Dry-Land Environments

Rain Forests3.6

What are three things that make an environment different?

•Climate•Animals that live there•Plants that grow there

What are four examples of dry-land environments?

•Deserts•Grasslands•Rain Forests•Forests

Rain forests are found along the equator in the tropical region of the

Earth.

The climate is very warm and there is always plenty of rain.

Rain Forest soils are not full of nutrients.

• Rain Forest plants have shallow roots so they can get nutrients from the decomposing plants and animals on the floor of the forest.

Plants love rain and warmth.

More plants grow in the Rain forest than anywhere else on the Earth.

Because there are so many

plants in the Rain Forests, trees

have to grow very tall to reach the

sunlight.

The tops of these trees are so close together, they form a canopy.

Under the canopy of the Rain Forests, many other plants enjoy

the shade and humidity.

There are many animal populations in the Rain Forests.

A population is a group of living things that live together in one

place.

Like plants, there are more types of animals that live in the Rain Forests

than anywhere else on Earth.

Most of the animals live in the canopy of the Rain Forests.

Below the top branches of the trees is an area called the Understory.

This is where you might find some larger animals like the jaguar,

looking for prey.

The floor of the Rain Forests are filled with different types of plants

and animals.

Some are very little…

…while others are very large.

Including people!People of the ForestIndigenous tribes (groups of people who come from a country or area) have only lived in rainforests for a short period in human history. In South East Asia and the Pacific Islands, people have lived in the forests for about 40,000 years, but the earliest signs of human settlement in African forests are no more than 3,000 years old. There are about 1,000 indigenous tribes in the rainforests of the world. Even though they may not have been there for very long, rainforest people have managed to develop ways of life which allow them to use the forest without destroying it. Whilst other civilizations have grown further and further from the natural world, rainforest people have had to grow close to nature in order to survive.

All the different populations found in the Rain Forests form a

Rain Forest community.

Review

• The climate in a rain forest is wet and warm.

• More plants and animals live in the Rain Forests than anywhere else on Earth.

• Rain Forests are found near the equator, in the tropical zone.

• There are different levels found in the Rain Forests that support different

populations of life.• The rain forest has very poor soil.