RAINFORESTS

1. RAINFORESTS

2. rainforests are located near the equator. Fifty seven percent of all rainforests are found in Latin America. One third of the world's rainforests are in Brazil. Other rainforests are located in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands The rainforest has four layers. They are, the forest floor, the understory, the canopy and last there is the emergent layer. First there is the forest floor which is on the bottom. The forest floor is 0 feet above the ground. Next there is the understory. The understory is 0 feet to 60 feet above the ground. Then there is the canopy. The canopy is 60 feet to 130 feet and last but not least the emergent layer is 130 to 160 feet above the ground. Rainforests are important because…they help stabilize the world’s climate; provide a home to many plants and animals; maintain the water cycle protect against flood, drought, and erosion; are a source for medicines and foods; support tribal people; and are an interesting place to visit INTRODUCTION

3. Binturong • Location and HabitatBinturongs can be found in the rainforests and mangroves of southeast Asia. They are located in countries such as Thailand and Vietnam and on the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Java. Binturongs spend most of their lives high in the trees of the rainforest. They are also mostly active at night. • Diet Although binturongs are classified as carnivorous, they eat large amounts of fruit and plants. They may also eat fish, small mammals or lizards. • Size and Description Binturongs generally grow to 2 or 3 feet in length, and their tails will grow to about the same length. Binturongs' appearances are unique to the animal kingdom and look like creatures out of a fairy tale.

4. Toucan • There are about 40 different kinds of toucans. They vary in size from about 7 inches to a little over two feet. They have short and thick necks. Toucans are distinguished by large, colorful, yet lightweight bills. The color of the bill may be black, blue, brown, green, red, white, yellow or a combination of colors. The bright colors on his bill help to attract a mate. Toucans also have a narrow, feather-like tongue. They can be noisy birds with their calls sounding harsh and raspy. A toucan's bill is sharp and has saw-like edges. The bill is used to squash the many kinds of fruit and berries he eats. He may also use the saw-like edges to tear off parts of larger fruits. Also included in their diet are small birds and lizards. Toucans make their homes in holes in trees. They usually live in pairs or small flocks. White, glossy eggs are laid once a year and when they hatch, the new chicks have no down covering them. Toucans are found in South and Central America in the canopy layer of the rainforest. When they sleep, they turn thier heads around and tuck their bills under their wings and tail. The toucan is very important to the rainforest because they help to disperse seeds from the fruits and berries they eat.

5. Gaboon Viper • Range:TropicalCentral Africa , equatorial belt and rainforests • Habitat: Grasslands to densely forested jungle.  The Gaboon Viper prefers leaf litter for hiding. • Natural Diet: Rodents and ground dwelling birds. • Diet at RainForest:Pre-killed rodents  • Size:36-60", Extremely heavy bodied snake, an average 60" long snake may be as heavy bodied as a 12' python. RainForest Facts: This species of snake is recognized to have the largest fangs of any living snake.  Fangs of up to two inches have been observed.  As is the case with many viper species, including North American pit vipers such as the Rattlesnake, the fangs of the Gaboon Viper are retractable and remain folding against the roof of the mouth while the snake is at rest.  The fangs are brought down via muscles in the skull when the snake makes a strike.  The speed with which the Gaboon viper strikes is truly remarkable.

6. Chlamydosaurus • Frilled lizards, or "frillnecks," are members of the dragon family that live in the tropical and warm temperate forests and savanna woodlands of northern Australia. They spend most of their lives in the trees, but descend occasionally to feed on ants and small lizards. Other menu items include spiders, cicadas, termites, and small mammals. • They vary in color and size from region to region. On average, the larger adults reach about 3 feet (0.9 meters) from head to tail and weigh up to 1.1 pounds (0.5 kilograms). • Their main predators are birds of prey, larger lizards, snakes, dingoes and feral cats. They are currently not threatened or protected, but habitat reduction and predation in some areas, particularly by feral cats, is affecting their populations. • Females lay 8 to 23 tiny eggs in an underground nest, and hatchlings emerge fully independent and capable of hunting and utilizing their frill. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown, but specimens in captivity have lived 20 years

7. Bromeliads • There are more than 2,700 species of bromeliads. One of the most well-known bromeliads is the pineapple. Bromeliads typically have bright red, orange, purple or blue flowers, and can grow in a number of different ways: they can be terrestrial, growing on the ground; saxicolous, growing on rocks; or epiphytic, growing on other plants and trees. Epiphytic bromeliads have the ability to absorb nutrients and moisture from the atmosphere, so they are sometimes called "air plants." Hundreds of these plants can grow on branches of tropical trees, sometimes causing the branches to break under their weight. • Habitat:  • Bromeliads are native to the Neotropics. One species now thrives in western Africa, and is thought to have been introduced accidentally. • Did You Know?  • Many bromeliads have stiff, overlapping leaves which hold rainfall like buckets. Leaves and debris fall into these reservoirs and help algae and other single-celled organisms to grow, which in turn feed mosquitoes, insect larvae and other organisms. The bromeliad is like a small ecosystem in itself -- animals such as tree frogs, snails, flatworms, tiny crabs and salamanders might spend their entire lives inside them

8. Passion Flower • The passion flower is one of the most elaborate of all flowers found in the rainforest. It has rings of nectar producing parts found in no other types of flowers. They are the maroon and white stuff in the center of the flowers. • The passion flower gets its name from its appearance rather than it actually causing passion. The reproductive parts of the flower (the yellow anthers and red stigma) resemble the crown of thorns that Jesus wore during the "passion," his sufferings before crucifixion. • Passion-flower plants are vines. Many of the vines are found in the forest canopy and send their flowers down on long stems so that they can be in the understory where their pollinators live.

9. Strangler fig tree The roots grow down to the forest floor where they take root and begin to take nutrients from the soil. Gradually the roots wrap around the host tree, widen, and slowly form a lattice-work that surround the host's trunk. The fig's crown grows foliage which soon overshadows the tree. Eventually, the host tree dies leaving the fig with a hollow trunk-which is easily climbed thanks to the many openings in the trunk. Figs are often the only tree species remaining after forest clearing since their knotted and twisted wood is shunned by loggers.Almost ironically, this agent of death provides an important niche and food source to many rainforest creatures. Its hollow trunk, with an abundance of nooks and crannies, provides an important home thousands of invertebrates, rodents, bats, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Many other species are attracted to the fig tree because of its production of large amounts of good-tasting fig fruits. These fruits are packed with seeds, many of which are not destroyed when they are consumed, and are passed out in the dung of animals far from the mother tree. In many forests the fig tree is considered a keystone species since during parts of the year it is virtually the only tree producing fruit. During these lean times, many primates and birds feed almost exclusively on fig fruit.

10. Huli Tribe • The Huli people of Papua New Guinea are native to the Tari Basin, located in the highlands, a land consisting of thick coastal swamps and rugged mountainous regions. The country Papua New Guinea is named for the Spanish explorer Inigo Ortiz de Retes and is located due north of Australia, just south of the equator. The Huli tribe is one of the most interesting tribes in Papua New Guinea. Anthropologists have long believed that the first Papuans migrated to the island around 45,000 years ago from the Solomon Islands. More than 750 languages are spoken in Papua New Guinea because of tribal isolationism. The Huli, like many subsistence communities, live in grass huts. There are generally two to four huts in a community. They are made from split wood and mud walls. These communal compounds serve as housing for pigs, as well as to keep "evil spirits out."The traditional Huli communities separate their houses for sleeping. The men are confined to a joint hut, while the women and pigs share a common dwelling. Both the pigs and women are considered property of the Huli men.Some more modern Huli villages now separate their pigs from their women because of the influence that Christian missionaries have had on their society.The traditionalists of Huli society still wear clothing typical of many tribal villages, with the exception of the male's koteka. Huli men wear no clothing other than a gourd that is tied under his genitals and around his waist with two pieces of string. The females typically wear grass skirts. The Huli as a traditional people are animists. Animists believe that everything has a soul; this includes rocks, water, mountains, plants, etc. Because of this belief, the Huli people offer many sacrifices in order to appease the spirits. They believe all illness and bad luck comes from witchcraft and sorcery.However, because of the influence of western religion, 66 percent of the Huli people now list their religion as Christianity. Even so, many of the Christian practitioners are very much aware of the spiritual world and still could be considered animists.

11. Yams and manioc are the primary dietary staples in the Huli diet. These crops grow in well-planned, well-irrigated gardens. Some of the first explorers who came in contact with the Huli were amazed over their agricultural prowess.While the Huli are more of an agrarian society, the Huli do eat meat that comes from village-raised pigs, as well as wild cassowary, kangaroos and cuscus.

12. My conclusion Thank you very much for watching and listening. I realy enjoyed doing this project and learned alot. By Mrs Leah Bieber