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2. Everything that is around you comprises the environment. Some
parts of the environment are alive, while others are not. Human,
animals, plants, and other organisms are part of the living
environment. Sunlight, water, air, and minerals are part of the nonliving
environment.
ecology – The study of relationships between organisms and their
environment.
ecosystem – is a specific place where living things interact with
nonliving things.

3. Interactions among Living Things in
Tropical Rain Forests

4. Tropical ecosystem or tropical rain forest is a large area
covered by a thick growth of trees and other plants. It is the home
for more than half of the earth’s plant and animal species.
A tropical rain forest is an ecosystem that experiences high
average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall. Tropical
rain forests are generally found near the equator, which allows the
most direct sunlight of any habitat. The combination of warmth
and rainfall creates a very humid environment. The warm air
retains the water vapor, but as the air rises and cools, clouds form,
producing more rain.

5. Rain Forests Structure
1. Emergent layer
Tall, umbrella-shaped trees
tend to grow in the emergent layer.
This layer is breezy, wet, and lacks
shelter. It can also be extremely hot,
so it is rather a hostile place. It
does not provide a suitable habitat
for many plant or animal species.

6. 2. Upper canopy
Located below the emergent layer. It consists
of branches and leaves of tallest trees in the forest. It
receives much sunlight. Most of the rain forests
animals lives here because of the abundant food
supply found here. Epiphytes or plants that grow on
other plants grow on the branches of trees on this
layer. Rain forest vines called lianas also try to reach
the sunlight by wrapping themselves around the trunks
and branches of trees.

7. 3. Lower Canopy (Understory)
This layer only receives 15% of sunlight ,
making it dark place. It contains young trees and
leafy vegetables plants that adapted to low light.
There is a large concentration of insects in this
layer and many house plants come from this layer.
4. Forest floor
This is the lower layer of the forest. It is
made up of carpets of moss and decayed matter
from plants and animals. The forests floor is a
dark, damp, and hot place. Only 2% of the sunlight
reaches the forest floor.

8. Independence in a Tropical Rain Forest
Ecosystem
• Energy is a vital need of all plants, animals, and other organisms in a
tropical rain forests. Like any other ecosystem, the sun is the main
source of energy in the rain forest. All other organisms depend on green
plants to get the energy from the sunlight.
- The canopy layer of the rain forest produces the most food ,
since it receives the most amount of sunlight. Birds, mammals, insects
feed on the canopy.
- Animals that live inside forests include mice, snakes, turtles, deer
and other mammals. Some feed on herbs and shrubs.

9. - Wastes from animals in the upper layers drop and accumulate on the
forest floor. Earthworms, bacteria, and fungi are found there. These
organisms feed on wastes and remains of dead plants and animals.
Then, they return the nutrients to the soil and to the air to be used again
by plants to make food.
- Woody vines, called lianas, are plenty in the forest. They climb up the
tallest trees to get a share of the sunlight on the canopy.
- Plants are dependent to the sun’s energy and the inorganic nutrients in
the forest to make food. Animals eat plants and other animals to get
energy they need to grow and live.

10. Rain Forest Interactions
• A symbiotic interaction refers to a very close interaction between
two or more species.
1. Cooperation (mutualism)
An interaction where both organisms benefit from
one another. To illustrate, epiphytes like orchids cling and grow
on the branches of tall trees to get sunlight. Many insects,
birds, and other animals depend and feed on plants. The
plants, in return, depend on some insects, birds and animals to
pollinate their flowers or to disperse their seeds that will
eventually grow in new plants.

12. 2. Competition
Competition is prevalent in rain forest. Plants compete with one
another to get enough sunlight, water and space. Animals also compete
with one another for food, water, and shelter. Animals and plants that
are best adapted to the forest condition survive and reproduce.

13. 3. Predation
In this type of interaction, one organism called predator kills and
consumes another organism called prey. The prey usually suffers a loss
of energy and fitness, with a commensurate gain in energy for the
predator.

14. 4. Commensalism
In this interaction, one organism benefits from one other, but
the other one is neither harmed nor helped. Examples are the frogs
benefit by using the leaves of the rain forest plant called bromeliad as
shelter from sun and rain. The bromeliad is unaffected by the frogs.

15. 5. Parasitism
One organism called parasite benefits and the other organism which
is the host is harmed. An example of this in the rain forest is between the
strangler figs and the trees. Strangler figs are epiphytes that dwell on the
nutrients of their host trees due to the competition for the light in the rain
forest.

16. Importance of Rain Forest Protection and
Conservation
• Rain forests are important for their ecological and economic
value.
deforestation – destruction of forests. It starts when large
forests areas are being cleared to build farms, towns, and cities.
When these forests are cut down, the plants and animals that
live in the forests get affected. Many kinds of plants and animals
have become extinct and many more are endangered because of
deforestation.

17. 1. Rain forest helps regulate climate.
2. Green plants in the forest continuously give off oxygen to the
atmosphere. They remove carbon dioxide from the air since they use this
for photosynthesis. When forest areas decrease, there will be less trees to
produce oxygen and use carbon dioxide.
3. Rain forest serve as watersheds. The destruction of forest also affects
water supply. Watershed is a source of water for rivers and streams. Forest
also absorbs rainwater. Some of the water is used by plants. The water that
flows underground is the source of water for home and industrial use.
4. Rain forests help in conserving soil and preventing flood. The roots of
plants and trees absorb large amounts of rainfall.
5. People use many products made up of materials taken from the rain
forests like rubber, coffee, and lumber.

18. Thank You