This document provides information about rainforests, including their definition, types, locations, layers, endemic fauna and flora. It defines a rainforest as an environment with high rainfall and many tall trees. The two main types are tropical and temperate rainforests. Examples of endemic fauna mentioned include the Philippine eagle, monkey-eating eagle, and Philippine cobra. Key layers of a rainforest are the emergent, canopy, understory and forest floor layers. More than two-thirds of the world's plant species are found in rainforests, and examples of endemic Philippine flora are also provided. The document notes that rainforests are threatened by logging, mining and clearing for farming.
2. What is a Rainforest?
A rainforest is an
environment that
receives high rainfall,
and has many tall
trees.
There are two types of
rainforests: Temperate
and Tropical.
3. Temperate Rainforest
are coniferous or broadleaf forests
that occur in the temperate zone and
receive high rainfall.
4. Tropical Rainforest
an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the
latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator
(in the equatorial zone between the Tropic of
Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. This ecosystem
experiences high average temperatures and a
significant amount of rainfall.
Rainforests can be found
in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central
America, Mexico and on many of
the Pacific, Caribbean, and Indian Ocean islands
can be characterized in two words: warm and wet.
5. Types Of Tropical Rainforest
Several types of forest comprise the general tropical rainforest biome:
•Lowland equatorial evergreen rain forests are forests which receive
high rainfall (more than 2000 mm, or 80 inches, annually) throughout
the year. These forests occur in a belt around the equator, with the
largest areas in the Amazon Basin of South America, the Congo
Basin of Central Africa, Indonesia, and New Guinea.
•Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen seasonal forests, receive high
overall rainfall with a warm summer wet season and a cooler winter
dry season. Some trees in these forests drop some or all of their
leaves during the winter dry season. These forests are found in parts
of South America, in Central America and around the Caribbean, in
coastal West Africa, parts of the Indian subcontinent, and across
much of Indochina.
•Montane rain forests, some of which are known as cloud forests, are
found in cooler-climate mountain areas. Depending on latitude, the
lower limit of montane rainforests on large mountains is generally
between 1500 and 2500 m while the upper limit is usually from 2400
to 3300 m.
6. Flooded forests, seven types of flooded forest are recognized
for Tambopata Reserve in Amazonian Peru:
Permanently waterlogged swamp forest—Former oxbow lakes still
flooded but covered in forest.
Seasonally waterlogged swamp forest—Oxbow lakes in the process of
filling in.
Lower floodplain forest—Lowest floodplain locations with a
recognizable forest.
Middle floodplain forest—Tall forest, flooded occasionally.
Upper floodplain forest—Tall forest, rarely flooded.
Old floodplain forest—Subjected to flooding within the last two
hundred years.
Previous floodplain—Now terra firme, but historically ancient
floodplain of Tambopata River.
10. Luzon rainforest
ه moist broadleaf forest that
contains the lowlands (below
1000 m) of Luzon and the
montane rainforests located on a
several volcanic and non-volcanic
mountains of the island
11. Palanan Rainforest
a large tract of undisturbed
forest which forms a large
part of the combined nature
preserve of the Northern
Sierra Madre National
Park and Peñablanca
Protected Landscape and
Seascape.
found in Isabela
14. Mindanao
Rainforest
The climate of the Eco
region is tropical wet
(National Geographic
Society 1999), with
temperature and rainfall
modified by the
elevation, which
reaches up to 2,700 m.
15. Rainforest Layers
Rainforests can be divided into “layers”
from the top to the bottom.
Emergents
Canopy
Understorey
Forest Floor
16. Emergent Layer
The tallest trees are the
emergent, growing as
much as 50 meters
above the forest floor
with trunks that
measure up to 4 meters
around.
Most of these trees are
broad-leaved,
hardwood evergreens.
This layer receives a lot
of sunlight.
17. Canopy Layer
This is the main layer
of the forest, and forms
a roof over the lower
layers.
Most canopy trees
have smooth, oval
leaves that come to a
point.
Many animals such as
snakes, toucans and
tree-frogs live in this
area, since there is a
lot of food.
18. Understorey Layer
Not very much
sunshine reaches this
area, so the plants
have to grow larger
leaves to reach the
sunlight.
Many animals live
here, including jaguars
(not in Australia), tree
frogs and lots of
insects.
19. Forest Floor Layer
Down here it’s very
dark, so almost no
plants grow.
On the forest floor
things begin to decay
quickly - for example a
leaf can decompose in
6 weeks.
Bush Turkeys and
Lyrebirds live in this
layer.
20. Fauna
Life in the rainforest
is filled with
predator/prey
relationships.
This helps to keep
the food chain
balanced.
21. Fauna is all of the animal life of any
particular region or time. The
corresponding term for plants is flora.
Flora, fauna and other forms of life
such as fungi are collectively referred
to as biota
22. Zoologists and palaeontologists use fauna to refer to a typical
collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the
"Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess Shale fauna".
Palaeontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of faunal stages,
which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils.
"Fauna" comes from the Latin names of Fauna, a Roman goddess
of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, and the related forest
spirits called Fauns. All three words are cognates of the name of
the Greek god Pan, and panis is the Greek equivalent of
fauna. Fauna is also the word for a book that catalogues the
animals in such a manner. The term was first used by Linnaeus in
the title of his 1745 work Fauna Suecica.
23. ENDEMIC FAUNA
Hyelaphus calamianensis
هalso known as Calamian hog
deer.
هendangered species of deer found
only in the Calamian
Islands of Palawan province of
the Philippines.
هIt is one of three species of deer
native to the Philippines, the other
being the Philippine sambar and
Visayan spotted deer.
Calamian hog deer
24. Crateromys schadenbergi
• Giant Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat or Luzon
Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat
• a large, endangered species of rodent in
the family Muridae.
• It is only found in pine and mossy forest at
altitudes of 2,000–2,740 metres (6,600–
8,990 ft.) in the Central
Cordillera of Luzon, the Philippines.
• Relatively little is known about its behavior,
but it is nocturnal, mainly arboreal and
feeds on various types of vegetation. Cloud Rat
25. Pithecophaga jefferyi
• also known as the Monkey-eating Eagle,
is an eagle of the
family Accipitridae endemic to forests in
the Philippines.
• It is considered the largest of the extant
eagles in the world in terms of length, with
the Steller's Sea Eagle and the Harpy
Eagle being larger in terms of weight and
bulk.
• Among the rarest and most
powerful birds in the world, it has been
declared the Philippine national bird.
• It is critically endangered, mainly due to
massive loss of habitat due to
deforestation in most of its range. Philippine Eagle
26. Naja philippinensis
• also called northern Philippine
cobra.
• a stocky, highly venomous spitting
cobra native to the northern regions
of the Philippines.
• The Philippine cobra is
called ulupong in
Tagalog carasaen in Ilocano
and agawason in Cebuano-Bisaya.
Philippine cobra
27. E. concinnus
• is endemic to
the Philippines and
listed as "Least
Concern" on the IUCN
Red List.
Philippine pygmy squirrel
28. Flora
More then 2/3 of
the world’s plant
species are found
in tropical
rainforests.
Scientists have
used many
rainforest plants to
make medicines.
29. Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region
or time, generally the naturally occurring
or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding
term for animal life is fauna. Flora, fauna and other
forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to
as biota. Bacterial organisms, algae, and other
organisms are sometimes referred to as flora, so
that for example the terms bacterial flora and plant
flora are used separately.
"Flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora,
the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman
mythology.
30. Flora classifications
Plants are grouped into floras based on region, period, special environment, or
climate. Regions can be geographically distinct habitats like mountain vs.
flatland. Floras can mean plant life of a historic era as in fossil flora. Lastly,
floras may be subdivided by special environments:
Native flora. The native and indigenous flora of an area.
Agricultural and Horticultural flora (garden flora). The plants that are
deliberately grown by humans.
Weed flora. Traditionally this classification was applied to plants
regarded as undesirable, and studied in efforts to control or eradicate
them. Today the designation is less often used as a classification of
plant life, since it includes three different types of
plants: weedy species, invasive species (that may or may not be
weedy), and native and introduced non-weedy species that are
agriculturally undesirable. Many native plants previously considered
weeds have been shown to be beneficial or even necessary to
various ecosystems.
31. Samples of flora,
not necessary
unique in the
Philippines but
abundantly grow
in the country.
Hibiscus rosasinensis
ه Gumamela in
Filipino
ه can grow up to 4
meters high
ه a medicinal plant
ه Filipino children use
Gumamela for
bubble-making
leisure
32. Phalaenopsis
amabilis
ه Known as butterfly
orchids in the
Philippines
ه Native of Indonesia,
Taiwan, Papua New
Guinea and the
Philippines
33. Caesalpinia
pulcherrima
ه Caballero in Filipino
ه can grow up to 12
meters high
ه a medicinal plant
ه can be found in
tropics and subtropics
34. Coleus
scutellarioides
ه Mayana
ه Lapunaya (Visayan)
ه can grow up to a
meter high
ه introduced in the
Philippines
ه medicinal/ornamental
plant
35. Allamanda
cathartica
ه Yellow Bell
ه Kampanilya in the
Philippines
ه Can grow up to 4
meters high
ه Cultivated as an
ornamental plant
ه Introduced from
tropics of America
36. Tabernaemontana
pandacaqui
هKampupot in the
Philippines
هCan grow up to 4
meters high
هMedicinal plant of
various uses
هFragrant white flowers,
1-5cm in diameter
37. Paphiopedilum
fowliei
ه species of plant in
the Orchidaceae
family.
ه endemic to Palawan
in the Philippines.
ه Its natural habitat is
subtropical or tropical
moist lowland forests.
ه It is threatened
by habitat loss.
38. Euanthe
sanderiana
ه Waling-waling in
the Philippines.
ه endemic
to Mindanao in the
provinces
of Davao, Cotabato,
and Zamboanga.
ه In 2013, a bill was
passed by the
Philippine Senate
declaring the Waling-waling
as a national
flower alongside the
Sampaguita.
39. Aerides
lawrenciae
ه It is endemic to
the Philippines.
ه Growing in brightly lit
environments at low
altitude, on the
islands of Mindanao
and Cebu.
ه Flowering occurs
during autumn.
40. Why are they important to
us?
Rainforests turn carbon dioxide into oxygen and
reduce the greenhouse affect.
Rainforests plants provide sources of medicines.
Rainforests are the only home of many rare animals.
41. Why are they becoming
extinct?
The biggest causes
of rainforest
destruction are
logging and mining,
and clearing for
farming.