Tropical Rainforest Biome
The rain forest is the home to many plants, animals, and insects. About 40 percent of all birds of prey live in them and about 80 percent of the world’s insects crawl around in the rainforests. The three main rainforests are the American, African, and the Asian. Other rainforests lie between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Tropical Rainforests belong to the tropical wet climate group. They are usually wet because of the 50 to 260 inches of rain that falls yearly. The temperature of tropical rainforests can get higher than 93F or can drop below to 68F. Also, the average humidity is between 77 and 88 percent.
There is a diversity of plants that live in the rainforests. Rainforest produce about 40 percent of Earth’s oxygen. Also about 70 percent of plants in the rainforest are trees and the trees can grow as tall as 50 to 100 feet or more. There are generally two types of rainforests, the tropical and the temperate. Tropical rainforests are usually warm and closer to the equator. However, temperate rainforests are found further north or south of the equator where it is a little bit cooler.
There are four levels of the tropical rainforest. The first level is called the “Emergent”. In this level, trees grow higher than the average of the canopy height, which is about 250 feet or more. Also it is the house to many birds and insects. The second level is called the “Canopy”. This level consists of a verdant atmosphere that consists of insects, birds, reptiles, mammals. It also contains conifers, fir, hemlock, cedar, and spruce. The third level of the rainforest is called the “Understory”. This level is a dark, calm environment under the leaves, but is over the ground. It consists of vines, maples, and dogwood. The fourth level is called the “Forest Floor”. This level is packed with animal life, particularly insects and is where the largest animals in the rainforest usually live. The most popular plants in the rainforests are the Bromeliads, Epiphytes, Lianas, Saprophytes, Buttress Roots, Stilt/Prop Roots, Carnivorous Plants, Orchids, and Strangler Fig. These plants survive due to the humid weather that occurs in the rainforests.
There are numerous animals in the tropical rainforest. There are herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and detritivores. However, three main groups dominate the tropical rainforests. The three main groups are the herbivores, omnivores, and the carnivores. There are a lot of herbivores in rainforests because of the variety of plants that grow there yearly. Some of the herbivores are Toucans, Sloths, Butterflies, Hummingbirds, Turtles, Elks, Deer, Birds, and Insects. However, there are not many omnivores in rainforests as herbivores or carnivores. The omnivores include of many monkeys and marmosets, lion tamarinds, chimpanzees, and bears. The carnivores, the top of the tropical rainforest food chain, consist of leopards, jaguars, lynx, bears, cougar, owls, some birds, weasel, raccoons, some insects, snakes, rodents, lizards, and more.
Tropical rainforests maintain a greater number and diversity of animals than any other biome. One reason why tropical rainforests maintain such a great number of animals is because of its constant warmth and rainfall. Also, animals and plants get to produce more of their species by the amount of water and food that they get with the rainfall. This is why tropical rainforests have many animals, plants, and evergreen trees.
