Explain Tropical Rain Forests in biomes?
You probably are well aware of the danger that the world's rain forests are facing in terms of extinction! There are huge numbers of species that make up rainforests - estimated to be far in excess of 2 million species, and probably as high as 20 million species.
The reason that rainforests are such wonderfully rich and diverse habitats is that the tropical climate provides greenhouse-like conditions in terms of water and warm temperatures. The rainfall in tropical rainforests consistently average between 200 - 450 cm (78" - 175") per year, and the termperature averages approximately 23 degrees C year around. Tropical rain forests lie between 23.5 degrees north and south of the equator, and therefore are bathed in sunlight 12 hours a day every day of the year.
Most of the biomass (measure of the dry weight of all the living material) of a rain forest is found above ground. The soil contains relatively little organic matter. The soil in rainforests is thin, measuring usually only a few centimeters deep, and does not receive as much plant matter for prolonged decomposition because the breakdown and recycling of organic matter occurs rapidly under warm and moist conditions. The soil doesn't get the chance to be built up because nutrients are absorbed and bound in the plants that live on other plants (epiphytes), and in the animals that inhabit the forest layers. Therefore, the soil lacks the deep, rich nutrients that typify deciduous forests.
The number of different species in rain forest ecosystems is very high, and they form very complex relationships and interdependencies upon one another. Intricate food webs prevail within rain forests.