Abiotic and Biotic Factors
Tropical rainforests are home to the largest diversity of living organisms on the Earth. Even though rainforests cover less than 2% of Earth's surface, rainforests house more than 50% of the plants and animals living on the earth. Rainforests are located in tropical regions, so they recieve a lot of sunlight which is converted into energy by plants. This creates a bunch of energy stored in the rainforest. This energy supports the abundance of plant and animal species. This is why biodiversity is very high in the tropical rainforest.
Seasons in the rainforest are divided into the dry season and the wet season. Each season lasts around 6 months each. The wet season is from December through May. The dry season is from June-November.
The soil of the rainforest is not nutrient-rich. It is very shallow, and has a thick layer of leaf litter and decomposing organic matter on the surface. All of the vegetation sucks up all of the nutrients causing the soil to be nutrient-poor.
The Linne sloth has two claws on each front-foot that helps it defend itself and helps them to climb trees. The coloring of the sloth's fur is very helpful in its environment. The sloth has a type of algae that grows in the grooves of the fur which gives the sloth nutrients. The sloth can get the nutrients by licking itself. The greenish color also helps to camouflage it. The sloth has a big, pouched stomach that helps to digest the tough cellulose in leaves. This type of sloth is an omnivore. It eats leaves, bark, buds, fruit, and sometimes small animals such as mice and squirrels. The Linne sloth loves Cecropia tree leaves. Sloths sleep between 15-20 hours a day and mainly stay in the tops of trees to protect themselves from ground-hunting predators. Sloths do not live in packs either. As a result, sloths have little to no animal interaction.
Bamboo often grows in patches of the forest. The bamboo does very well in a very moist environment with lots of rainfall. This bamboo can grow anywhere between 40 feet and 80 feet in height. Once it hits maturity, it is approximately 3 inches in diameter. This bamboo has dark, green, straight, stalky stems. The leaves are long, narrow, and green. Bamboo grows very fast, so in two to three months it is fully grown. Bengal bamboo is very important to its environment on many aspects. Bamboo can reduce soil erosion. It also sucks up water from heavy rains that could cause flooding. It provides shelter for many animals in the rainforest. Bamboo physically adapts to its environment by growing tall and fast so it gets a lot of sunlight and rain.