FBS 10 LECTURE 1A - Diversity and Growth Forms in Tropical Rainforests

Forest

Size of a football field

Forest

As tall as an adult giraffe

Forest

Hides 1/10th of visibility when looking up the from the forest floor

Ecosystem

defined by biotic and abiotic organisms in a specific area

Ecosystem

defined by how different organisms interact with one another

Forest ecosystem

defined by which plants and animals are located in it, and their relationships with each other and non-living elements around them.

Elements of the Forest

Biotic and Abiotic

Percentages forests cover

30% of Earth's land surface area and 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity

Rainforest

Oldest living ecosystem

Rainforest

6% of all forest types but is incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world's plant and animal species

Rainforest

A 10-square-kilometer patch can contain as
many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species
of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species
of butterflies.

Tropical rainforest

mainly found where the climate is hot and humid
(wet) throughout the year.

Tropical rainforest

located near the equator where there are very few seasonal changes

Tropical rainforest

between latitudes 23.5 N and 23.5 S

Location of Tropical rainforests

Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn

Ample sunlight and moisture

essential building blocks for tropical rainforests' diverse flora and fauna.

Three largest tropical rainforests

Amazon, Congo River Basin, New Guinea

Tropical rainforests

the most biologically
diverse terrestrial ecosystems in the world, with many rare, endemic and endangered plant and animal species.

Tropical rainforests

About 50% of the world's species can be found in
TRFs, with an estimated 40 to 100 or more
different species of trees present per hectare

Amazon Rainforest

Largest tropical rainforest in the world, over 800 million years, spanning nine countries

Amazon Rainforest

Lungs of the earth, world's biggest supplier of oxygen

Nine countries covered by the Amazon

Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

Brazil

Country containing 60% of the Amazon

North Sierra Madre

harbors the largest contiguous tracts of remaining rainforests in the Philippines

Nature of tropical rainforests

Condominium

Layers of the forest

Emergent, Canopy, Understorey, Forest floor

Emergent

trees are spaced wide apart, with umbrella-shaped canopies growing above the forest

Emergent

Exposed to dry winds; have small, pointed leaves

Emergent

Have straight, smooth trunks with few branches; some species lose leaves during the brief dry season

Emergent

Very shallow root system, but grow buttresses (spread out up to 30ft) to support their size

Red Lauan / Shorea Negrosensis

Oldest and largest tree in the Bicol region

Canopy

It blocks winds, rainfall, and sunlight creating a humid, still, and dark environment below

Canopy

The damp environment in this layer has caused trees to adapt by producing glossy leaves with pointed tips that repel water

Canopy

Plants in this layer encase their seeds in fruit as wind is lacking for dispersal unlike the layer above.

Canopy

Where most of the rainforest's animals live due to plenty of food being available

Fig trees

Most familiar fruit tree in the canopy

Understory

Also known as the lower canpoy

Understory

Made up of the trunks of canopy, trees, shrubs, and small trees and plants

Understory

Layer wherein there is little air movement and humidity is constantly high

Understory

Layer in the tropical rainforest that is in constant shade

Forest floor

Layer in the TRF that is usually completely shaded, except where a canopy tree has fallen and created an opening

Forest floor

Layer wherein there is sparse plant growth due to it receiving less than 1% of the light that strikes the top of the forest

Forest floor

Layer wherein the top soil is very thin

Forest floor

Layer where many litter falls are quickly broken down by decomposers and heat/humidity which are quickly absorbed by the shallow roots

Decomposers + Head/Humidity

Breaks down litter falls in the forest floor

Unique growth forms in the TRF

Trees, Shrubs, Epiphytes, Stranglers, Vines, Lianas, Herbs, and Palms

Nature of TRFs

High Biodiversity (
up to 10,000 species/ha)

Nature of TRFs

Short nutrient cycle

Nature of TRFs

Microclimate: Humid and Warm

Nature of TRFs

Highest biomass, Net Primary Productivity, and Nutrient uptake of world eco-regions

One of the megadiversity countries; 1/10 of the total number of species

Philippines

Global biodiversity hotspot; biologically rich country, sheltering large number of endemic species threatened by various pressures

Philippines

Philippines' Biological Richness

Ten times the Galapagos

Approximate number of Flora species in the Philippines

14,000 species (5% of the world's flora)

Number of genera of flowering plants and ferns endemic to the Philippines

26

Philippine flowering plant endemism percentage

45% - 60%

Number of species of angiosperms

8000

No. of species of gymnosperms

33

No. of pteridophytes

1,100

No. of bryophytes

1,271

No. of fungi and molds

3,550

No. of algae

1,355

No. of lichens

79

Gynospems in TRF (C)

Cycas

Gymnosperms in TRF (P)

Podocarpus

Gymnosperms in TRF (D)

Dacrycarpus

Gymnosperms in TRF (PM)

Pinus Merkusii

Gymnosperms in TRF (G)

Gymnosperms in TRF (AP)

Agathis Philippinesis

Epiphytes

Unique growth forms in TRFs growing on branches of trees for support extracting moisture from the air and trapping the constant leaf-fall and wind-blown dust

Philippine Orchids

Aerides

Philippine Orchids

Amesiella

Philippine Orchids

Paphiopedilum

Philippine Orchids

Bulbophyllum

Philippine Orchids

Calanthe

Nepenthes

A genus of rosette-forming, shrubby to scrambling or vining carnivorous plants that alone comprises the family Nephenthaceae

Philippine Medinilla

Lianas and Stranglers

Unique growth forms in TRFS that are woody vines growing rapidly up the tree trunks when there is a temporary gap in the canpy.

Epiphylls

Unique growth forms in the TRFs that are plants growing on the leaves of another plant

Liverworts and Lichen

Example of Epiphylls

Ecological interaction

Competition for light with the leaves that support them

Lichens

Unique growth forms in the TRF that are unique double organisms consisting of alga and/or cyanobacterium and fungus

Photobiont and Mycobiont

Organisms that make up lichens

Photobiont

Cyanobacterium

Mycobiont

Fungus

Type of Lichen

Cryptothecia sp.

Type of Lichens

Dirinaria sp.

Type of Lichen

Usnea sp.

Heterotrophs

Unique growth forms in the TRF are non-photosynthetic plants that can survive on the forest floor

Parasites

organisms that derive nutrients by tapping into the roots or stems of photosynthetic species

Heterotrophs (Parasite)

Love Vine (Cassytha filiformis)

Heterotrophs (Parasite)

Jackal food (Hydnora africana)

Heterotrophs (Parasite)

Red thumb (Cynomorium ccocineum)

Heterotrophs (Parasite)

Krameria Ixine

Heterotrophs (Parasite)

Rafflesia pricei

Heterotrophs (Parasite)

Pilostyles thurberi

Heterotrophs (Parasite)

Cytinus ruber

Heterotrops (Parasite)

Amyema artensis

Heterotrops (Parasite)

Yakkoso (Mitrastemon Yamamotoi)

Heterotrops (Parasite)

Pholisma culiacanum