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1E1_2012 Group 7 -  Tropical Rainforest

Page history last edited by 1E1_2012 Group 7 12 years ago

 Team members:

 

Names / Roles

  •  

    Tan Xin Li   ( Leader )

     
  •  

    Anthea Choo ( Wiki writer )

     
  •  

    Tan Yi Ming ( Researcher )

     
  •  

    Jessie Wong ( Researcher )

      



Overview of Tropical Rainforest:  

 

     A Tropical Rainforest is an ecosystem that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28° North or South of the equator. ( In the equatorial zone between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn) A Tropical Rainforest experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfalls. Tropical Rainforest can be found in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico, Pacific Caribbean and Indian Oceans. Another name for tropical rainforest is called *lowland equatorial evergreen rainforest. Tropical Rainforest are warm and wet.They are a highly biodiversity place that exhibits thousands of plants and animals.It is likely that there may still be thousands and millions of organism yet to be discovered.

 

*Lowland equatorial evergreen rainforest are forest which receive high rainfalls ( more than 2000mm, 80 inches) throughout the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Physical Factors :

 

       

Light:   

  •  Affects both plants and animals living in the Tropical Rainforest.
  •  Plants require light to photosynthesise and make food.
  •  Enables animals to see and move around.
  • *Light intensity determines the type of plants and animals found in the tropical rainforest.         

 

* The Tropical Rainforest is divided into different strata/layers. #With vegetation organized into a vertical pattern from the top of the soil to the canopy, each layer is a unique biotic community containing different plants and animals adapted to live in that particular Strata/layer.

 

                                                                             

#The layer is divided into 4 main Strata/layer. They are the Forest floor, Understory layer, Canopy layer and the Emergent layer.                                                                                     

 

Forest floor:                                                                

      As they are the bottom -most layer, they only receive 2% of the sunlight and only plants adapted to low light can grow in this region. Because of the warm and humid condition the process of decaying is quicker.

 

Understory layer:     

      Lies in between the Canopy and the Forest floor, only 5% of the sunlight can breach through the Canopy and arrive at the understory layer, thus, causing the plants growing in the Understory layer to seldom grow more than 3metre (10feet). As the adaptation of these plants, they have much larger leaves.

 

Canopy layer:                    

        Its the primary layer of the forest that forms a roof over the 2 remaining layers. It contains majority the largest trees typically 30-45metre.

 

 Emergent layer:             

       Contains a small number of very large trees called Emergent, they generally are above the Canopy up to 45-55metre tall while occasionally, a few species will grow to 70-80metres.

 

Temperature:                            

  •  Affects growth, activities and the survival of organisms.
  • Most Plants and Animals survive in temperature between 0°C - 45  °C.
  •  Most organisms have adaptive features or behaviour to survive in extreme temperatures.

 

#Most Tropical Rainforest is located around or near the equator. They have an equatorial climate which is characterized by three major climatic parameters : Temperature, Rainfall, Dry Season.

 

Water:             

  •  Organisms need water to survive.
  •  More organisms are found where water is available.
  • Some organisms are adapted to living in areas of limited water supply .

 

Air:     

  •  Air has a mixture of gases such as Nitrogen,Oxygen, Carbon dioxide and other gases. 
  •  Provides plants with Carbon Dioxide for plants to carry out photosynthesis.
  • Provides oxygen for living organisms to carry out aerobic respiration.

 

Mineral Salt and Salinity:   

  • Animals obtain Mineral salts from food they eat or water they drink.

  • Plants absorb Mineral salts from soil solution.

  • Mineral salt are required in the manufacture of substances such as proteins, vitamins, chlorophyll.

  • Deficiency of Minerals results in unhealthy or diseases.

  • Amount of salt present in water is important for survival of aquatic organism.

  • Some organism are adapted for life in the sea.

  • Other organism are adapted for life in the streams and freshwater pond.

 

pH( acidity/alkalinity):   

  • pH value of soil solution, freshwater ponds and seawater determines the type of organisms that can live in each environment.
  • Most plants grow well in ~pH7(Neutral) or ~pH8(slightly alkaline).
  • pH of soil determines the types of Mineral Salt that the plants can absorb from the soil.  
  • Plants cannot absorb Mineral Salt from acidic soil solution.

 

 


Classification of Living Organisms:

 

 

Producers:

  •  Tualang (Honey Bee Tree)               

 

       Grows in the Southern Asian rainforest of Borneo, Malaysia, Palawan, Sumatra and Thailand.Grows to 250 feet tall.Have smooth,slippery bark and enormous buttress roots that grow out to the sides to hold the tree up.Asian rock bees build honey combs in the high branches of the Tualang, the combs can reach six feet in diameter and contains tens of thousands of bees. They prefer damp locations along rivers, in valleys and the lower slopes of hills .The sap is irritating to the skin and produce a rash.

 

  • Kapok tree (silk-cotton tree)              

 

  Grows to a height of 150 feet or more, towering over other trees in the rainforest.Originally a native to South America, now has spread to the rainforests of west Africa and the Southeast asia.The crown has an open umbrella shape,many plants and animals grow and live in the branches at the tree.

 

 Primary Consumers:

 

  • Bees   

              -  They make honey and keep it in wax storage cells to be food in winter when there are no flowers and no nectar to eat. They are social insects,they live in very organized group called colonies. A bee colony live in a hive,it is totally dark inside. They are almost deaf so touch is the sense they rely on for communication.The humming sound we heard is the beating of their wings. The queen is the largest bee in the colony,she is the only one laying eggs. Drones are male bees,their only job is to mate with the queen. A bee only can sting once,after it stings,it flies away and dies but leave the stinger behind.The stinger has tiny hooks and a poison sac,the stinger keep on pumping poison until it is removed.

  
 

  • Bats   

            - There are more than 900 species of bats. Some bats eat fruit,they are called "flying foxes". Some eat insects and small animals like frogs. They lived in shelter trees,caves,under bridges and sometimes inside buildings during the day. Bats find their way by sending out sound waves from their mouths or noses,when the sound waves hit an object,an echo came back,the bat can tell what is it by the sound of the echo/echolocation. Baby bats has no hair when they are born and clings to their mother for milk.

 

Secondary Consumers:

 

  • Anteaters     

                - They are also known as the Antbear. All anteaters have an elongated snout equipped with a thin tongue that can be extended to a length greater than the length of the head. They have a tube-shaped mouth that have lips but no teeth. They use their large, curved foreclaws to tear open ant and termite mounds and for defence, they have dense and long fur that protects them from attacks from the insect. They have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell, and hearing.

 

  •  Vampires Bats   

                     - The vampire bats are nocturnal and mostly active in early night. They drink blood from other animals for survival. They feed on blood of cows,pig,horses and birds, and occasionally they bite humans for blood. They are so light and agile that they are sometimes able to drink blood from an animal for more than 30 minutes without waking it up. The blood sucking does not hurt the animal. Unlike some bats,the vampire bats can walk,run and jump,they have very strong hind legs and a special thumb that helps them take off after feeding. They have heat sensor on their noses which helps them to find good spot to feed on the animal's body. They will die if they did not get blood two nights in a row. Even though bat bites are not harmful,they can spread a disease called rabies. They can find their prey by using smell,sound and echo/echolocation,they also have a keen eyesight which enables them to catch their prey easily.

 

Tertiary Consumers:

 

  • Leopards  

                  -  As they hunt during the night, they have good eyesight and hearing,that helps them to locate their prey.They are excellent swimmers. They stalk their prey, and get as close as possible and then race at the animal from behind,pouncing on it and bite its neck or throat. When the prey is dead,the leopard drags it up a tree and eat their meat.

 

 

  • Jaguars       

                  -   Due to their enormous strength,humans are their only predators.They are very solitary and territorial. Using their scent,They mark their own territory.They are very efficient hunters, they creep close to their prey before pouncing on them. Although they stay mainly on land,they are very good swimmers. They will wade through the water to catch fish. They climb on trees and hide up there while waiting for their prey and  it sees its prey, it will pounce on their prey. Using their powerful jaws they can kill preys with one bite, unlike any other animals, the Jaguars kill through the bone of the skull of the animal.They are considered the top predator in a food chain as they feed on almost 60 different types of animals,which includes Rodents, Peccaries, Deer, Fish, Birds, Turtles, Armadillos, Crocodile, Capybaras, Tapir and many other more.

 

 

 Decomposers:          

  • Earthworms  

 -Earthworm's main habitat is the soil. They are normally found on the surface on the ground following the heavy rain storms. Earthworms populations depend on the soil,such as the temperature,moisture,pH,salts,aeretion and texture. Earthworms form the base of many food chains. They are preyed on many animals like different species of birds,snake,mammals and intervebrates. They may also come to the surface of the rain to mate. Worms might most likely be using the moist condition on the surface so that they can breathe easily and travel more easily than inside underground to travel to a new home.

                 

  • Fungi          

                

     -Fungi are the great decomposers and recyclers of nature. After the tree dies, it must decompose before these nutrients become available for other plants.Fungi are most important as they are able to the most durable component in wood (Degrade Lignin) . Degrade Lignin is the material that gives wood its strength.  Specific fungi (e.g Bracket Fungi) are designed to do this job, and once they have started, other fungi will follow. By breaking down organic material so plants can re-use the nutrients, fungi help rainforests to grow on very poor soil. This makes fungi ecologically vital, particularly to rainforest communities. All fungi contribute to the welfare of the forest, no matter how big or small they are.


Food Web:

 

    

 

 


Interrelationship in Ecosystem:

 

Predator-Prey relationship:

 

    Predator:

  • Frogs                    

 

 

    Prey:

  • Flies     

 

Example of Predator-Prey relationship in the Tropical Rainforest:

          The frog is the predator and preys on the flies.The interaction between a Predator-Prey relationship is very short.

 

Parasitism:

      Parasite:

  • Stangler figs               

 

Example of a Parasitism in the Tropical Rainforest:

     Strangler figs grows on the branches of a tree and then the strangler figs eventually sprouts aerial roots. Over time, many roots will grow and then will wrap around the tree resulting in the death of the tree.

 

Mutualism:  

  • Ants      

      

  • Fungi   

Example of a mutualism in the tropical rainforest:

    Ants actively nurture and defend the fungi.  The fungi in return, provides nutrients for the ants 


Useful Links: 

 

Comments (2)

1E1_2012 Group 7 said

at 9:22 pm on Mar 12, 2012

Anthea/Jessie:
Please type in the food web. Thanks.
All Group Members:
As Anthea has gone for holiday, I have edited the colours and some parts of the Wikipage and also added new information in. I hope everyone would do their part and complete their task in order to finish this Wikipage on Time. (:

Mr Justin Thong said

at 4:50 pm on Mar 14, 2012

Dear group 7, a gentle reminder that the deadline is this Friday. Well done! Keep up the good work.

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