The Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world and covers over 1.4 billion acres and is home to an immensly large variety of birds (at least 20%), mammals (over 500), reptiles (around 475), amphibians (thousands), marine life (don't get me started!), dirt-dwellers (countless), plants (over 40,000 and still growing) and, of course, many different unique types of insects (over 2.5 or 30 million). All of these creatures depend on the Amazon Rainforest's natural resources, and so do humans! The Amazon Rainforest is also known as the "Lungs of our Planet" because 20% of the Earth's oxygen is freshened and cleaned by the Amazon Rainforest! Thousands of acres of the rainforest are blanketed by water as a flood rushes along the rainforest going along as far inland from the main channel as 12 miles (around 19 312.128 meters). Approximately 15 million years ago, the South American plate collided with another tectonic plate, and what is now known as the Andes Mountains caused the running river to back up and form freshwater lakes, and the Amazon Basin was changed. The Amazon Rainforest is also the largest water system in the world. Many creatutes can be found living in the water, such as: Manatees, Freshwater River Dolphins, River Otters, Turtles, Piranah, Electric Eels and an immensly large, air-breathing fish called the Piraracu.
Layers
Layers of the Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest has four layers of plants. The top layer is called the Emergent Layer, where trees emerge into the sky above all the other trees in the rainforest, and trees can grow up to 200 feet (around 6096 centimetres)! The tall trees of the Emergent Layer are exposed to all temperatures, wind and lots of rainfall. The trees "hold" the water in small, wax-like leaves. Bromeliads are one of these trees. Trees in the Emergent Layer have "winged seeds" that, when the wind catches them, are blown away into separate parts of the forest to keep the cycle going. The trees in the Emergent Layer normally have Buttress Roots and trunks that can be up to 16 feet (at least 487.68 centimetres)! The Emergent Layer is a helpful home to many Amazonian critters and some animals spend their whole lives among the trees in the Emergent Layer!
The next layer in the rainforest, under the Emergent Layer, is the Canopy. A majority of the trees in the luscious Canopy have smooth, elliptical leaves that curve into what is sometimes referred to as a drip tip. Drip tips prevent the leaf from growing mosses, fungi and other such things. The leaves of the Canopy purify 80% of the sunlight that has made its way past the Emergent Layer. In the Canopy, thousands of fruits and flowers, beautiful or not, bloom and thrive, as well as Epiphytes.
Don't forget the Understory! The Understory is very dark, as it only gets up to 5% of sunlight. All the unique plants in the Understory have well adapted to their shadowy home and grow in shades of dark green and heights of up to 12 feet (that's up to 365.76centimetres)! The plants in the Understory are dependants on pollinaters to keep them alive and keep the cycle going, as there is little wind movement in the dark depths of the Understory. Some of these quirky, little plants grow beautiful flowers and fruits on the lower areas of their trunks, and these flowers and fruits provide nutritious food for animals with no skill in climbing trees.
Lastly, there is the Forest Floor and it recieves up to 2% sunlight, only. The Forest Floor mainly consists of fallen leaves, vegetation and organisms that will be used for shelter, food and nutrients.
The next layer in the rainforest, under the Emergent Layer, is the Canopy. A majority of the trees in the luscious Canopy have smooth, elliptical leaves that curve into what is sometimes referred to as a drip tip. Drip tips prevent the leaf from growing mosses, fungi and other such things. The leaves of the Canopy purify 80% of the sunlight that has made its way past the Emergent Layer. In the Canopy, thousands of fruits and flowers, beautiful or not, bloom and thrive, as well as Epiphytes.
Don't forget the Understory! The Understory is very dark, as it only gets up to 5% of sunlight. All the unique plants in the Understory have well adapted to their shadowy home and grow in shades of dark green and heights of up to 12 feet (that's up to 365.76centimetres)! The plants in the Understory are dependants on pollinaters to keep them alive and keep the cycle going, as there is little wind movement in the dark depths of the Understory. Some of these quirky, little plants grow beautiful flowers and fruits on the lower areas of their trunks, and these flowers and fruits provide nutritious food for animals with no skill in climbing trees.
Lastly, there is the Forest Floor and it recieves up to 2% sunlight, only. The Forest Floor mainly consists of fallen leaves, vegetation and organisms that will be used for shelter, food and nutrients.
Temperatures
Temperature Range
The Amazon Rainforest can reach very high temperatures, and tend to be very warm and very humid (then again, it is a rainforest). The average temperature is 79° F (around 26°C), though it varies during day and night. Imagine being an animal with a warm fur coat in those sorts of high temperatures!!!
The Amazon Rainforest holds a whopping amount of at least 9 feet (around 22.86 centimetres) of rain a year and most of it returns to the atmosphere through leaves, branches and twigs from trees. On average, during the months June and October, the amount of rainfall can rise up to 30-45 feet (76.2cm-114.3cm).
The Amazon Rainforest holds a whopping amount of at least 9 feet (around 22.86 centimetres) of rain a year and most of it returns to the atmosphere through leaves, branches and twigs from trees. On average, during the months June and October, the amount of rainfall can rise up to 30-45 feet (76.2cm-114.3cm).
Rainforest Bibliography
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/amazonrainforest.html
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/amazon.htm
Photo of Tree Layers
Photo of Temperature Range
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/amazon.htm
Photo of Tree Layers
Photo of Temperature Range
The Amazon River
|
If you wish to find out about the Amazon River and some of the creatures that depend on it, the series of videos below should give you lots of information!
|