What the tropical rainforest is like

Question 1

What % of plant and animal species live in the rainforest?

Answer 1

10%

Question 2

How is the rainforest very biodiverse?

Answer 2

• in Amazonia, there are 16000 different tree species
• Amazonia has over 40,000 other plant species
• amazonia has 13,000 bird species

Question 3

Why is biodiversity very high in the rainforest?

Answer 3

• the climate is perfect for year round growth and production
• rainforests are ancient and have a stable climate so thousands of species have evolved
• the multiple layers provide a number of specialised habitats

Question 4

Where are tropical rainforests located overall?

Answer 4

Close to the equator between the tropics of cancer and Capricorn in South America, Asia and Africa

Question 5

What is the climate in rainforests called?

Answer 5

The equatorial climate

Question 6

What does the equatorial climate involve?

Answer 6

• No dry season with at least 60 mm of rainfall each month

- temperatures high at 26 - 32°C all year round

Question 7

Why do rainforest grow continuously?

Answer 7

Because heat and sunlight are available all year round

Question 8

What are the layers of the rainforest in order

Answer 8

Emergent layer
Canopy layer
Understorey layer
Forest floor

Question 9

What is the emergent layer composed of? What animals live here?

Answer 9

Hardwood evergreen trees that have been broken through the dense canopy layer between to reach sunlight. Monkeys and birds live here

Question 10

What is the canopy layer composed of? What animals live here?

Answer 10

It has a lot of food so tree snakes, birds, tree frogs and other animals live there

Question 11

What is the understorey layer composed of? What animals live here?

Answer 11

It has young trees and those with large leaves to capture sunlight. Home to large numbers of insects

Question 12

What is the forest floor composed of? What animals live here?

Answer 12

It’s very dark so shade loving trees live here with mammals like the jaguar

Question 13

How are evergreen and hardwood trees adapted?

Answer 13

• they have tall slender trunks without branches but have huge triangular butress roots to support the large weight of the tree.
• leaves and branches are only at the very top where sunlight is

Question 14

What are the adaptations of epiphytes?

Answer 14

The plants live in the canopy of trees so have evolved to get all their nutrients and water from the air instead of the soil

Question 15

How are lianas adapted?

Answer 15

They use other trees as their trunk as their stems cling to trees to climb to the sunlight in the canopy yet still get water and nutrients from the soil

Question 16

How are drip tip leaves adapted?

Answer 16

They are leaves on most rainforest plants that are thick and waxy with the drip tip that sheds water quickly to prevent leaves rotting

Question 17

How are sloths adapted?

Answer 17

• they have huge claws to hand upside down on branches
• their fur grows away from their feet to help shed rain when upside down
• green algae growing in their fur helps camouflage them from predators

Question 18

How are primates adapted?

Answer 18

• They evolved to live in the canopy as most food is their
• they have long tails to balance
• they have strong claws to grip trees and branches

Question 19

What are the adaptations of big cats

Answer 19

Jaguars, leopards and tigers have camouflaged fur to blend with the sunlight on forest floor

Question 20

How are birds adapted?

Answer 20

• They have very loud calls to contact each other in the dense canopy
• parrots and macaws have powerful claws to break open nuts