Fauna of tropical rainforests. Which of the animals lives in the rainforests. Giant flying fox

Tropical rainforests cover less than 6 percent of the Earth's surface and scientists estimate that at least half of the world's animal species live there. In fact, there are many millions of species of tropical mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects that scientists have been unable to count. Thousands of species of insects have not yet been discovered. Thus, it will undoubtedly take many decades for science to fully answer the question "what animals live in tropical forests.»

photo: Dave Rushen

Of course, science is already familiar with a large number of tropical animals and birds. Tropical forests are covered with dense, tall trees near the Earth's equator, which receive 2000 mm of precipitation per year. What animals live in rainforests depends on where the rainforests are located, in Central America or in the northern part of South America, in equatorial Africa, in South Asia down through the islands of the southern part Pacific Ocean in northern Australia.

photo: Martien Uiterweerd

Animals of various rainforest all over the world developed thousands of kilometers apart, and therefore differs from continent to continent and even from forest to forest. However, all rainforests are similar in many ways, many of the animal species in them are also similar. For example, all rainforests offer a breathtaking array of bird species, as well as birds from the wettest rainforests including parrots.

photo: Nick Johnson

In the countries of Central and South America, the large macaw familiar to us lives; The African rainforests are home to the African Gray Parrot, which is famous for its ability to imitate sounds, including human speech. Cockatoos and a few Australian parrots live in Asia, the South Pacific and the Australian forests.

photo:Debbie Grant

What animals live in tropical forests? Mostly big cats acting as top predators. In the tropical forests of Central and South America, where the ecological niche is occupied by jaguars and cougars. African rainforests are run by leopards. In the South Asian rainforests, tigers and leopards are the top predators.

photo: Thomas Widmann

The rainforests are home to a number of primate species: spider monkeys and howler monkeys in Central and South America. Baboons, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas in Africa. Gibbons and orangutans in South Asia.

photo: Pierson Hill

From the reptile rainforests, the pythons of Africa and Asia are counterparts of the anaconda in the Amazon jungle. Venomous snakes abound in all rainforests, bushmaster and coral snakes in South and Central America and cobras in Africa and Asia, from alligators and caimans in the Americas to many species of crocodiles in Africa and Asia.

List of tropical animals in the Amazon:

Jaguars, Pumas, Ocelots, tapirs, capybaras, bushmasters and caimans (several species; the largest being the black caiman), harpies, macaws, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, capuchins, squirrel monkeys, piranhas, leaf cutters.

photo: Jon Mountjoy

List of tropical animals of Africa:

leopard, okapi, Nile crocodile, mambas (several species poisonous snakes), gray parrot, crowned eagle, chimpanzee, bonobos, gorilla, mandrills, baboons, colobus, tiger fish, termites.

List of tropical animals of Asia:

Tiger, Leopard, Lazy Bear, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Elephant, Buffalo, Cockatoo, Black Eagle, saltwater crocodile, Burmese python, cobras (several species), Orangutan, Gibbons, macaques.

photo: Stephen Hampshire

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This is a typical amphibious animal, which during its life cycle lives in two environments at once - water and air. The most important hallmark this animal is coloring. No wonder this salamander got the second name - fire lizard. After all, the body of this animal is painted in very rich and contrasting colors. Intense black color is combined with equally saturated yellow or orange patterns, which could be called spots and stripes, usually irregularly shaped with blurry edges. On the paws, colored markings are usually symmetrical, and on the body itself, the pattern of placement of spots is not traced.

The lower part of the body is most often painted in one color. dark colors. The abdomen is usually black or brown, but white spots may also be present. The legs of this tailed amphibian, although short, are very strong. There are four toes on the front paws, and five on the hind paws. The limbs are more for walking than for swimming. This is evidenced by the absence of swimming membranes. The head of this salamander is rounded. Visually, it seems to be a continuation of the body.

Everyone has it natural phenomenon there is a reason. The color of any animal saves the individual from predators. Salamander is a small, gentle and defenseless creature. She needs to disguise herself as the main shades of the environment. However fire salamander does everything to be noticed. By this she resembles, and bumblebees, which have a very noticeable color.

crowned eagle

The crowned eagle is the largest and most dangerous predatory bird from the hawk family, living in Africa. It's brave and incredible strong predator, - often the prey of an eagle is 4-5 times larger than itself: large, hyraxes and other animals.

Crowned eagles live in the expanses of Central Africa: from South Africa to the Gulf of Guinea. Nests are built mainly in forests, much less often in semi-deserts and savannahs. With the exception of Zaire and Kenya, where they are very widespread and widespread, they are quite rare.

- one of the most unique natural areas with rich fauna and flora and not fully explored by scientists. Animal world equatorial forests is incredibly diverse, more than 2/3 of all species of animals, birds and insects of our planet live in its various tiers.

The lower tier has become a habitat for rodents and insects. Here is the most rich fauna butterflies and beetles in the world. Under the cover of the forest, you can meet the goliath beetle - one of the heaviest beetles on earth. Anteaters, armadillos and sloths, chameleons, spider monkeys, tenacious porcupines, the bats(the valley of the Congo and the Amazon has several hundred species), llamas, various orders of birds and birds, as well as reptiles and amphibians. Among amphibians there are tree frogs living on trees and laying their eggs in rainwater, which accumulates in the leaves. The largest snakes in the world are found in the ground tiers, eating rodents, birds, amphibians. In wet equatorial forests inhabit and large predators: jaguars (in South America), leopards (in Africa), crocodiles, hippos. Rivers and lakes contain about 2 thousand fish (about 1/3 of the entire freshwater fauna of the planet).

Consider some of the animals of tropical rainforests in more detail:

Tropical forests are inhabited by a huge variety of birds, both small and large.
Nectar birds are small birds (from 8 cm in length) with bright and colorful plumage, feeding on the nectar of flowers and contributing to their pollination.

Toucan is a representative of the bird family with a huge, brightly colored yellow beak, almost equal to the length of its body. Is the object of hunting local residents due to tasty meat and an orange skin used as a decoration.

parrots and birds of paradise- one of the most densely inhabited tropical forest birds with long tail feathers and multi-colored crests.

Third largest in the world predatory mammal and one of the largest representatives of the cat family, living in North and South America. Goes hunting at dusk. Its prey are ungulates, birds, monkeys, and also turtles. Jaguar jaws can easily bite through the shell. It swims excellently and in rare cases is able to miss the victim, sometimes it can attack sleeping alligators.

Monkey

The rainforests are densely populated by gibbons, gorillas, marmosets and narrow-nosed monkeys. They live in forest crowns at a height of 50 m above the ground.

Gorillas are the largest of the representatives of this class. Their growth reaches more than 1.5 m, and weight - up to 260 kg. Predators are afraid to attack them, because adults are very strong.

Gibbons - distinctive feature is the length of their forelimbs, exceeding the rear. They are well adapted to life in the crowns and foliage of trees and move in a unique way in the animal world by brachiation, swinging from branch to branch with their forelimbs.

The leopard is a large feline, excellent at climbing trunks and branches. It attacks monkeys, small ungulates and is able to drag prey much larger than its own body in weight.

Anaconda is one of the largest boas on earth, its body reaches a length of up to 10 m. Large sizes anacondas allow her to hunt even animals and small mammals, sometimes crocodiles and people. Unlike other snakes, for a long time may be under water. Attacking the victim, he uses a suffocating technique, then gradually swallows it with a huge mouth. Lives up to 50 years and lives in the Amazon forests in South America.

Movie. BBC: Planet Earth. Jungle. / BBC: Planet Earth. Jungles.

From gliding anacondas to fluttering blue morpho butterflies, the rainforest is teeming with life - in fact, these precious ecosystems are home to 80 percent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. The Rainforest Alliance is committed to protecting rainforests and biodiversity, including restoring degraded lands, surrounding forests, and protecting waterways. Here are 11 amazing rainforest animals that the Rainforest Alliance is helping to protect.

With her shining, iridescent blue wings, blue butterfly Morpho flutters through the rainforest. The many "eyes" on its inner brown side fool predators into thinking it is a large predator.

These gentle giants of the ocean can be found in warm waters the southern United States, the Caribbean and the northeast coast of Brazil. These manatees can weigh up to 500 kg. and grow up to 3 meters in length.

The striking okapi, the giraffe's closest relative, lives in the dense Ituri rainforest in Central Africa. A master of camouflage, his striped back and brown hide help him stay undetected by predators.

This slow-moving animal lives exclusively in trees and feeds on leaves, branches and fruits. It moves so slowly that its coat takes on a green tint due to the algae that grows on it. And in order to digest one meal, a sloth can take a whole month.

Having a strong resemblance to guinea pig, Capybara is the largest rodent on the ground. It can weigh up to 65 kg and be up to 60 cm tall. It lives in the dense vegetation that surrounds the water and often jumps into water to hide from predators. The capybara can hold its breath for up to five minutes.

One of the most iconic rainforest animal species, the red macaw is a large parrot with bright red plumage and brilliant blue and yellow feathers. Its powerful beak can open tough nuts and seeds. The red macaw is one of the few species that mates for life.

As one of the brightest animals on the planet, poison frog the arrow uses its color to warn predators of toxic poison that is inside his skin. Indigenous cultures often use the frog's venom to coat arrowheads used for hunting.

Black howler monkeys are so nicknamed because of their loud howls that they use to mark territory. These screams that sound like strong wind blowing through the tunnel can be heard up to 3 km away. Black howler monkeys live high in the rainforest, in groups of 4 to 19 individuals.

This is the largest of all anteaters, which can be found in meadows, swamps and moist forests from southern Belize to northern Argentina. Its long sticky tongue can pop up 150 times per minute, allowing it to easily eat 30,000 insects a day.

The green anaconda is one of largest snakes in the world, reaching more than 9 meters in length, 30 cm in diameter and weighing more than 220 kg. Due to its size, it is quite bulky on land, but very stealthy in the water.

The praying mantis is a master of camouflage that blends in and mimics the foliage around it. He uses his acute vision and powerful forelimbs to catch and devour prey.

About half of all forests on our planet are tropical forests (hylaea) that grow in Africa, Southeast Asia, South and Central America. Tropical forests are located between 25° northern latitude and 30° south latitude, where heavy rains are frequent. The rainforest ecosystem covers less than two percent of the Earth's surface, but 50 to 70 percent of all life forms on our planet are found here.

The largest rainforests are in Brazil (South America), Zaire (Africa) and Indonesia ( Southeast Asia). Rainforest is also found in Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean.

Rainforest climate

The climate in the rainforest is very warm, characterized and humid. From 400 to 1000 cm of precipitation falls here annually. The tropics are characterized by a uniform annual distribution of precipitation. The change of seasons is almost non-existent, and average temperature air is 28 degrees Celsius. All these conditions have significantly influenced the formation of the richest ecosystem on our planet.

Soil in the rainforest

The soil of the tropics is poor in minerals and nutrients - there is a lack of potassium, nitrogen and other trace elements. She usually has red and red-yellow color. Due to frequent rainfall, useful material absorbed by the roots of plants or go deep into the soil. That is why the natives of the rainforests used a slash-and-burn agricultural system: in small areas, all vegetation was cut down, it was subsequently burned, then the soil was cultivated. The ash acts as a nutrient. When the soil begins to turn infertile, usually after 3-5 years, the inhabitants of tropical settlements moved to new areas for farming. Agriculture. It is a sustainable farming method that ensures that the forest is constantly regenerated.

rainforest plants

Warm humid climate rainforest provides the perfect environment for a vast abundance of amazing plant life. The rainforest is divided into several tiers, which are characterized by their own flora and fauna. Most tall trees tropics, receive the largest number sunlight, as they reach a height of over 50 meters. Here, for example, include the cotton tree.

The second tier is the dome. It is the habitat for half of the representatives wildlife tropical forests - birds, snakes and monkeys. This includes trees with a height of less than 50 m with wide leaves, hiding sunlight from the lower floors. These are philodendron, poisonous strychnos and rattan palms. Lianas usually stretch along them towards the sun.

The third tier is inhabited by shrubs, ferns and other shade-tolerant species.

The last tier, the lower one, is usually dark and damp, since the sun's rays hardly penetrate here. It consists of overripe foliage, fungi and lichens, as well as young shoots of plants of higher tiers.

In each of the regions where tropical forests grow, there are different types trees.

Tropical trees of Central and South America:

• Mahogany (Sweitinia spp.)
• Spanish cedar (Cedrella spp.)
• Rosewood and Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa)
• Purple Tree (Peltogyne purpurea)
• Kingwood
• Cedro Espina (Pochote spinosa)
• Tulipwood
• Gaiacan (Tabebuia chrysantha)
• Pink tabebuya (Tabebuia rosea)
• Bokote
• Jatoba (Hymenaea courbaril)
• Guapinol (Prioria copaifera)

Tropical trees of Africa:

• Bubinga
• Ebony
• Zebrano
• Pink tree

Tropical trees of Asia:

• Malaysian maple

In the rainforest, they are widespread, which feed on caught insects and small animals. Among them, it should be noted nepentes (Pitcher Plants), sundew, oilwort, pemphigus. By the way, plants lower level their bright blooms attract insects for pollination, since there is practically no wind in these layers.

Valuable crops are grown in the places of clearing of tropical forests:

• mango;
• bananas;
• papaya;
• coffee;
• cocoa;
• vanilla;
• sesame;
• sugarcane;
• avocado;
• cardamom;
• cinnamon;
• turmeric;
• nutmeg.

These cultures play an important role in cooking and cosmetology. Some tropical plants serve as raw materials for medicines especially anti-cancer.

Adaptation of tropical plants for survival

Any flora needs moisture. There is no lack of water in the rainforest, but often there is too much of it. Rainforest plants must survive in areas where there is constant rainfall and flooding. Leaves tropical plants help fight off raindrops, and some species are armed with a drip tip designed to quickly drain rain.

Plants in the tropics need light to live. The dense vegetation of the upper tiers of the forest transmits little sunlight to the lower tiers. Therefore, rainforest plants must either adapt to life in constant twilight or grow rapidly upwards in order to "see" the sun.

It is worth noting that in the tropics trees grow with thin and smooth bark, which is able to accumulate moisture. Some types of plants in the lower part of the crown have leaves wider than at the top. It helps you skip more sun rays to the soil.

As for the epiphytes themselves, or air plants that grow in the rainforest, they get their nutrients from plant debris and bird droppings that land on their roots and do not depend on the poor soil of the forest. In tropical forests, there are such air plants as orchids, bromeliads, ferns, large-flowered selenicereus and others.

As mentioned, the soil in most rainforests is very poor and lacks nutrients. To capture nutrients at the top of the soil, most rainforest trees have shallow roots. Others are wide and powerful, as they must hold a massive tree.

rainforest animals

Animals of the rainforest amaze the eye with their diversity. It is in this natural area that you can meet the largest number of representatives of the fauna of our planet. Most of them are in the Amazon rainforest. For example, there are 1800 species of butterflies alone.

In general, the tropical forest is the habitat of most amphibians (lizards, snakes, crocodiles, salamanders), predators (jaguars, tigers, leopards, cougars). All animals in the tropics have bright color, as spots and stripes are the best camouflage in the dense thicket of the jungle. The sounds of the rainforest are provided by the polyphony of songbirds. In the forests of the tropics, the world's largest population of parrots, among others interesting birds meet South American harpies, belonging to one of the fifty species of eagles and on the verge of extinction. No less bright birds are peacocks, the beauty of which has long been legendary.

also lives in the tropics more quantity monkeys: arachnids, orangutans, chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons, gibbons, red-bearded jumpers, gorillas. In addition, there are sloths, lemurs, Malay and sun bears, rhinos, hippos, tarantulas, ants, piranhas and other animals.

Tropical forest loss

Tropical timber has long been synonymous with exploitation and plunder. giant trees are the goal of entrepreneurs who use them for commercial purposes. How are forests exploited? The most obvious use of rainforest trees is in the furniture industry.

According to the European Commission, about one-fifth of EU wood imports come from illegal sources. Every day, thousands of products from the international wood mafia pass through store shelves. Tropical wood products are often labeled as "luxury wood", "hardwood", "natural wood" and "solid wood". Usually these terms are used to disguise tropical wood from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The main tropical tree exporting countries are Cameroon, Brazil, Indonesia and Cambodia. The most popular and expensive types of tropical wood that goes on sale are mahogany, teak and rosewood.

To inexpensive breeds tropical tree include meranti, ramin, gabun.

The consequences of deforestation in the rainforest

In most tropical rainforest countries, illegal logging is common and a serious problem. Economic losses reach billions of dollars, and environmental and social damage is incalculable.

Deforestation results in deforestation and profound ecological changes. Tropical forests contain the largest in the world. As a result of poaching, millions of species of animals and plants are losing their habitat and, as a result, disappear.

According to the Red List International Union Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 41,000 plant and animal species are threatened, including big monkeys such as gorillas and orangutans. Scientific estimates of lost species vary widely, ranging from 50 to 500 species per day.

In addition, logging equipment used to remove timber destroys sensitive topsoil and damages the roots and bark of other trees.

Mining iron ore, bauxite, gold, oil and other minerals also destroy large areas of tropical forests, for example, in the Amazon.

Importance of the rainforest

Tropical rainforests play an important role in the ecosystem of our planet. The cutting of this natural area leads to the formation of the greenhouse effect and, subsequently, to global warming. The largest tropical forest in the world, the Amazon forest, plays the most important role in this process. 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to deforestation. The Amazon rainforest alone stores 120 billion tons of carbon.

Tropical forests also contain vast amounts of water. Therefore, another consequence of deforestation is a disturbed water cycle. This, in turn, can lead to droughts on regional level and changes in global weather conditions— with potentially devastating consequences.

The rainforest is home to unique representatives flora and fauna.

How to protect tropical forests?

To prevent Negative consequences deforestation, it is necessary to expand forest areas, strengthen control over forests at the state and international levels. It is also important to raise people's awareness of the role forests play on this planet. Ecologists say it is also worth encouraging the reduction, recycling and reuse forest products. Switching to alternative energy sources such as fossil gas can in turn reduce the need to exploit forests for heating.

Deforestation, including tropical deforestation, can be carried out without harming this ecosystem. In Central and South America and Africa, trees are cut down selectively. Only trees that have reached a certain age and thickness of the trunk are cut down, and the young ones remain untouched. This method causes minimal damage to the forest, because it allows it to recover quickly.