Iain

The Rainforest Food Web

The tropical rainforest is a very interesting topic and that is why I chose to study it. I have always known it was in danger and I wanted to save it. I have always been fascinated by the animals that live there and have always wanted to find out more about the habitat of the amazing rainforest animals. I hoped to learn about the life of the animals and what happened to the native Indians in Brazil. I did learn about what happened to the native Indians but not as much as I thought I would about the animals and plants. Things did not turn out as I expected. I ended up learning a lot about the impact of men on the rainforest. I think the impact of men and the native Indians in Brazil are fascinating too but I chose this topic because I wanted to learn more about the plants and animals of the rainforest. I found almost all of my information from books. I checked them out from the Oberlin and Prospect library. I also skimmed through magazines. It was helpful information. I found out about the grief of the rubber tappers. I had no difficulty in doing my research, it was almost easy. Plants have to get energy somehow, otherwise the rainforest ecosystem would not work. Tropical rainforests only suitable climate for growing is between the Tropic of Capricorn and Cancer. That is how they got the "tropical" part in their name. There is a lot of energy at the bottom of the food chain, but as it goes up there is less and less energy, therefore, only a few predators can survive Animals are not the only things that fight over energy, plants do as well, lianas are woody vines that climb trees but do not harm them. But either way it is not very fun and easy. There is a lot of competition for light in the rainforest so some plants have developed tactics for protecting their light. Other plants invade other plants light or protect their own light. One tactic for attacking others' light is growing long vines that wrap themselves around other plants to get more light. Animals have to eat something in the rainforest so they prey on smaller and weaker animals. Of course smaller animals do not want to be eaten so the small animals have to develop ways to defend themselves. Some kinds of animals that are easily preyed on live in large groups. That increases the number of senses on the watch for predators. When one sees danger they all run or fly or swim. Other animals stay perfectly still and camouflage themselves as something a predator would never think about eating, a stick, for example. Some animals take a step further and eat poisonous foods. This makes them poisonous, too. Plants also have protection, from predators, or weather. Some plants have drip-tips to funnel off water. I think it is amazing what animals and plants will do to survive, even though everything is caught every once in a while. Prey cannot just go out of control and other animals get hungry and need things to eat too. If they are not able to consume plants, they will have to consume other things, smaller animals, for instance. Since the demand for food is so high in the rainforest, predators have to develop ways of getting through preys defenses. Every predator usually has a developed body part essential for catching its prey. For example, servals have big ears to hear things from a long ways away and kiwis have long beaks to comb out its favorite treat, sand fleas. I think it is amazing how animals can evolve just to prey on a few things. Different animals require different nutrients. They also may quarrel for food. They may have evolved for hunting in different ways. Omnivores are animals that can eat plants and meat. They are very lucky to have evolved this way, because if there is a shortage of something, they can eat something else and not starve. They may get essential nutrients from everything they eat. Surprisingly, the soil in the rainforest is thin and infertile so plants in the rainforest have developed shallow root systems that keep soil intact. It is amazing how trees have evolved to fit this astonishing terrain. That is why tropical rainforests have been around for two million years. I think the rainforest has had a lot of time to evolve and change, it is a shame humans are destroying the wonderful environment. There are no animals on the face of the earth that are more destructive than human beings. Along with their technology, humans have caused a lot of damage to the rainforest ecosystem. Over a twenty-year time period, one acre of land used for cattle pasture can produce $15.05 worth of beef. However, if the same acre of land was used for sustainable agriculture, (growing nuts, cocoa, etc.) it would produce as much as $72.79 worth of products. People have figured out how to make many, many things from the rainforest, from medicine to chocolate. It is all sustainable agriculture, good for us and not harmful to the rainforest ecosystem. In the rainforest, every animal is important. If one species is forced to extinction, it may affect many other species. Humans have been too reckless to stop and think about what they are doing. I am so glad that some people understand and try to help. I do not think the rainforest will ever be fully restored, and that is quite sad. The rainforest is more than just a dense tropical rainforest with over half the animals that live on land. It is also a tremendous resource. It is a source of medicines, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and rubber. The domestic chicken, found worldwide, began life on the floor of the tropical rainforest. There is an Amazonian tree that can produce sap that is similar to diesel fuel. It can be poured right into a truck's tank and used for fuel. A quarter of all medicines owe their origins to products from the plants and animals of the rain forest. I think it is unfortunate that people cut down the rainforest. Its resources can still be used for sustainable agriculture and people can grow other, more common, trees for wood. There cannot be any ecosystem without producers. It just will not work. In the rainforest, it is possible that it rains 10 meters in one year. That is a lot of rain, and the plants survive it all. The biggest and most protective plants in the rainforest are trees, which form a few layers of life in which the animals can live. In most woodlands, one kind of tree dominates it, a spruce, maple, or oak, for example. In the rainforest, every variety of plant is equal. Producer is a really good name for plants and trees, because you cannot have an ecosystem without producers. Nutrients are hard to get in the rainforest. The whole ecosystem is in a struggle for nutrients. Along the understory live air plants, or epiphytes, which make homes for many animals. Examples of epiphytes include bromeliads, some orchids, staghorn ferns, and basket ferns. They get nutrients elsewhere. Because the soil in the rainforest is thin and infertile, it takes one hectare (2.471 acres) to produce enough land for one head of cattle. Not all plants get their nutrients from the soil, sun and air. Some consume or digest insects for extra nutrients. These plants are never trees so they really need it. The search for nutrients in the ecosystem makes the plants and animals a lot more fascinating. In ecosystems like the tropical rainforest, animals and plants help each other out. It is a rule of nature. Scientists have found trees in the rainforest with over 400 kinds of insects being supported by it. Imagine being in the tropical rainforest with the scent of brilliant flowers in the air. The nectar attracts birds, bugs, and bats. These creatures help pollinate the plants, which makes the plants capable of producing fruit and seeds. In turn, the animals spread the seeds of the plant. In Florida, three kinds of wasps from the rainforest were successfully introduced to help control citrus pests. It seems ecosystems have things that relate to economics. Sharing and trading to get something by helping something else is a fair trade by any standards. There are quite a few great heroes who have tried to save the rainforest. The one I read about seemed especially amazing because he did not just work to save the ecosystem. He was part of it. I read a biography of Chico Mendes. He was a rubber tapper and life for him was not easy. (He learned to tap rubber latex when he was only nine.) Chico Mendes became the leader of the rubber tappers and went to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, to make speeches about how wrong he thought the destruction of the rainforest was. As Chico Mendes became more famous, he had less time to tap rubber. Chico Mendes led nonviolent blockades. Citizens, rubber tappers, and native Indians would get together and would try to stop chainsaw crews. There were several of these events, and finally chainsaw crews left the area. There is a process to renew cleared rainforest land, unfortunately, it takes special care. Mendes really agitated cattle ranchers with his nonviolent speeches. He was so successful that the words "Chico Mendes will be dead before Christmas" were being murmured around Chico's home state of Acre. Mendes thought it to be true. Six times Mendes escaped murder attempts. On December 22, 1988, Mendes was not so lucky. He finished a game of dominoes with his bodyguards (he now had to carry with him at all times). Right before dinner, Mendes made a decision to take a shower. The shower was in a nearby building not too far away. Out in the back, Mendes' killers hid and waited. When he flicked on a flashlight, he was an obvious target. Suddenly, a spray of bullets shot out from the blackness. Mendes limped back into the house. Seconds afterward he was dead. His struggle did not end by a bullet. In fact, it grew stronger. I think it was wrong of the government to encourage people to cut down trees for ranching. The destruction of the rainforest caused the grief of the rubber tappers. There are many different careers connected to the study of the tropical rainforest ecosystem. It is connected to biology and there are many jobs in biology. One may want to study the ecosystem by being an ecologist. One may want to study rainforest creatures or plants. Epiphytes are especially fascinating; they seem to have their own little world. You may be drawn to animals such as the babirusa or tamarin, piranha or river dolphin. It takes a lot of training to become a very good ecologist. You should at least have a master's degree, but if you want to get paid you need a Ph.D. It is not an easy thing. Or, instead of studying the ecosystem, you could work as a businessman bringing products from the rainforest to markets in America. Either way, working with the rainforest is an important and rewarding job. It is not carefree. I learned a lot in this exciting adventure but there is always more to learn. I have always positively loved science, I know many facts, like the largest and second largest snakes and what a fossa is. Strangely, my obsession started in third grade. That was when I started reading more sophisticated books. Now I have new questions for my friends. This topic also helped me learn a lot more about connections between things and their environment. If I had more time to work on this project I would have more objectives and would have paragraphs on specific creatures. It makes me think of an old school saying, "Nobody can do everything but everyone can do something."   Glossary bromeliad - a plant of the pineapple that often grows as an epiphyte buttress root - developed to support the heavy trunks of trees and keep the soil intact camouflage - a technique used by predators and prey allowing them to blend in with one's surroundings canopy - is the uppermost layer of the rainforest, the dense leafy section some 6-7m deep, at 40-50 above the ground. drip-tip - the long tip on most rainforest leaves developed to shed rain from the leaves' waxy surface ecology - the study of living things in their environment ecosystem - the network of relationships among living things and their environment emergent - the tallest kind of tree in the rainforest (a tree that grows beyond, or emerges from the canopy) environment - the physical world that surrounds a plant or animal epiphyte - a rainforest plant that grows on a tree but gets nourishment elsewhere equator - the imaginary line exactly halfway between the north and south poles extinction - the process in which a plant or animal species ceases to exist greenhouse effect - the process by which atmospheric gases trap heat and cause the earth's temperature to rise liana - a climbing woody vine that grows in the tropics. predator - an animal that preys on others for food prey - animals that are preyed upon by bigger and stronger animals for food rainforest - a densely forested region found in areas of heavy rainfall near the equator reforestation - a process in which cleared rainforest land is renewed rubber tapper - a person who cuts into or taps the rubber tree to collect latex scavenger - a creature which feeds on the refuse left by others, for instance, on another animal's kill sustainable agriculture - the process in which land is farmed or harvested without permanently hurting the environment. tropic of Capricorn and Cancer - imaginary lines at about 23?27" north and south of the equator, at the point where the sun changes it's course over the earths surface. The area between these two lines is known as the tropics and most rainforests are found in this region. understory - is the name for the smaller trees and bushes which make up the middle level in a rainforest below the tops of the taller trees   Bibliography Baker, Lucy. (1990). Life in the Rainforest: Animals, People, Plants. Franklin Watts, New York. DeStefano, Susan. (1992). Chico Mendes: Fight for the Forest. Henry Holt and Co., Frederick, Maryland. Grupper Jonathan. (1998). Destination: Rainforest. Washington D.C. Internet: http://www.galenet.galegroup.com Infotrac, Student Resource Center. Galenet. galegroup. Com. Tropical Rainforest. Internet: http://www.wildasia.net "Predators of the Rainforest" by Jeet Sukumaran. Pope Osborne, Mary. (1995). Afternoon on the Amazon. New York. .

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