are extraordinary. Trees struggling for sunlight, grow taller and taller and the floor of the forest gets covered with green mosses and small bushes. Mushrooms, grasses, ferns and wild flowers cover the ground with a thick, moist, green carpet. Dead leaves, logs, needles and twigs make up food for the detritivores, who digest the dead materials and then make them available for recycling. The bacteria also play an important role in rainforest biome food web. Plants and trees thus get the nutrients and they create food for their own growth as well as for animals.

There are two types of rainforests - the temperate and the tropical. Tropical rainforests are close to the equator like Amazon jungles while temperate rainforests are along coasts in the temperate zone, such as the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Rainforest vegetation is very dense, extremely tall and always green. The tropical rainforests receive 80-400 inches of rainfall per year, while the temperate rainforests receive about 100 inches of rainfall per year. They get even more moisture, from the coastal fog hovering among the trees. Billions of plant and animal species are found in rainforests, but tropical rainforests exhibit greater diversity than temperate rainforests.

Rainforest Biome Plants

Tropical rainforest biome consists of the forests that lie between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn. Half of the world's plant and animal species live in the tropical rainforests of the world. Tropical rainforest biomes cover 6-7% of the Earth's land surface. The intense vegetation and the lush tapestry of interdependent creatures makes them very interesting and kids love to undertake projects related to rainforests. Rainforest biomes, for kids, are significant from the point of view that they can learn how some species of plants and animals are endangered and how we are losing 50,000 species each year due to deforestation of rainforests. As plants in the rainforests include valuable medical plants, human beings could be deprived of many possible cures for life-threatening diseases if strict actions against deforestation are not taken by the governments. We get ¼ of all the medicines in the world from rainforest plants. Amazing examples of adaptations in rainforest biome include the 10-12 meter high buttresses of the trees leading to increased surface area of the trees, prop or stilt roots giving extra support to the trees, thin barks, large pointed leaves allowing the rain drops to fall, strangler plants, carnivorous plants, etc. Trees towering about 200 feet above the forest floor are the tallest trees which have huge trunks measuring up to 16 feet around. There is no sunlight on the forest floor as the trees are tall and dense. So, no plants grow on the forest floor. Due to lack of sunlight, things here, decay quickly.

Rainforest Biome Animals

Rainforest biome is the home of some of the most beautiful and strangest animals in the world. The animals are present in myriad variety, from the largest to the smallest, the loudest to the quietest, the most dangerous to the mildest. For example, flying frogs, a rabbit sized antelope, bird-eating spiders, bearded pigs, jumping chimpanzees, flying dragons, huge gorillas, poisonous cobras, etc. Some of the other animals that live in this habitat are toucans, jaguars, tarantulas, okapis, aye-ayes and bears. Actually, the rainforest biome has such a vast variety of animals that many have not been yet identified or named! Life inside the wet and bustling rainforest biome is filled with struggle and danger. Cougars and pumas can pounce from nowhere, snakes can at any moment administer a lethal bite. The beautiful and exotic birds also have to protect their eggs and babies in the nests from other species. Those animals who are smart and strong can survive in this environment. Human beings are responsible for the destruction of some of the animal species. Once they disappear, they are gone forever!

Rainforest Biome Food Web

There are four layers of rainforest vegetation, namely the emergents, the canopy layer, the understory layer and the forest floor. Ample food is available in the canopy layer of the rainforest and hence, maximum animals and birds can be noticed in this layer of the rainforest. The canopy layer is like a maze of leaves and branches as thick climbing vines form a network in this layer. The season of growth of animals in rainforest is summer. Plants make food with the help of chlorophyll which is useful for themselves as well as animals. Animals eat plants and fruits and flowers. Small animals or the primary consumers consist of insects, seed eating small birds, tiny mammals like mice, small fish like salmon, etc. Secondary consumers include tiny shrews, flying frogs, birds like woodpecker, etc. which eat insects. Weasels eat small animals whereas racoons eat animals, fish, frogs, and fruit. Owls feed themselves on voles and chipmunks. Insects dwell as parasites on other animals. Large secondary consumers, such as wolves, bears and cougars eat deer or elk. Once an animal is killed, smaller carnivores also move in to get a share. The larger carnivores do eat smaller ones sometimes. Interdependency is the characteristic feature of rainforest biome food web.

Rainforest biome which once used to cover 14% of the earth's land, now cover only 6% of the earth's surface. It is estimated that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. The facts are shocking and disturbing. The increasing demands for wood for fuel, furniture, building construction, paper industry, etc. and requirement of more and more land for farming and grazing animals, are the driving forces of destruction of rainforests. Rainforests are the largest suppliers of oxygen. We should protect them for the well-being of mankind.