The Role Of Plant Growth In Tropical Rainforests

Biological Issue. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://averillbiology.blogspot.com/2011/01/redwood-trees-devastating-deforestation.html CHAPTER FOUR: ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS: THE TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT. (1998). Environmental Management Handbook, 177-192.

One of the biome which I found interesting was the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon Rainforest is region which is owned by more than 1 country because of its land mass. It is actually owned by 9 nations. This biome is situated in the amazon basin of South Africa. The Amazon Rainforest covers 5,500,000 km2 (2,123,562 sq mi) of total 7000000 km2 of the Amazon basin. This particular rainforest cover more than 50% of the world rainforest biome. So as to understand this particular rainforest biome better, I am going to talk about the Brazil part of the rainforest as it owns 60% of the rainforest. I found this particular

The Madagascar Rainforest is home to thousands of different species. 70% of which can’t even be found anywhere else in the world. The rainforest is known for it’s 5 layers of plant and animal life; the overstory , the canopy, the understory, the shrub layer, and the forest floor. The primary focus in this project is the rainforest floor. In the Madagascar Rainforest, the abiotic factors directly impact the biotic factors (Madagascar Lowland Rainforest). An example of this would be with sunlight. Because such a small amount of sunlight reaches the forest floor due to the amount of vegetation from other layers, there isn’t much plant life on the forest floor. However, some plants in the forest have adapted to the lack of sunlight and grow up

The tropical rainforest possesses well developed soil, however it maintains no visible O and A horizons. Thus attributing to the nutrient poor soil quality. Soil in tropical rainforest also has relatively low soil productivity. This is because as one organisms dies the nutrients left behind that would normally replenish the soil, are quickly (if not immediately) re-uptake into neighboring trees, fungi, and similar organisms. The soil can be described as sandy and loamy and it’s appearance is red/orange in color with a prevalence of Aluminum and Iron with a pH of approximately 4.5-5.5 - all of these characteristics classify the soil as an Oxisol. The tropical rainforest is considered a carbon sink because it uses more CO2 than it produces. There is an estimated 17 kilograms of carbon per square meter stored in rainforests. They are deemed the 2nd largest carbon sink for soil and the largest carbon

Albino redwoods and fungi share similarities, while also differing in some traits. When it comes to the structure of both plants, albino redwoods have green and yellowish needles, a combination of normal and albino tissues, and male and female cones (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140319-redwood-albino-chimera-california-tree-tallest/), while fungi have vegetative tissues (hyphae and mycelium), reproductive bodies/structures and spores. Both fungi and albino redwoods do not contain chlorophyll, so they are dependent on other living organisms to provide them with nutrients. Fungi are described as either decomposers or saprotrophs, while albino redwoods are parasites. Albino redwoods act as parasites by stealing nutrients from

There are many unique plantations in the Daintree Rainforest, one of the most famous plants is the idiot fruit. The idiot fruit is one of the rarest plants in the rainforest and the world. It’s approximately 110 million years old. It's too poisonous for animals and birds to eat them which is a way that they have adapted. Another plant is the epiphytes, they live on other plants surfaces, usually the trunk and branches. They grow on trees to get sunlight in the canopy. There is also a plant called the Pandanus Tree, they have a broad canopy and heavy fruits and leaves and branches, and this is why they usually grow large prop roots to support all of their weight.

Ever wondered how humans, plants and animals adapt to the harsh environments of the rainforest over time as they reproduce? In this essay, we will discuss how they adapt over time. This will tell how the people adapt to the weather of the rainforest and can withstand the intense heat. We will learn how the animals adapt to the environment around them compared to when they were first brought to the rainforest. This will also show how plants adapted and now thrive in the area of the rainforest that is known for exotic plants. Adapt means to change to fit in with surroundings. There may be some information about how the plants, animals, and people came to the rainforest from their homelands. We will learn how the plants, animals, and people adapt to the harsh environments of the rainforest.

Because of its large size, Madagascar has a wide range of ecosystems including rain forest, dry deciduous forests, spiny thickets, amongst others. Most of these ecosystems are considered to be in danger. According to the World Wild life organization 97% of the dry deciduous first of Madagascar have been depleted and destroyed since the first human settlement on the island. Because it covers a large portion of the island, this presentation will discuss the dry deciduous forest of

Rainforests have been declining rapidly over the last few decades. There are various factors responsible for this decline, resulting in serious impacts on the environment and the economy. Critically discuss the causes of deforestation and solutions to it.

Cloud forests are tropical ecosystems scattered throughout Central and South America, Africa, and Oceania (Scatena, Hamilton, & Juvik, 1995). Frequent, low level moisture shrouds the flora and fauna found in these jungles in a constant hazy mist. This fog cover differentiates the cloud forest environment from lowland tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests (Doumenge, 1995). To support an ecosystem, many processes such as photosynthesis, evapotranspiration, nutrient cycling, and predator-prey dynamics must work together to sustain life (Buddle, 2015). The hydrological cycle, specifically the processes of cloud formation and water interception, is the critical factor that shapes the emergence of a cloud forest and its species composition (Gotsch, Nadkarni, and Amici, 2016).

The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering one billion acres. The rainforest is predominately in Brazil, but also borders the countries of Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The unique biosphere of the Amazon is a result of millions of years of evolution. The Amazon is a damp and wet climate; with so much rain the soils of the Amazon are thin, yet, they grow the some of the tallest trees on earth. In some parts of the rainforest, sandy soils are found, which have evolved through erosion over millions of years. The soils of the Amazon are the foundation of the rainforest and, although these soils have lost their mineral content and fertility, rich and lush rainforests grow on them (WWF, 2013). The atmosphere of the Amazon allows for organic matter to decompose expeditiously, creating high nutrient and fertile topsoil. However, organisms reabsorb these new nutrients as quickly as they were formed. The Amazon is home to one in every ten animals on Earth, and plays a vital role in regulating the global climate. Soy has contributed to deforestation and soil erosion in the Brazilian Amazon (The Growth of Soy, 2014). There is a delicate balance throughout the Amazon; this equilibrium allows for one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth to strive, yet, it is in jeopardy due to human impacts such as the cultivation of soybean monoculture. It is estimated in another 50 years, 40% of the Amazon will have

The rate of deforestation is increasing and the tropical forests are falling at approximately 140,000 acres per day (Miller & Tangley 1991: xvi). The forests are crucial to the environment. They are important in minimizing erosion, providing a stable habitat for many animals, and helping to keep the environment clean. Deforestation has devastating effects, not only on the biological dependents within the depleted forests, but also on the surrounding human-populated communities.

There are various types of parasitic plants employing a wide range of methods to obtain the required nutrients to grow. A parasitic plant, much like any other parasites, cannot produce all the required nutrients to survive. Therefore, parasitic plants must obtain these nutrients from a host by attaching to some part of the host via the haustorium and leech the nutrients out (Losner et al. 1998). This can also lead to the death of the host plant. Depending on the parasitic plant, various nutrients are required, and as such the plant exhibits efficient growth to obtain the nutrients. One essential system, photosynthesis, provides crucial components for a plant to survive. Despite providing necessary components for a plants survival, many parasitic plants do not perform photosynthesis. To get around this, the plants must gather the products of photosynthesis from another plant that has done the work. Parasitic plants can be divided into two categories based off their needs, holoparasites and hemiparasites (dePamphilis et al. 1997). Holoparasites can’t make their own nutrients, and rely entirely on parasitism for nutrients. Hemiparasites on the other hand, can obtain some nutrients from parasitism and some on their own. Even if a plant lacks the ability to utilize photosynthesis, it can still contain chloroplast. A chloroplast gene that is commonly used to determine phylogeny, especially in Orobanche,

The study was located in Serra do Cipo, Brazil, a location in the southeast of the country. There were two independent environmental sites for this study, restored and natural environmental habitats of C. semaphore. The sites were 2 kilometers away from each other, establishing a basis of comparison between two distinct locations. This experimental setup enables the authors to calculate the relationship of FA and herbivory between plants of two different ontogenetic stages; also testing if habitat location played a major role. The authors sampled 30 leaves from each of the 15 adults and 8 sapling plants in both environmental conditions. The large sample size of the populations reduces the possibility of error in determining the direct involvement between FA, herbivory levels and plant age. A total of 690 leaves in each habitat were collected at the end of the dry season in October. Collecting the samples in this season ensured that the leaves are completely expanded for growth (Ribeiro and Fernandes 2000).

Endomycorrhiza are variable and are further classified as arbuscular, ericoid, arbutoid, monotropoid and orchid mycorhizae. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous in soil habitats and form beneficial symbiosis with the roots of angiosperms and other plants (Gerdemann, 1968).Most terrestrial