Phase 1 Individual Project
SCI201-1403A-12
Environmental Science and Sustainability July 10, 2014
Trena Woolridge

Just to keep the theme going from the discussion board 2 assignment I decided to research and write about the Tropical Rainforest. I have always found the world’s rainforests to be very interesting with all of their secrets they hold inside of them. By doing this paper it will allow me to discover more in-depth information on the Tropical Rainforests. I wonder what all I will discover?
There are many rainforests in the world but can be found only in three major geographical areas around the world. The one that stands out the most to me is the Tropical Rainforest in Central America in the Amazon Basin from the previous assignment I researched. Others are located in Africa, Australia, and Assam to name a few. Tropical Rainforests are made up of large trees, exotic wildlife, and thousands of species of plants.
The structure of the Tropical Rainforest is very complex but can be simple to understand when broken down into sections. The rainforest can be divided into layers from top to bottom and can get a better understanding of the Tropical Rainforest as a whole. The different layers are: emergent, the canopy, the understory, and the leaf litter or cryptoshere or also known as the ground. Emergent are the larger, taller trees that stick out above the canopy. They can be 20-100 feet above the canopy and endures strong winds, temperature fluctuations, and damaging solar radiation. The canopy is the level under the emergent that has billions of leaves that converts sunlight into energy called photosynthesis. The canopy is where vast amounts of fruits, flowers, and seeds are formed and attracts the wide range of exotic wildlife. The canopy acts as a shield to the lower levels protecting them from harsh elements. The understory is just under the canopy and made up of smaller trees, shrubs, and plants. There is very little air flow resulting in high levels of constant humidity. And the forest floor also known as leaf litter or cryptoshere is the lowest part of a Tropical Rainforest. Very few plants can grow here due to the lack of sunlight that is blocked by the upper layers. The soil is very poor in nutrients and quality and is covered by leaf litter as leaves fall from the higher up trees. This litter provides food for decomposers like earthworms, termites, and fungi turning it into organic matter. This is then absorbed into the roots of the trees that have shallow roots.
Among the Tropical Rainforest there are abiotic and biotic components that make up the rainforest as a whole. Abiotic components are the amount of sunlight, water, precipitation, etcetera that the rainforest gets that affects the plant and animal life there. When I first looked at the assignment I asked myself what is so important about the abiotic and biotic components and instantly thought they couldn’t be of much importance and boy was I wrong. I discovered what the abiotic components are and how they affect the rainforest. If the rainforest did not get any water or sunlight everything would die. Now the biotic components are what make up the rainforest. It is the plants, animals, and microorganisms that are in the rainforest such as bamboo, banana trees, jaguars, lemurs, fungi, earthworms, and many other plants, animals, and microorganisms. With the ideal temperatures and abundance of water makes the rainforest an ideal place for plant life. There is such a vast amount of plant life that there are some that no one knows about. Just like any ecosystem there is a food chain. In the rainforest there are producers, consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers. All of these are biotic components of a rainforest.
Now how does this all come together and function. The Tropical Rainforest is composed of a vast amount of plants, animals, and microorganisms like fungi. All of these fit in together despite the issue of predators, parasites, and diseases. “The functioning of a forest ecosystem is related to its structure by the fact that its living components (each kind of plant, animal, or microorganism) are well adapted to the physical environment and to one another” (Marten, G. G. 1984). The Tropical Rainforests and other rainforests affect us each and every day whether we know it or not. Even though rainforests are really far away they are critical for the well-being of humans and wildlife. Humans and wildlife rely on rainforests for survival because they produce oxygen by absorbing the carbon dioxide. This is essential for us humans and animals to live because rainforests: * help stabilize the world’s climate * provides shelter for a vast amount of animals and plants * maintains the water cycle * protects against erosion, drought, and flood * is a source for food and medicines * supports native tribal people * a very unique and interesting place to visit
(Butler. 2004)
What are biogeochemical cycles? According to Muhumuza Moses they “are pathways for the transport and transformation of matter within four categorical areas that make up planet Earth” (Moses. 2010). There are eight different cycles where abiotic and biotic components interact with these cycles: * Sedimentary cycles: the transportation of matter, found on floor of rainforest and from decomposers, through the ground to water which leads us to the remaining seven cycles. * Phosphorus cycles: Are the cycle microorganisms, which are biotic components, helping in the process of slowly putting phosphorus back into the soil. * Sulpher cycle: abiotic components play a role in this cycle. Sulpher is physically moved by wind, water, and events like volcanic eruptions onto land and into the ocean. * Gaseous cycle: the moving of matter through the atmosphere and some common examples are the remaining four cycles. * Oxygen cycle: this is the movement of oxygen through three main reservoirs; atmosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere. Photosynthesis is the main factor by linking oxygen and carbon cycles called oxygen-carbon cycle. Abiotic are involved in this cycle through photosynthesis. * Hydrological cycle: often called the water cycle and is the most important chemical for all life on Earth. Water is an abiotic component of the rainforest.
Now we are left with the final two cycle’s carbon and nitrogen * Carbon cycle: this is one of the most important elements that keep life on Earth. Both methane gas and carbon dioxide (makes up carbon) in the atmosphere affects the Earth’s heat balance. Climate change and global warming may be caused by the carbon absorbing radiation. Carbon would be an abiotic component as carbon is absorbed by the trees in the rainforest to produce oxygen and aid in photosynthesis. * Nitrogen cycle: this cycle is the most important nutrient cycle for plant life. Nitrogen is found in terrestrial ecosystems that come from the atmosphere. Nitrogen is the most abundant element in the atmosphere.
Disturbance is bound to happen in any ecosystem. It is the interruption or interference of something that is in a calm or peaceful state. When there is a disturbance in a Tropical Rainforest it can take very little time to recover to even decades to recover. It is only natural that once an ecosystem is disturbed that it will begin the recovery process. This is when what was disturbed will eventually be back and returned to its normal state.
Disturbance to the Tropical Rainforest can be caused naturally or by humans. A natural disturbance like a tropical storm can cause extensive damage by causing the larger, taller emergent trees to fall creating light gaps and pulling the millions of vines that are attached to them from the lower plant life with it. The recovery from smaller storms can recover in months to a few years. More severe storms like hurricanes can cause more extreme damage that can take decades to centuries for it to recover. Human disturbances are the greatest cause of destruction in the Tropical Rainforest. Humans have caused extensive destruction by logging among many other things that has caused a vast amount of damage depleting the rainforest of all of its resources. This destruction is driven by national and international forces that serve no long term purpose and mainly are result from locals destroying the rainforest. The destruction by humans will take much longer than decades or even centuries to recover from.
Between natural and human destruction of the Tropical Rainforest many plants, animals, and microorganisms are being destroyed. Some people may think what does it matter to us if these things perish. Fact is it does matter even though they are half way around the world. By destroying the Tropical Rainforest it could result in catastrophic consequences putting our quality of life at risk. The destruction of the rainforest affects the abiotic and biotic components as well. As we recall abiotic is the water, sunlight, precipitation, etcetera that is needed by the plants, animals, and microorganisms, which are the biotic components, to survive. When an abiotic component is depleted it affects how the entire ecosystem operates by causing some or all of the plants, animals, and microorganisms, or biotic, to perish.
Tropical Rainforests are very resilient allowing them to recover after any disturbances. After natural destruction from things like storms the rainforest will recover naturally over several months to a few years as new growth takes over. The microorganisms take over the debris from the natural destruction and helps put nutrients back into the soil where seeds have fallen and will begin the regrowth process. The theory of secondary succession is by my understanding that the new growth after destruction of a rainforest will become as vibrant as it originally was. But this theory is more complex as destruction happens it opens the lower levels to be exposed to different climate types. With more sunlight hitting the lower levels after the taller trees have fallen allows the lower plants thrive and become dense. The new growth on all the levels of the rainforest forms differently and will not have the same characteristics as the older parts of the rainforest. Also the process of breaking down the litter left behind after destruction is an extremely slow process and once the older now destructed plant life is gone the ground has little to no nutrients for new growth to take place which is why it can take years to even decades and centuries to recover after any destruction.

References
Butler, R. (2012). Natural Threats to Rainforests. Retrieved from http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0802.htm
Butler, R. (2012). The Rainforest Canopy. Retrieved from http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0401.htm
Butler, R. (2012). Threats to Rainforests from Humankind. Retrieved from http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0803.htm
Butler, R. (2004). Why Are Rainforests Important. Retrieved from http://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/401.html
G. Michael. (2001). Tropical Rainforest. Retrieved from http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm
Marten, G. G. (1984). An Introduction to Human Ecology Research on Agricultural Systems in South East Asia. The Tropical Rainforest as an Ecosystem. Retrieved from http://www.gerrymartencom/publications/pdfs/GM_Tropical-Rain-Forest.pdf
Mitchell. (n.d.). Abiotic Factors. Retrieved from http://info.reforests.tripod.com/abiotic_factors.htm
Moses, M. (2010). Biogeochemical Cycles. Retrieved from http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150616/
Wet Tropics. (2012). Rainforest Structure. Retrieved from http://www.wettropics.gov.au/rainforest-structure