What type of flora and fauna found in tropical rainforest?
Answers
Answer:
More than two thirds of the worlds plant species are found in tropical rainforests. There is such a magnificent diversity in plant species because they have been around for for a very long time, some even 100 million years old. During the ice-age about 10,000 years ago, most of the planet was covered in ice which forced their ecosystems to 'reboot' and start the growing and evolving process again. Whereas, the tropics were too close to the equator for the ice to reach and so they remained untouched, where the plants and animals could still survive and evolve all the whilst the rest of the planet was lifeless.
Although plant life is not as exciting or quick as animal life, the competition for survival is just as competitive. Sunlight reaching the thick soil on the floor of the rainforest is extremely rare due to the canopy made by the 30-40 metre tall trees above. Plants compete violently for the available sunlight, some, known as strangler figs, have even adapted to grow onto a host tree and literally strangle it in order to reach the sunlight above - as displayed in the picture below
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Tropical rainforest flora has many uses like food, building, climate control, homes for animals, medicine and most importantly, OXYGEN! Tropical rainforests produce 20% of the Earth's oxygen and play a crucial role in keeping the planet a constant temperature. They also absorb much of the planets carbon dioxide which, when cut down and burned, releases lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and is one of the main causes to global warming. The flora also maintains global rainfall and regulates the worlds climate. So as you can see re-growing our planets tropical rainforests can go a long way towards combating climate change and global warming.
Everyday we are losing 137 species of animals or plants due to rainforest deforestation - that's 50,000 a year. Little do we know that 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are produced from rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of all tropical rainforest plants have been tested by scientists. So, as we destroy our planets rainforests, we are also destroying our hopes of cures for life-threatening diseases like cancer or Alzheimers, diseases that impair or kill tens of MILLIONS of people each year.
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Fauna:
There are hundreds of thousands of species of organisms in tropical rainforests which fall under the main categories of mammals, aquatics, birds, insects and reptiles - at least fifteen thousand animal species haven't been identified yet. It is estimated that about half of all the world's known animal species live in tropical rainforests. For animals, tropical rainforests host the best survival environment on the planet, it is always warm meaning no temperature change effects food stocks, there is shade from the heat and rain and there is never a shortage in water.
Examples of Animals in Tropical Rainforests:
Mammals: Monkeys, Bats, Possums, Kangaroos, Tigers, Foxes etc...
Birds: African Gray Parrot, Australian King Parrot, Eagles, Hummingbirds etc...
Insects: Beetles, Ants, Spiders, Butterflies, Grasshoppers, Caterpillars etc...
Reptiles and Amphibians: Snakes, Frogs, Geckos, Komodo Dragons, Chemeleon etc...
Aquatics: Eels, Piranhas, various fish and amphibian species
Much like the competition for survival of plants that was mentioned before, competition for survival in the animal kingdom is just as fierce. Here in the tropical rainforest, the abundance of organisms causes an increase in the competition for food, sunlight and territory. Over thousands of years animals have developed special features in order to survive to their ever changing environment, these special features are called adaptations. For example, toucans eat nuts, and have developed large, strong beaks to break open the tough shells of Brazil nuts. Another example of an adaptation is the spider monkey, which has adapted to its life in the trees. The spider monkey almost never comes to the rainforest floor and thus, has developed a very lightweight, fragile body with a strong tail that acts as an extra limb. The spider monkey has also developed extremely long arms and legs to maximize their reach when swinging from tree to tree or just to grasp food. From one swing of their arm, a spider monkey can cover over twelve metres!