Tropical Rainforest Biome

The tropical rainforest biome is an ecosystem full of plants and animals. The largest are found in South America, the Congo River Basin (western Africa), and throughout much of southeast Asia. Tropical rainforests cover 7% of the Earth’s surface.

Tropical Forest

Tropical Forests are forests that grow near the equator.  They have many trees and the climate is warm and has lots of rain.  Due to all of the rain, the trees grow very tall and so the sunlight has a hard time reaching the ground.

The climate of the tropical forest does not change much so with the rain and the hot temperatures it is a busy biome for animals, especially those that live in trees.

Most tropical forest biomes have over 75 inches of rain in a year and some of the areas get over 100 inches of rainfall per year.

Tropical Rainforest Biomes are very warm and are very humid.  They usually have a temperature of 70-90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tropical Rainforest Biome Facts:

• The rainforest is important because it helps to produce oxygen for the whole world.
• The soil in the rainforest does not have many nutrients.
• There are thousands of butterfly species found in the tropical rainforest biome.
• The rainforest is getting lost because people cut it down to build on.
• The tropical rainforest only makes up around 6% of the Earth’s surface.
• There are more than half of the plant and animal species that live in the Tropical Forest Biome.
• Scientists sometimes think there is a fourth layer in the rainforest, and they call it the emergent layer.  This is the trees that grow above the canopy.

Where are Some Tropical Forest Biomes Located?

Some of the biggest tropical forest biomes are found in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

In South America, there is the largest tropical rainforest.  It covers many parts of South America and is sometimes called the Amazon Basin.

The African tropical rainforest has the Congo River that runs through it.  One of the rainforests is found in Madagascar.

In Southeast Asia, there are many areas that are covered in the tropical forest biome.

Parts of the Tropical Rainforest

The rainforest comes in different layers:  

• The canopy
• The forest floor
• The understory

The canopy is where the top layers of the trees are.  The trees are usually over 100 feet tall and they have branches and leaves that are shaped like an umbrella and cover the other areas in the forest.  Many animals such as monkeys and birds live in this part of the rainforest.

The forest floor does not get a lot of sunlight because of the canopy and so there are very little plants here.  Many spiders and other insects live in this area and other animals like snakes and pigs live here even though it is darker than other areas in the forest.

In the understory, there are smaller trees and some shrubs that grow here.  This is where most of the tree’s trunks are so there are many animals that live in this area such as leopards, snakes, bats, frogs, and other animals.

Animals of the Tropical Forest

The tropical forest is home to many insects and animals.  Because the trees are so tall, most of the sunlight does not hit the ground so most plants that grow, grow in the trees.  The roots of the trees are wide, and the trees grow in layers, but the plants have poor nutrition because the trees take up most of the soil nutrients.

The largest numbers of animals live in the tropical forest because of warmth and constant water.  Many of the animals are poisonous and they camouflage themselves.  Some of the animals of the tropical forest include venomous snakes such as the viper, frogs, lizards, insects such as stinkbugs, birds such as lorikeets, and monkeys.

These animals eat fruit from the trees and leaves and some insects.

Spiders are also known to be in the tropical forests.  Some say that spiders are so big that they eat birds.

Bats and other animals are oftentimes found in large numbers in the tropical forest.

What Is The Temperature In The Tropical Rainforest

The average temperature in a tropical rainforest is between 70° and 85° F (21° to 30°C). Rainfall ranges from about 80 to 400 inches (200 to 1000 cm).

It can get hot in the rainforest with humidity averages between 77% to 88% as the climate is wet.

Annual Rainfall in a Rainforest

• Amazon Rainforest – Between 1,500 mm and 3,000 mm
• Congo River Basin – Between 720 mm and 2,115 mm
• Southeast Asia Rainforest – Between 800 mm and 2,006 mm

What Animals Are In The Tropical Rainforest

A tropical rainforest has a wider variety of animals than any other biome. The ecosystem has four key characteristics that help, high rainfall, high average temperatures, the soil is lacking nutrients, and the very high levels of biodiversity.

Here is a list of some rainforest animals and insects you will find :

A

#	Name	Image
1	Agouti
2	Amazonian Fly-catcher
3	Anaconda
4	Anteater
5	Araçari
6	Armadillo
7	Army Ant
8	Assassin Bug

B

#	Name	Image
1	Bat (Vampire)
2	Bee (Killer Bee)
3	Bird-eating spider-Goliath
4	Black caiman
5	Black Panther (Jaguar)
6	Blue Morpho Butterfly
7	Blue poison Frog
8	Boa Constrictor
9	Brazilian Squirrel
10	Brazilian Wandering Spider
11	Bullet ant
12	Bushmaster snake

C

#	Name	Image
1	Cacique_Yellow-rumped
2	Caiman
3	Candiru fish
4	Cane toad
5	Capuchin monkey
6	Capybara
7	Caterpilla Obliqua
8	Centipede Giant
9	Coati (South American)
10	Cock-of-the-Rock bird
11	Coral snake

E

#	Name	Image
1	Egret
2	Electric Eel
3	Emerald Tree Boa
4	Emperor Tamarin Monkey
5	Eyelash Pit viper snake

F

#	Name	Image
1	Fer de Lance snake
2	Fire Ants
3	Firefly
4	Fulgora_Peanut Head Bug

G

#	Name	Image
1	Glass Frog
2	Glass wing Buterfly
3	Golden Lion Tamarin
4	Green Anaconda

H

#	Name	Image
1	Harlequin Beetle
2	Harpy Eagle
3	Hoatzin bird
4	Howler Monkey
5	Humming Bird

I-J

#	Name	Image
1	Iguana
2	Jaguar
3	Jararaca_Pit Viper

K-L

#	Name	Image
1	Kingfisher Amazon
2	Kinkajou
3	Leaf Cutter Ants
4	Lizard (Basillscus)

M-N

#	Name	Image
1	Macaw Hyacinth
3	Margay
4	Marmoset monkey
5	Mosquito
7	Night Monkey

O

#	Name	Image
1	Ocelot
2	Oncilla
3	Opossum
4	Otter Giant

P

#	Name	Image
1	Paca
2	Parakeet
3	Peccary
4	Peccary White lipped
5	Piranha fish
6	Pirarucu fish
7	Pit Viper
8	Poison Dart Frog
9	Poison Dart Frog Yellow
10	Porcupine
11	Preying Mantis
12	Puma
13	Pygmy marmoset

R

#	Name	Images
1	Red Bellied Piranha
2	Red Brocket
3	Red Eye Piranha
4	Rhinoceros-Beetle

S

#	Name	Image
1	Saki Monkey
2	Scarlet Ibis
3	Scarlet Macaw
4	Scorpion
5	Sloth
6	Spectacled Bear
7	Spider monkey
9	Surubi Cat Fish

T

#	Name	Image
1	Tailless Whip Scorpion
2	Tamandua southen
3	Tamarin- Pied Monkey
4	Tambaqui
5	Tapir
6	Tarantula
7	Tayra_Weasel
8	Termite Ants
9	Tiger Fish
10	Toco_Tucan
11	Tortoise
12	Toucan
13	Tree Snake
14	Tucanare_Fish
15	Turtle

U-V-W

#	Name	Image
1	Uakari monkey
2	Vampire fish (Payara)
3	Vulture (King)
4	Wasp (Tarantula Hawk)
5	Water Opossum
6	Wattled_curassow
7	Wolf spider
8	Woolley Monkey

What did you learn?

• What is a Tropical Rainforest Biome?  
  The Tropical Rainforest Biome is the biome where it mostly has tall trees, many plants, animals, and insects.
• What is different about the weather in the tropical rainforest biome?  
  In the tropical rainforest biome, there is a lot of rain.  The average rainfall per year is 75-100 inches.
• What are the three layers of the rainforest?  
  The three layers of the rainforest are the canopy, the understory, and the forest floor.
• Why does the forest floor get very little rain and have very few plants?  
  The forest floor does not get much rain or sunshine because the canopy blocks it.  This is why there are fewer plants that are found on the ground.
• Are there many animals found in the Tropical Rainforest Biome?  
  More than half of the animals in the world live in the Tropical Rainforest Biome.

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