TROPICAL

Nick DeFusco
Biology
December 11, 2009

RAINFOREST
Environmental problems and the causes of those problems:
Experts estimate that we are losing 137 plants, animals, and insect species every day due to rainforest destruction. That is like 50,000 species

a year. That is because people are clearing the forest for the trees and land. As the rainforest disappears, so do many possible cures for life-
threatening diseases. Rainforests use to cover 14% of the earth's land surface. Now they cover 6%, experts estimate that the last remaining

rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.

Background Information:

• The average precipitation of the rainforest is 200-1000 centimeters per year.

• Temperature range 24 degrees C - 27 degrees C.

• Animal species: Chimpanzees, Bengal tigers, elephants, orangutans, bats, toucans,
sloth, cobra snakes.

• Plant Species: broadleaf evergreens, bamboo, sugar cane

• Location:Central and South America, souther Asia, western Africa, and northeastern
Australia

• Abiotic Factors: humid all year, wet.

Climatic and/or geographic factors contributing to the destruction of the Rainforest:

Humans are the problem. Human problems because once people started clearing land, and the

city population goes up, then people start clearing more and more land. Another thing that could
contribute to the problem is Global warming. I say that because if the rain forest gets flooded by

the rise of water in rivers. The reason for this is because if oceans rise than the amount of rain
will increase. So if the rain increases than the rivers will rise. Some animals can not live in

floods. So some species die out than the whole chain of life will get messed up.

Significant impacts to the living things in the Rainforest:

The animals are getting pushed out of there homes, and it is hard to live in those conditions. If

they cant survive than the whole cycle of life will get messed up. Humans are a big impact on the This Is a picture of the Tropical Rainforest.
The graph above this is shows the rate
biome because we are cutting down the Rainforest and the homes are being destroyed. If the
from when the Rainforest use to have lots
cycle of life gets messed up. An example is if the plant population goes down than the animals of trees, in year 2040 there will be none.
The rate is very steep in the Tropical
who eat plants, population will go down. The meat eaters who eat the plant eaters population will
Rainforest.
go down to.

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Political and/or social sides to the destruction of the Tropical Rainforest:
People want other people to realize that we need the rainforest to survive. Rainforests around

the world still continue to fall. “By destroying the tropical forests, we risk our own quality of
life, gamble with the stability of climate and local weather, threaten the existence of other ANIMALS
species, and undermine the valuable services provided by biological diversity.”
Future of the Rainforest for the next 20 years:

The world's rainforests are currently disappearing at a rate of 6,000 acres every hour. When
these forests are cut down, the plants and animals that live in the forests will be destroyed.

Some species are at risk of being extinct. Today we have less than 1.5 billion acres left, and
we are clearing this remaining rainforest at the rate of 30 to 50 million acres per year, two to

three times as rapidly as just a few decades ago. If the present rate of tropical deforestation
continues, there will be nearly no tropical rainforests left in just 30 years. Instead of holding

steady the rate of deforestation is actually predicted to increase even further. Scientists project
that the rate of tropical deforestation will continue to increase for the next 10 to 15 years until

there simply will not be enough forest left to sustain the rate of cutting.
Rainforest Soil Problems:

The nutrients reach the forest soil and it is consequently poor. If we remove the trees it allows
the soil to dry out. This causes the rainforest microbes to die and the soil becomes motionless,

biologically. The degraded soil is also effected by erosion by the wind and when land floods,
it can be washed away.

The Tropical Rainforest

The Tropical Rainforest are full of
millions of species. The Rainforest are
full of insects, mammals, amphibians,
and plants. All of those animals and
plants are important to the world and
to treat diseases. If we take it down
than we will not have those
treatments. The Rainforest even helps
heal the earth.

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