THE AMAZON

Brazil, South America

Animals and their Adaptations

• Boa Constrictor : have strong muscles in teeth to help rip prey; they also camouflage from predators
• toucan- long bills to catch and eat food; claws help stand on tree branches; colors help blend in
• bengal tiger- has learned through many years how to hunt in the amazon rainforest

Animals and their Adaptations (Continued)

• orangutans- long arms to help them swing on tree branches; also they have brown eyes to protect them from sunlight
• poison dart frog- are toxic, and have bright skin to warn predators about that

Abiotic Factors

• the sun
• wind
• rain (precipitation): from 80 to 450 inches per year/water
• soil: not very rich, since as soon as organisms decompose, they are used by the plants
• temperature: 80 F, or 27 C

The Spider Monkey

Niche/ Habitat

• live in the upper canopy
• have long arms to swing from the trees
• a section of their tails is not covered in fur to improve their grip on tree branches
• they are diurnal, which means that they are awake during the day and sleep at night.

Food

• although spider monkeys are omnivorous they prefer fruits and seeds as their main meal
• unlike most animals, spider monkeys tend to eat while moving or climbing

Food (Continued)

• unlike most animals, spider monkeys tend to eat while moving or climbing
• sometimes spider monkeys will feast on other foods like honey, tree bark, insect larvae, and bird eggs

Predator/Prey Relationship

• Spider monkeys are herbivores
• the main predators of the spider monkey are jaguars, pumas and ocelots, and large snakes
• when a spider monkey is threatened, it may make screaming or barking sounds to scare of the predator

Competition

• the spider monkeys gather food in groups led by the main female spider monkey. If they don't find enough food, they will split up and look in smaller groups

Competition (Continued)

• humans are harvesting trees, which are the spider monkeys' homes. Spider monkeys "compete" with humans for space

Symbiotic Relationships

• ticks like to drink the spider monkey's blood. They get a free meal, but the spider monkey looses blood. This is an example of parasitism

Poison Dart Frog

Niche/Habitat

• live in bodies of fresh water
• the poison dart frogs use their poison as a defense mechanism
• the poison only comes from what the poison dart frogs eat: they absorb the venom from the local insects who are venomous. Then the venom accumulates in the frogs glands, and the frog is ready to use it

Food

• poison dart frogs eat insects, (ants, termites, beatles) spiders, and fruit flys
• they catch their prey like most frogs do: by flicking their tongue out and catching insects on the sticky part of their tongue

Predator/Prey Relationship

• the only natural predator to the poison dart frog is Leimadophis epinephelus, a snake which is immune to its poison
• otherwise the poison dart frog can easily kill anyone who tries to eat it
• they have good night vision for catching prey at night

Competition

• poison dart frogs compete for food with snakes and other frogs living near them
• humans are building homes in the rainforest where the poison dart frogs live. This limits their space

Symbiotic Relationships

• poison dart frogs catch and eat mosquitoes with their long, sticky tongues.
• the poison dart frog is the predator and the mosquitoe is the prey.
• this is an example of a predator/prey relationship

Brazil Nut Tree

Niche/Habitat

• grow best in non flooding areas
• grow together in groups of about 50

Food/Competition

• the Brazil Nut Tree is a consumer, so it photosynthesizes

Predator/Prey Relationship

• one of the only predators of the Brazil nut tree is the agouti, whose teeth are hard enough to chew its nuts

Symbiotic Relationships

• the agouti get a meal of the brazil nut tree's nuts
• they scatter seeds on the ground, and new trees grow up
• this is an example of mutalism because both organsims benefit

Cacao (Chocolate) Tree

Niche/Habitat

• cacao trees tend to grow in the shade of other trees, they don't like direct sunlight and wind

Food/Competition

• the cacao tree is a producer
• it does not compete for sunlight, in fact, the cacao tree grows better in the shade of other higher trees!

Predator/Prey Relationship

• monkeys, bats, and some types of squirrelles like to feast on the pulp surrounding the bitter seeds
• of course, humans pick the pods, and eat the seeds (aka cacao beans) inside

Predator/Prey Relationship (Continued)

• of course, the cacao beans first need to be fermented, or dried to remove their sour taste, and then sent to a chocolate factory before they are ready to eat- as Chocolate!

SYMBIOTIC Relationships

• the cacao tree has a mutalism relationship with midges, the tree's main pollinators
• the tree produces cherrelles, which are tiny pods who die before they become mature, for the midges (and some other small insects) to live in

Symbiotic Relationships

Mutalislm:
When the cappuchin monkey drinks pollen, some pollen gets on its fur. Then when the cappuchin moves on to another blossom, the tree gets pollinated.

Commensalism:
Bromelaids, bright red or pink flowers live in high trees. This does not damage the tree, but the bromelaid gets a home.

Parasitism:
Unlike the bromelaid, the strangler fig tree (whose seeds are accidentally (haha) dropped onto other trees by birds grows on other trees, and strangles them.

KEystone Species

Jaguars are a very important species in the Amazon Rainforest. They have a diet of up to 87 species, which means that they have to work hard to keep the population under control. They also eat the sick animals, reducing disease spreading.

This biome most likely fits the rainforest biome because
a) the average temperature per year is rarely gets higher than 93 °F (34 °C) or drops below 68 °F (20 °C)
b) the soil isn't very rich because of the many dead organisms but not that many decomposers
c) it is located near the equator

Bibliography

• "Food Web." Tropical Rainforest Biome. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
• "Biotic Factors." Amazon Rainforest. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
• "The Absolute Insider Guide to South America Travel." Unique South America Travel Experience. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.

Bibliography

• "Spider Monkey." Spider Monkey. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.
• "Poison Dart Frogs, Poison Dart Frog Pictures, Poison Dart Frog Facts - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2015.

Binliography

• Dray, Tammy. "How Do Poisonous Frogs Catch Their Food?" Animals. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
• "Symbiotic Relationship." Symbiotic Relationship. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
• http://amazonrainforestecosystem.weebly.com/symbiotic-relationships.html

Bibliography

• "The Amazing Brazil Nut Tree." PBS. PBS, 24 Apr. 2005. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
• "Rainforest Alliance." Cacao (Theobroma Cacao). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
• "Feeling Used." The Chocolate Tree. N.p., 2007. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Bibliography

• "Tropical Rainforests across the World Are Highly Diverse, but Share Several Defining Characteristics including Climate, Precipitation, Canopy Structure, Complex Symbiotic Relationships, and Diversity of Species." Mongabay.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Bibliography

• N.p., n.d. Web. .
• "Tropical Rain Forest Biome." Tropical Rain Forest Biome.
• N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2015. <http://exploretherainforestbiome.blogspot.com/>;.

Bibliography

• "Rainforest Alliance." Cacao (Theobroma Cacao). N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2015. <http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids/species-profiles/cacao>;.

Thanks for Watching!