VAULT:Bio161Bruyninckx

bIO160Administration Tropical rainforest Sloth Strangler figs Antbirds

Limitationstropical rainforest

1. Year-round high energy (light) input2. Year-round large amounts of rain3. Mineral nutrient-depleted soils4. Minerals (phosphate, trace

elements) locked up in the living organisms

Vegetation layers of tropical forest.

Emergent

Canopy

Understory

Forest Floor

Shrub layer

Emergent Layer = crowns of isolated trees

a. Tallest trees (40-80 m)b. No competition for lightc. Air is drierd. More winde. Straight trunks; branches

highf. Trunk thin and smoothg. Shallow, wide roots with

buttresses and prop rootsh. Animals visible to raptors;

must jump from tree to tree.

Buttress roots

The canopyCanopies of trees of up to 40 m forms a dense, continuous layer

a. Upper layer receives a lot of light; lower layers much less light

b. Leaves are larger with drip spouts to keep them free of standing water in the high humid atmosphere. Molds!

c. Branches covered by epiphytes and vinesd. Large food supply (leaves, buds, flowers, fruits):

large amounts of animals that rarely, if ever, descend to the forest floor.

e. Animals do not have to jump from tree-to-tree

Lianas or tropical, wooden vines

Strangler Fig.

Antbirds follow army ant raids.

Sloth moths

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xxmcy

Multi-chambered stomach sloth

Theobroma cacao