Rainforest Food Web

More than half of all the living organisms on Earth are found in rainforest biome - one of the richest biomes of the world. These rainforests are typically characterized by dense overgrowth which makes it virtually impossible for sunlight to reach the ground. The rainforest biome also boasts of some of the most fascinating animal adaptations that you will ever see. These, and other such rainforest biome facts, make it one of the most interesting component of world ecosystem. Yet another interesting attribute of the rainforest biome is rainforest food web. Basically, a food web is made up of several interrelated food chains, and taking into consideration the various rainforest facts mentioned above, it becomes really difficult to imagine how a rainforest biome food web actually works.

Rainforest Food Web

On the basis of location, the rainforest biome is divided into two parts - the tropical rainforest, located between 23.5° North and South of the Equator, and temperate rainforest, located between 23° and 66° in the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the planet. Both these sub-divisions of the rainforest biome differ from each other in terms of climate, and this in turn makes them different in terms of flora and fauna. That being said, the rainforest food web is divided into two parts - the tropical rainforest food web and the temperate rainforest food web. Going through the rainforest food web diagrammatic representation given below will give you a better picture of the entire concept, but before we move on to it let's take a look at each of these rainforest sub-divisions individually.

Tropical Rainforests
As its name suggests, the tropical rainforest biome spans across the tropical regions of South America, Asia, Central America, Africa, Australia as well as some islands in the Pacific Ocean. In terms of biodiversity, tropical rainforests are home to approximately 80 percent of the total plant and animal species on the planet. These rainforests are typically characterized by presence of tall trees, with height ranging between 60-100 meters. The long list of animals which have a key role to play in the tropical rainforest's energy pyramid include jaguars, monkeys, bats, chimpanzees, and several species of insects and reptiles.

Temperate Rainforests
The temperate rainforests are relatively sparse, and restricted to some regions in North America, South America, Asia and Australia. Basically, temperate rainforest vegetation is made up of coniferous or broadleaf tree species. Most of these species do not require sunlight for the process of germination, and that explains the abundance plants in the rainforest with very little amount of sunlight reaching the ground. The animal species native to this region include cougars, bears, wolves, deer, elks as well as a wide range of small mammals, reptiles and insects.

Rainforest Food Web

Tertiary Consumers: These are the apex predators, which are exclusively carnivorous in nature, and feed on primary as well as secondary consumers. In tropical rainforests, the distinction of being apex predators is shared by the jaguar and python. In temperate rainforests, on the other hand, the apex predators are cougars, bears, and lynx cats.

↓

Secondary Consumers: Most of the secondary consumers are carnivores, which feed on primary consumers, while some are omnivores, which feed on primary consumers as well as producers. This group includes tropical rainforest animals such as iguanas, snakes, etc. and temperate rainforest animals such as weasels, raccoons, woodpeckers, etc.

↓

Primary Consumers: These are various herbivores (as well as some omnivores and insectivores) which feed on the producers (plants). The tropical rainforest animals featuring in this group include deer, monkeys, squirrels, grasshoppers, etc. In temperate rainforests, primary consumers include monkeys, snakes, elks, and other small mammals.

↓

Producers: As in any other food web, even in tropical rainforest food web the producers include plants. Some of the most prominent tropical rainforest plants include Sawpalm, Twisty grass, Live Oak, Parasol Plant, Cedar, etc. In temperate rainforests, plant species which act as producers in the food web include cedar, fir, spruce, hemlock, etc.

↓

Detritivores: Other than the producers and consumers, the food webs include yet another group known as the detritivores - which consist of bacteria and fungi. These detritivores decompose plant matter and dead animals, and add it to ground in form of nutrients, which are eventfully used by plants to produce their own food.

That was a significant bit of information about the rainforest food web, with reference to tropical rainforests as well as temperate rainforests of the world. When we talk about food webs or food chains, we need to understand that these biological attributes of nature have evolved over a period of time to reach this stage. All the animal species and plants featuring in the rainforest food chain diagram given above are dependent on each other to a great extent, and extinction of a single species can result in serious imbalance in the entire ecosystem. Of late, human encroachment on pretext of agriculture and mining is being seen as biggest threat to the rainforest. If this trend continues, these rainforests will disappear from the planet within a few years, and so will all the animals and plants which are endemic to them.