Rain Forests

Rain Forests

Emergent
1. tall trees, 30-50m, leaves/animals thrive available sunlight
Canopy
1. 20-45m, distinct microclimate, variety plants/animals, tall trees= liana vines, intertwine branches, epiphytes use tree trunks/branches as anchors to get sunlight/water
Understorey
1. small trees/ferns that receive 5% suns energy, animals move around in darkness & humidity, use vines as highways
Forest Floor
1. covered by leaves, fallen trees & huge buttress roots that support huge trees, RF soils give impression being fertile cuz they support large no. of trees & plants, impression wrong soil is poor, leaves & other matter recycled by organisms to create living compost, roots of trees get nutrients from soil before heavy rains wash them away and are lost through process= leaching, large animals roam through this layer for food
MEDICINE
1. more than 7000 medicines made RF plants, can be used to treat headaches and killer disease like malaria
2. used by ppl who suffer from sclerosis, parkinson disease, leukaemia, asthma, acne, arthritis, diabetes etc.
3. animals cure human diseases, Australian tree frogs= heal sores, south american frog= powerful painkiller
4. poisonous venom=amazonian snake used to that high BP
5. 1% known plants/ animals RF analysed for medical potential
1/2 known plants/animals live here
50 million indigenous ppl live here
1. gain much food
most fruits/nuts grown by farmers than harvested in forest
cattle ranches
small scale subsistence
logging (legal, illegal)
fires, mining, road construction
urbanisation, dams
large scale commercial agriculture

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	Created by Leonora Azemi over 7 years ago