Monday, January 7, 2008

Tropical Rainforest Biome


In today’s class, we discussed the tropical rain forest biome. We know that tropical rain forests are extremely rich communities, holding the most biodiversity of any terrestrial biome. In addition, they are instrumental in helping to regulate climate throughout the world and play a key role in the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen cycles.
Question to ponder:
What is the reason for the great biodiversity in tropical rain forests?

Homework: Go to the following website:

Blue Planet Biomes

Pick one plant or animal and add a comment to this blog describing the organism and any adaptations it has that allows it to survive in the tropical rainforest.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Curare: Located in South America, this vine is found in the canopy. The leaves have a hairy, white bottom and are smooth on top. Some natives use the flowers to create a syrup that is used to hunt. “Curare” means poison. One adaptation for this organisms is that, as a vine, it can climb to the top of the canopy.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

The bengal tiger is nocturnal so it does well on the dark forest floor and it is a carnivore so it mostly eats the heavyer animals that live on the ground.

Anonymous said...

The harpies eagle ways about 15 pounds and seven foot wing span. It soars through the rainforest praying on game up to the size of large monkeys and killing the with its razor sharp beak and five inch talons. Oww and they can live for 35 years. One adaptation they have is that they lay there eggs two hundred feet in the air where there safe from predators. There razor sharp claws are also pretty awesome they allow them to kill large animals.

Anonymous said...

So.. I'm doing the Toco Tucan.

Out of all of the types of tucans, the toco is the largest, it can grow as big as 26 inches in length. It also has a brightly colored bill that can be up to 8 inches in length. The toco tucan has a few adaptions that helps it live in the tropical rainforest:

- Since it generally lives high up on trees, it has strong feet and toes that help grip branches
- The toco tucan also has a feather-like tongue that helps move food around its bill (fruits, seeds, and insects mainly)


Happy now Laura?
Dimples

Anonymous said...

The Tualang tree is found in the southeast Asia rainforests. Plate shaped honeycombs hang from branches. They can be as tall as 30 stories. One adaptation of this tree is that it can grow really tall.

Anonymous said...

Bengal Bamboo or the “Bambusa tulda” is found in the Southeast Asian rainforests. It grows in patches across the rainforest in very moist soil. It grows very well in temperatures between 40 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This type of Bamboo grows as high as 40 to 80 feet high. Bamboo if you don’t know is classified as a type of grass because of how fast it grows. It thats about two to three months to be fully grown.

Anonymous said...

The Golden Lion Tamarin is very endangered and the reason is because of its beutiful shiny red/gold hair. Poachers can get alot of money off of the hair the reason is that they can sell it for up to twenty thousand dollars.The hair on it's face is longer than the hair on it's body. The hair feal's very soft.The reason it is called the Golden LIon is because the face of it almost looks like a small lion and the hair is gold.

Anonymous said...

The Toco Toucan eats fruit using its bill to pluck them from trees, but also insects, and nestlings and eggs of birds. It also has been known to capture and eat small adult birds in captivity. The long bill is useful for reaching things that otherwise would be out-of-reach. It is typically seen in pairs or small family-groups. In flight it alternates between a burst of rapid flaps with the relatively short, rounded wings and gliding. Nesting is seasonal, but timing differs between regions.

Anonymous said...

Takashi

Bougainvillea grows in the Amazon. It has dark green, heart shaped leaves. It can grow as a vine, shrub, or tree. The tips of its leaves droop down. This prevents water from weighing down the plant. It also has sharp protective thorns and hooks to help it hold on to trees.

Anonymous said...

The Jambu Fruit Dove is colorful bird that lives Indonesia, western Java, Thailand and Malaya. It has a few adaptations to help it survive. First, it is mainly green-colored so it blends in with the forest vegetation. It’s feathers also come off its body easily, making it hard for a predator to catch it. Also, this dove has a unique bill which allows it to drink water with less trouble than most birds. Finally, both parents take care of the egg making sure it is always protected and decreasing the chance of it being eaten.

Anonymous said...

The Vampire bat is the typical bat with a pig nose, claws, fangs, and giant ears. It does not have a mating season. It just mates all year.

Anonymous said...

Wagler's pit viper can grow up to 4 feet in length. Wagler's pit vipers have pits just behind the nostrils which have special organs that can sense heat in them witch is a important adaptation since the Wagler's pit viper is nocturnal
The Wagler's pit viper lives in trees. Young Wagler's pit vipers change there color as they grow. Wagler's Pit vipers babies are born live. There is a wide range of number of snakes born in a litter. It can be from 6 to 50 babies. Wagler's Pit vipers have fangs already loaded with venom and poison as soon as they are born. The Wagler's pit viper is a carnivore. They hunt at night. The adult feeds on lizards, birds, and rodents.

Anonymous said...

A rain forest bat called a dawn bat that is small and southeast asian. It makes its homes in mangrove and lowland forests in Malaysia.,Indonesia also in borneo. They have interesting body features like their long thin snouts that give them more cyanine look than a bat look. Their ears pointed but not very large,and their eyes are like small circles that help them see. Their fur is a dark brown but their inside is lighter color. Plus the male and female have a difference in their bodies like their necks and their weight.

Anonymous said...

im doing the bengal bamboo

the bambusa tundra can be found in the southeast part of asian rainforest.its very good for miost environments with lots of rain falls. it likes temperutre between 40 degress f and 100 degress f. most rainforest are mostly 100 inches rain per year. the vegtation
grows in layers. but some layers get sunlight but litle sunlight at the bottom layer.

Anonymous said...

im doing the jambu

it a jucicy sweet fruit and delicious to eat. jambu natrally grows from southern indain to eastern malaya. this fruit is the smallest of the group of similar fruits. it likes plenty of rain during the thoughout the year. its a small tree and the branches grow near the ground. the red and white jambu are found in the indoesia.

Dan Cunitz said...

These are great comments everybody! You have all picked out some amazing adaptations. One of my favorites was the Jambu Fruit Dove who loses its feathers to escape from prey. Also, kaldraga (aka Deshawn) pointed out that bamboo is actually considered a grass. If you've ever stood within a bamboo forest you would know why that seems strange.

Anonymous said...

Found in the Southern asian rainforests. It Growes the best when it is in moist soil. and this means it has to rain alot. it is most comfortable in fourty to one hundred degrees. It grows up to eighty feet.The bambo lives up to fourty years of age. Bambo is very imporant to its inviroment because it sucks up water really quickly so when it raqins alot it will save the other plants from a flood.and or keeping the soil fresh, and not eroiding. because the bambo has such a tough bark people use it to make baskets and many different types of furniture.

Anonymous said...

The harpy eagle is agile and adapt to dodging treetops like the many ones in the rainforest it lives in. It is fast enough to catch its prey before the prey can run and hide and is powerful enough to kill its prey in one blow before the prey can make a sound. This is good because if the eagle’s prey makes a sound it will tell all other animals in the area that the eagle is nearby causing the prey to hide in their shelters out of the eagles reach. Female harpy eagles are larger than their male counterparts so they can defend themselves and the eggs inside them better. Their eyes allow them to judge the distance between them and their prey or between treetops. They also have facial disks that probably help them hear. Their bodies are designed for flying through the forest at break neck speed.

Anonymous said...

i need help finding info about jambu fruit dove. help?

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