Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Plants
Animals
Climate
Southeast Asian Rainforests
The tropical rain forest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth. An average of 50 to 260 inches (125 to 660 cm.) of rain falls yearly.
Rain forests belong to the tropical wet climate group. The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets higher than 93 °F (34 °C) or drops below 68 °F (20 °C); average humidity is between 77 and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100 inches a year. There is usually a brief season of less rain. In monsoonal areas, there is a real dry season. Almost all rain forests lie near the equator.
Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earth's land surface. Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests. Tropical rainforests produce 40% of Earth's oxygen.
A tropical rain forest has more kinds of trees than any other area in the world. Scientists have counted about 100 to 300 species in one 2 1/2-acre (1-hectare) area in South America. Seventy percent of the plants in the rainforest are trees.
About 1/4 of all the medicines we use come from rainforest plants. Curare comes from a tropical vine, and is used as an anesthetic and to relax muscles during surgery. Quinine, from the cinchona tree, is used to treat malaria. A person with lymphocytic leukemia has a 99% chance that the disease will go into remission because of the rosy periwinkle. More than 1,400 varieties of tropical plants are thought to be potential cures for cancer.
All tropical rain forests resemble one another in some ways. Many of the trees have straight trunks that don't branch out for 100 feet or more. There is no sense in growing branches below the canopy where there is little light. The majority of the trees have smooth, thin bark because there is no need to protect the them from water loss and freezing temperatures. It also makes it difficult for epiphytes and plant parasites to get a hold on the trunks. The bark of different species is so similar that it is difficult to identify a tree by its bark. Many trees can only be identified by their flowers.
Despite these differences, each of the three largest rainforests--the American, the African, and the Asian--has a different group of animal and plant species. Each rain forest has many species of monkeys, all of which differ from the species of the other two rain forests. In addition, different areas of the same rain forest may have different species. Many kinds of trees that grow in the mountains of the Amazon rain forest do not grow in the lowlands of that same forest.
Animals
Climate
Southeast Asian Rainforests
The tropical rain forest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth. An average of 50 to 260 inches (125 to 660 cm.) of rain falls yearly.
Rain forests belong to the tropical wet climate group. The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets higher than 93 °F (34 °C) or drops below 68 °F (20 °C); average humidity is between 77 and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100 inches a year. There is usually a brief season of less rain. In monsoonal areas, there is a real dry season. Almost all rain forests lie near the equator.
Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earth's land surface. Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests. Tropical rainforests produce 40% of Earth's oxygen.
A tropical rain forest has more kinds of trees than any other area in the world. Scientists have counted about 100 to 300 species in one 2 1/2-acre (1-hectare) area in South America. Seventy percent of the plants in the rainforest are trees.
About 1/4 of all the medicines we use come from rainforest plants. Curare comes from a tropical vine, and is used as an anesthetic and to relax muscles during surgery. Quinine, from the cinchona tree, is used to treat malaria. A person with lymphocytic leukemia has a 99% chance that the disease will go into remission because of the rosy periwinkle. More than 1,400 varieties of tropical plants are thought to be potential cures for cancer.
All tropical rain forests resemble one another in some ways. Many of the trees have straight trunks that don't branch out for 100 feet or more. There is no sense in growing branches below the canopy where there is little light. The majority of the trees have smooth, thin bark because there is no need to protect the them from water loss and freezing temperatures. It also makes it difficult for epiphytes and plant parasites to get a hold on the trunks. The bark of different species is so similar that it is difficult to identify a tree by its bark. Many trees can only be identified by their flowers.
Despite these differences, each of the three largest rainforests--the American, the African, and the Asian--has a different group of animal and plant species. Each rain forest has many species of monkeys, all of which differ from the species of the other two rain forests. In addition, different areas of the same rain forest may have different species. Many kinds of trees that grow in the mountains of the Amazon rain forest do not grow in the lowlands of that same forest.
Where the Rainforests Are Found
The tropical rain forest can be found in three major geographical areas around the world.
Central America in the the Amazon river basin.
Africa - Zaire basin, with a small area in West Africa; also eastern Madagascar.
Indo-Malaysia - west coast of India, Assam, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Queensland, Australia.
Toco ToucanGenus: PamphastosSpecies: toco
The Toco Toucan is the largest of the toucans. It can get to about twenty-four to twenty six inches in length. Its bill is brightly colored orange and black and can get to about eight inches in length. The Toco Toucan weighs about ten to seventeen ounces. The Toucan's massive bill is not as heavy as it looks; it has a hard outside and a hollow inside. A bright blue patch of blue skin surrounds the eye.
A Toco Toucan has strong feet and toes to support its weight. Two toes point forward and two point backward. Its tongue is almost feather like and is six inches long. Its wings are short and rounded and it has a long broad tail. It's generally black with touches of white, scarlet and yellow. The Toco Toucan likes to live in open areas,lowland rainforests and palm groves of South America.
The Toco Toucan will mate at different times, depending on where they live. They breed once a year and have two to four shiny white eggs in a clutch. The incubation period is sixteen days. The Toco Toucan nestlings are born without feathers and are blind. These babies stay in their nest for about seven weeks. Both parents care for their young, protecting and feeding them. Scientists do not know how long toucans live in the wild.
Toucans usually live in pairs or groups called flocks. Their nests are in holes in trees. They talk to each other using toad likes noises. They take turns cleaning each other's feathers with their beaks.
The Toco Toucan's feather-like tongue helps move food along its bill. Its strong toes help it get a good grip on branches. The Toco Toucan has a very wide tail. It helps him stay balanced in the trees. The Toco Toucan eats fruit, seeds, insects, and spiders; steals eggs and nestlings from smaller birds. The Toco Toucan is a predator. It hunts lizards and snakes and steals eggs and nestlings from smaller birds. I can't find any sources about what eats the toco toucan. The Toco toucan is not endangered because it's able to adapt to man made habitats when the rainforests are destroyed.
The Toco Toucan is the largest of the toucans. It can get to about twenty-four to twenty six inches in length. Its bill is brightly colored orange and black and can get to about eight inches in length. The Toco Toucan weighs about ten to seventeen ounces. The Toucan's massive bill is not as heavy as it looks; it has a hard outside and a hollow inside. A bright blue patch of blue skin surrounds the eye.
A Toco Toucan has strong feet and toes to support its weight. Two toes point forward and two point backward. Its tongue is almost feather like and is six inches long. Its wings are short and rounded and it has a long broad tail. It's generally black with touches of white, scarlet and yellow. The Toco Toucan likes to live in open areas,lowland rainforests and palm groves of South America.
The Toco Toucan will mate at different times, depending on where they live. They breed once a year and have two to four shiny white eggs in a clutch. The incubation period is sixteen days. The Toco Toucan nestlings are born without feathers and are blind. These babies stay in their nest for about seven weeks. Both parents care for their young, protecting and feeding them. Scientists do not know how long toucans live in the wild.
Toucans usually live in pairs or groups called flocks. Their nests are in holes in trees. They talk to each other using toad likes noises. They take turns cleaning each other's feathers with their beaks.
The Toco Toucan's feather-like tongue helps move food along its bill. Its strong toes help it get a good grip on branches. The Toco Toucan has a very wide tail. It helps him stay balanced in the trees. The Toco Toucan eats fruit, seeds, insects, and spiders; steals eggs and nestlings from smaller birds. The Toco Toucan is a predator. It hunts lizards and snakes and steals eggs and nestlings from smaller birds. I can't find any sources about what eats the toco toucan. The Toco toucan is not endangered because it's able to adapt to man made habitats when the rainforests are destroyed.
Chimpanzee:Common Name: ChimpGenus: PanSpecies: troglodytes
Chimpanzees are about 3 to 5 feet tall and weigh from 99 to 176 pounds. They have black hair. Adults are very often bald, usually a triangle on the forehead of the male, and more complete baldness in females. Their faces are hairless. Infants have pink faces which turn darker with age. Although chimpanzees have no tail, infants have a white tail tuft.
The favorite food of chimpanzees are fruits and young leaves, but they like many different types of food. In the dry season they will eat buds and blossoms, soft pitch, stems, galls, honey, bark and resin, seedsand nuts. Insects, like ants and termites are also in their diet. On rare occasions they will hunt small game like monkeys, pigs, and antelopes.
For the most part, chimps forage on the ground. While searching for food, troops will move around their territory, never staying long in one place. This allows the vegetation to recover before the chimps return to the area again. They do not compete for food with monkeys, who forage mostly in the canopy.
Chimpanzees reach puberty at about seven years. Females mature three to four years later. Females will not breed for three to four years after giving birth. They are capable of reproducing until the age of 40. The maximum life span in the wild is about 60 years.
The newborns are helpless at birth. After a few days it holds on to the mother's hair and at 5 to 7 months rides jockey style on the her back. By four years, the infant usually walks, but stays close to the mother for about five to seven years.
Chimp communities are made up of 15 to 100 members. Males tend to stay in the community they are born into, but females move between different communities during their adolescent years.
Chimps have developed several behavioral adaptations. At night chimps construct nests of leaves and branches 18-29 feet high in a tree. Males will hunt cooperatively for baby monkeys or bush pigs. Some groups have been observed to use thin twigs or blades of grass to extract termites from their nests. Some chimps in western Africa use wood and stone tools as hammers to open nuts.
Chimps are on the endangered species list. There may be as many as 35,000 chimps in the wild, but destruction of their habitats, hunting and commercial trapping for the animal trade had reduced their population.
Chimpanzees are about 3 to 5 feet tall and weigh from 99 to 176 pounds. They have black hair. Adults are very often bald, usually a triangle on the forehead of the male, and more complete baldness in females. Their faces are hairless. Infants have pink faces which turn darker with age. Although chimpanzees have no tail, infants have a white tail tuft.
The favorite food of chimpanzees are fruits and young leaves, but they like many different types of food. In the dry season they will eat buds and blossoms, soft pitch, stems, galls, honey, bark and resin, seedsand nuts. Insects, like ants and termites are also in their diet. On rare occasions they will hunt small game like monkeys, pigs, and antelopes.
For the most part, chimps forage on the ground. While searching for food, troops will move around their territory, never staying long in one place. This allows the vegetation to recover before the chimps return to the area again. They do not compete for food with monkeys, who forage mostly in the canopy.
Chimpanzees reach puberty at about seven years. Females mature three to four years later. Females will not breed for three to four years after giving birth. They are capable of reproducing until the age of 40. The maximum life span in the wild is about 60 years.
The newborns are helpless at birth. After a few days it holds on to the mother's hair and at 5 to 7 months rides jockey style on the her back. By four years, the infant usually walks, but stays close to the mother for about five to seven years.
Chimp communities are made up of 15 to 100 members. Males tend to stay in the community they are born into, but females move between different communities during their adolescent years.
Chimps have developed several behavioral adaptations. At night chimps construct nests of leaves and branches 18-29 feet high in a tree. Males will hunt cooperatively for baby monkeys or bush pigs. Some groups have been observed to use thin twigs or blades of grass to extract termites from their nests. Some chimps in western Africa use wood and stone tools as hammers to open nuts.
Chimps are on the endangered species list. There may be as many as 35,000 chimps in the wild, but destruction of their habitats, hunting and commercial trapping for the animal trade had reduced their population.
Bengal TigerGenus: PantheraSpecies: tigris tigris
The Bengal Tiger is a beautiful animal. The base color is orange/brown, and white on the cheeks, mouth, eyebrows, and stomach. The tiger also has long black stripes on it. The weight of the tiger can be up to 575 pounds. The Bengal tiger is not the biggest tiger in the world, Its cousin the Siberian tiger is the largest tiger. The body of the Bengal tiger is broad with legs that are slender. The fur of the tiger is very fine in texture. The Bengal tiger is very sneakyand quiet. The cubs look the same. The Bengal tiger can get up to ten feet long and three feet tall.
The Bengal tiger lives in the Sundarban regions of India, Bangladesh, China, Siberia, and Indonesia. The tiger reaches maturity at the age of five, and the life span of the tiger is about 15 years. The Bengal tiger mates about any time of year. The Bengal tiger can have a litter of up to four cubs. The cubs don't hunt for themselves until they are at least 18 months old. Then they go hunting with their mother. The gestation period is about three months and ten days.
The Bengal tiger is a carnivore. It eats boars, wild oxen, monkeys, and other animals. The Bengal tiger can catch big animals, but prefers killing either young or old animals because they don't run as fast. The Bengal tiger is a nocturnal and greatly feared predator. It eats wild oxen and other animals, which eat plants , which are part of the food web. So it helps balance the web.
In the year 1900 there were 50,000 tigers on the earth, but now there is only 4,000 left in the world. So you can see that the population has decreased because of poachers and other cruel and selfish people. The Bengal tiger is protected in many places such as: The Nagarahole National Park 250 guards, and The Ranthambhore National Park 60 guards. The guards in the national parks are important because they know the kind of tools and weapons poachers use, so the guards can identify poachers. In India the Indian government made an effort to save the tigers. It was called "Project Tiger", and it was thought up in 1972 from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Under this protection from the government, hunting and trading tiger parts were banned. A sad thing happened 8 years ago when 850 pounds of tiger bones, which adds up to about 42 tigers were found in New Delhi, India hunted by poachers. The reason why poachers and other people hunt beautiful animals like tigers is because the eyes, bones, and even whiskers are very valuable to researchers who are making medicine to treat or cure human ailment, and to give people a longer life.
The Bengal Tiger is a beautiful animal. The base color is orange/brown, and white on the cheeks, mouth, eyebrows, and stomach. The tiger also has long black stripes on it. The weight of the tiger can be up to 575 pounds. The Bengal tiger is not the biggest tiger in the world, Its cousin the Siberian tiger is the largest tiger. The body of the Bengal tiger is broad with legs that are slender. The fur of the tiger is very fine in texture. The Bengal tiger is very sneakyand quiet. The cubs look the same. The Bengal tiger can get up to ten feet long and three feet tall.
The Bengal tiger lives in the Sundarban regions of India, Bangladesh, China, Siberia, and Indonesia. The tiger reaches maturity at the age of five, and the life span of the tiger is about 15 years. The Bengal tiger mates about any time of year. The Bengal tiger can have a litter of up to four cubs. The cubs don't hunt for themselves until they are at least 18 months old. Then they go hunting with their mother. The gestation period is about three months and ten days.
The Bengal tiger is a carnivore. It eats boars, wild oxen, monkeys, and other animals. The Bengal tiger can catch big animals, but prefers killing either young or old animals because they don't run as fast. The Bengal tiger is a nocturnal and greatly feared predator. It eats wild oxen and other animals, which eat plants , which are part of the food web. So it helps balance the web.
In the year 1900 there were 50,000 tigers on the earth, but now there is only 4,000 left in the world. So you can see that the population has decreased because of poachers and other cruel and selfish people. The Bengal tiger is protected in many places such as: The Nagarahole National Park 250 guards, and The Ranthambhore National Park 60 guards. The guards in the national parks are important because they know the kind of tools and weapons poachers use, so the guards can identify poachers. In India the Indian government made an effort to save the tigers. It was called "Project Tiger", and it was thought up in 1972 from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Under this protection from the government, hunting and trading tiger parts were banned. A sad thing happened 8 years ago when 850 pounds of tiger bones, which adds up to about 42 tigers were found in New Delhi, India hunted by poachers. The reason why poachers and other people hunt beautiful animals like tigers is because the eyes, bones, and even whiskers are very valuable to researchers who are making medicine to treat or cure human ailment, and to give people a longer life.
African Forest Elephant:Common Names: Pygmy ElephantGenus: LoxodontaSpecies: cyclotis
It was always thought that there were two species of elephant in the world; the African savanna elephant,( Loxodonta africana) and the Asian elephant, (Elephas maximus). But now, through DNA testing, it has been discovered that there is a third species; the African forest elephant.
When a DNA identification system was set up to trace where poached ivory was coming from, scientists found that the African elephants consisted of two very different species. They expected slight variations in the genetic makeup of the savanna elephant, but were surprised to discover the two different species.
The new species, the forest elephant, was considered to be a subspecies of the African elephant, and was known as Loxodonta africana cyclotis. That means scientists thought that, although the elephants had adapted to their forest habitat, they were still savanna elephants. But DNA evidence shows that about 2.5 million years ago two genetically different strains of elephants evolved in Africa. The forest elephant, now known as Loxodonta cyclotis,found its niche in the equatorial forests of central and western Africa. Here they have lived hidden from view and practically forgotten.
Some scientists consider the two species as different as lions are from tigers, or horses are from zebras. Genetically the difference between the two species of elephant is more than half as big as the differences between the African elephant and the Asian elephant, or 58%.
When you think of the African elephant you probably picture the savanna elephant. It is a huge animal, standing almost 12 feet tall at the shoulders. It has large ears that come to a point at the bottom. The tusks are long and slightly curved. They live on large, dry grasslands with a few thorny acacias dotting the plains.
The forest elephants look very different from savanna elephants. For one thing, they are smaller and stockier than savanna elephants. Forest elephant males only get to be about 8 feet in height while large savanna elephants can reach 13 feet. Their ears are rounded and their tusks are straight and thin with a pinkish tinge to the ivory. The lower jaw is longer, giving the forest elephant a long, narrow face. Forest elephants also live in smaller family groups. Forest elephants are also darker than savanna elephants.
It was always thought that there were two species of elephant in the world; the African savanna elephant,( Loxodonta africana) and the Asian elephant, (Elephas maximus). But now, through DNA testing, it has been discovered that there is a third species; the African forest elephant.
When a DNA identification system was set up to trace where poached ivory was coming from, scientists found that the African elephants consisted of two very different species. They expected slight variations in the genetic makeup of the savanna elephant, but were surprised to discover the two different species.
The new species, the forest elephant, was considered to be a subspecies of the African elephant, and was known as Loxodonta africana cyclotis. That means scientists thought that, although the elephants had adapted to their forest habitat, they were still savanna elephants. But DNA evidence shows that about 2.5 million years ago two genetically different strains of elephants evolved in Africa. The forest elephant, now known as Loxodonta cyclotis,found its niche in the equatorial forests of central and western Africa. Here they have lived hidden from view and practically forgotten.
Some scientists consider the two species as different as lions are from tigers, or horses are from zebras. Genetically the difference between the two species of elephant is more than half as big as the differences between the African elephant and the Asian elephant, or 58%.
When you think of the African elephant you probably picture the savanna elephant. It is a huge animal, standing almost 12 feet tall at the shoulders. It has large ears that come to a point at the bottom. The tusks are long and slightly curved. They live on large, dry grasslands with a few thorny acacias dotting the plains.
The forest elephants look very different from savanna elephants. For one thing, they are smaller and stockier than savanna elephants. Forest elephant males only get to be about 8 feet in height while large savanna elephants can reach 13 feet. Their ears are rounded and their tusks are straight and thin with a pinkish tinge to the ivory. The lower jaw is longer, giving the forest elephant a long, narrow face. Forest elephants also live in smaller family groups. Forest elephants are also darker than savanna elephants.
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