Transcript document

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rainforests are located near the equator. Fifty seven percent of all
rainforests are found in Latin America. One third of the world's rainforests
are in Brazil. Other rainforests are located in Southeast Asia and the
Pacific Islands The rainforest has four layers. They are, the forest floor,
the understory, the canopy and last there is the emergent layer.
First there is the forest floor which is on the bottom. The forest floor is 0
feet above the ground. Next there is the understory. The understory is 0
feet to 60 feet above the ground. Then there is the canopy. The canopy is
60 feet to 130 feet and last but not least the emergent layer is 130 to
160 feet above the ground. Rainforests are important because…
they
help stabilize the world’s climate;
provide a home to many plants and animals;
maintain the water cycle
protect against flood, drought, and erosion;
are a source for medicines and foods;
support tribal people; and
are an interesting place to visit
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Location and HabitatBinturongs can be found in the rainforests and
mangroves of southeast Asia. They are located in countries such as
Thailand and Vietnam and on the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Java.
Binturongs spend most of their lives high in the trees of the rainforest. They
are also mostly active at night.
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Diet Although binturongs are classified as carnivorous, they eat large
amounts of fruit and plants. They may also eat fish, small mammals or
lizards.
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Size and Description Binturongs generally grow to 2 or 3 feet in length,
and their tails will grow to about the same length. Binturongs' appearances
are unique to the animal kingdom and look like creatures out of a fairy tale.
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There are about 40 different kinds of toucans. They vary in size from about 7 inches to
a little over two feet. They have short and thick necks. Toucans are distinguished by
large, colorful, yet lightweight bills. The color of the bill may be black, blue, brown,
green, red, white, yellow or a combination of colors. The bright colors on his bill help to
attract a mate. Toucans also have a narrow, feather-like tongue. They can be noisy
birds with their calls sounding harsh and raspy. A toucan's bill is sharp and has saw-like
edges. The bill is used to squash the many kinds of fruit and berries he eats. He may
also use the saw-like edges to tear off parts of larger fruits. Also included in their diet
are small birds and lizards. Toucans make their homes in holes in trees. They usually
live in pairs or small flocks. White, glossy eggs are laid once a year and when they
hatch, the new chicks have no down covering them. Toucans are found in South and
Central America in the canopy layer of the rainforest. When they sleep, they turn thier
heads around and tuck their bills under their wings and tail. The toucan is very important
to the rainforest because they help to disperse seeds from the fruits and berries they
eat.
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Range: Tropical Central Africa , equatorial belt and rainforests
Habitat: Grasslands to densely forested jungle. The Gaboon Viper prefers leaf litter
for hiding.
Natural Diet: Rodents and ground dwelling birds.
Diet at RainForest: Pre-killed rodents
Size: 36-60", Extremely heavy bodied snake, an average 60" long snake may be as
heavy bodied as a 12' python. RainForest Facts: This species of snake is
recognized to have the largest fangs of any living snake. Fangs of up to two inches
have been observed. As is the case with many viper species, including North
American pit vipers such as the Rattlesnake, the fangs of the Gaboon Viper are
retractable and remain folding against the roof of the mouth while the snake is at
rest. The fangs are brought down via muscles in the skull when the snake makes a
strike. The speed with which the Gaboon viper strikes is truly remarkable.
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Frilled lizards, or "frillnecks," are members of the dragon family that
live in the tropical and warm temperate forests and savanna
woodlands of northern Australia. They spend most of their lives in the
trees, but descend occasionally to feed on ants and small lizards.
Other menu items include spiders, cicadas, termites, and small
mammals.
They vary in color and size from region to region. On average, the
larger adults reach about 3 feet (0.9 meters) from head to tail and
weigh up to 1.1 pounds (0.5 kilograms).
Their main predators are birds of prey, larger lizards, snakes, dingoes
and feral cats. They are currently not threatened or protected, but
habitat reduction and predation in some areas, particularly by feral
cats, is affecting their populations.
Females lay 8 to 23 tiny eggs in an underground nest, and hatchlings
emerge fully independent and capable of hunting and utilizing their
frill. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown, but specimens in captivity have
lived 20 years
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There are more than 2,700 species of bromeliads. One of the most wellknown bromeliads is the pineapple. Bromeliads typically have bright red,
orange, purple or blue flowers, and can grow in a number of different ways:
they can be terrestrial, growing on the ground; saxicolous, growing on
rocks; or epiphytic, growing on other plants and trees. Epiphytic bromeliads
have the ability to absorb nutrients and moisture from the atmosphere, so
they are sometimes called "air plants." Hundreds of these plants can grow
on branches of tropical trees, sometimes causing the branches to break
under their weight.
Habitat:
Bromeliads are native to the Neotropics. One species now thrives in
western Africa, and is thought to have been introduced accidentally.
Did You Know?
Many bromeliads have stiff, overlapping leaves which hold rainfall like
buckets. Leaves and debris fall into these reservoirs and help algae and
other single-celled organisms to grow, which in turn feed mosquitoes, insect
larvae and other organisms. The bromeliad is like a small ecosystem in
itself -- animals such as tree frogs, snails, flatworms, tiny crabs and
salamanders might spend their entire lives inside them
• The passion flower is one of the most elaborate of all
flowers found in the rainforest. It has rings of nectar
producing parts found in no other types of flowers. They
are the maroon and white stuff in the center of the
flowers.
• The passion flower gets its name from its appearance
rather than it actually causing passion. The reproductive
parts of the flower (the yellow anthers and red stigma)
resemble the crown of thorns that Jesus wore during the
"passion," his sufferings before crucifixion.
• Passion-flower plants are vines. Many of the vines are
found in the forest canopy and send their flowers down
on long stems so that they can be in the understory
where their pollinators live.
The roots grow down to the forest floor where they take root and begin to take
nutrients from the soil. Gradually the roots wrap around the host tree, widen,
and slowly form a lattice-work that surround the host's trunk. The fig's crown
grows foliage which soon overshadows the tree. Eventually, the host tree
dies leaving the fig with a hollow trunk-which is easily climbed thanks to the
many openings in the trunk. Figs are often the only tree species remaining
after forest clearing since their knotted and twisted wood is shunned by
loggers.
Almost ironically, this agent of death provides an important niche and food
source to many rainforest creatures. Its hollow trunk, with an abundance of
nooks and crannies, provides an important home thousands of
invertebrates, rodents, bats, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Many other
species are attracted to the fig tree because of its production of large
amounts of good-tasting fig fruits. These fruits are packed with seeds, many
of which are not destroyed when they are consumed, and are passed out in
the dung of animals far from the mother tree. In many forests the fig tree is
considered a keystone species since during parts of the year it is virtually
the only tree producing fruit. During these lean times, many primates and
birds feed almost exclusively on fig fruit.
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The Huli people of Papua New Guinea are native to the Tari Basin, located in the
highlands, a land consisting of thick coastal swamps and rugged mountainous
regions. The country Papua New Guinea is named for the Spanish explorer Inigo
Ortiz de Retes and is located due north of Australia, just south of the equator. The
Huli tribe is one of the most interesting tribes in Papua New Guinea. Anthropologists
have long believed that the first Papuans migrated to the island around 45,000 years
ago from the Solomon Islands. More than 750 languages are spoken in Papua New
Guinea because of tribal isolationism. The Huli, like many subsistence communities,
live in grass huts. There are generally two to four huts in a community. They are
made from split wood and mud walls. These communal compounds serve as housing
for pigs, as well as to keep "evil spirits out."
The traditional Huli communities separate their houses for sleeping. The men are
confined to a joint hut, while the women and pigs share a common dwelling. Both the
pigs and women are considered property of the Huli men.
Some more modern Huli villages now separate their pigs from their women because
of the influence that Christian missionaries have had on their society.
The traditionalists of Huli society still wear clothing typical of many tribal villages, with
the exception of the male's koteka. Huli men wear no clothing other than a gourd that
is tied under his genitals and around his waist with two pieces of string. The females
typically wear grass skirts. The Huli as a traditional people are animists. Animists
believe that everything has a soul; this includes rocks, water, mountains, plants, etc.
Because of this belief, the Huli people offer many sacrifices in order to appease the
spirits. They believe all illness and bad luck comes from witchcraft and sorcery.
However, because of the influence of western religion, 66 percent of the Huli people
now list their religion as Christianity. Even so, many of the Christian practitioners are
very much aware of the spiritual world and still could be considered animists.
• Yams and manioc are the primary dietary
staples in the Huli diet. These crops grow in
well-planned, well-irrigated gardens. Some of
the first explorers who came in contact with the
Huli were amazed over their agricultural
prowess.
While the Huli are more of an agrarian society,
the Huli do eat meat that comes from villageraised pigs, as well as wild cassowary,
kangaroos and cuscus.
Thank you very much for watching and
listening. I realy enjoyed doing this project
and learned alot.