Tropical Rainforests - The Geographer Online：热带雨林的地理学家在线.pptVIP

Tropical Rainforests Climate Distribution of Rainforest Structure of the Forest Plant adaptations Threats to the forest Useful products Distribution of Rainforests Climate The temperature averages 28-30°C all year but gets warmer in March and September when the sun is not directly overhead and there is less cloud. There is a convectional storm almost every afternoon except in March and September when, because there is less sunshine, there is less evaporation so the atmosphere is not so full of moisture and there are fewer clouds. The climate is described as humid Structure of the Forest Emergents Canopy Under canopy Shrub layer Groundlayer There are 5 layers in the forest Structure of the Rainforest SHRUB LAYER UNDER CANOPY GROUND LAYER EMERGENT TREE CANOPY Plant adaptations 1. Emergents and 2. the Canopy Many plants have waxy leaves and ‘drip tips’ to allow heavy rainfall to run off. The canopy and the emergents have buttress roots, to anchor the tree. Large leaves and dark green foliage to maximise photosynthesis. These emergent trees grow to over 40m as they try to gather the maximum amount of sunlight. The canopy forms a closed layer which allows little light through. There is a huge amount of growth in all layers every year. The increase in the Biomass is balanced by the amount of decay. This is Nutrient cycling. This can be shown in a Gersmehl Diagram. (see slide 15) 3. The under canopy In this layer plants have to be shade tolerant; they have very big and very dark green leaves. There are often few branches on the tall, straight trunks. Flowers are very bright to attract insects; the air is too still for wind pollination. There are sometimes parasitic plants living on the trunks of trees: they get their food from the host tree. Many of the plants have valuable fruits such as Brazil nuts, bananas, mangoes, rubber 4. The shrub Layer In this layer the shrubs are bushy and have many stems Shrubs have dark green leaves at the top of the plant The plants are s