Learn About Rainforests

In this episode of the I Can't Sleep Podcast, fall asleep learning about rainforests. I love watching trees sway in the breeze of a cool afternoon in the summer. I live in the mountains, though, and the foliage here is not nearly as dense as what you'll experience in a rainforest. Look at me! I'm rambling on about trees, trying to put you to sleep while reading the episode summary. Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Moster.

Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled,

Rainforest.

Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy,

Moisture-dependent vegetation,

The presence of epiphytes and lianas,

And the absence of wildfire.

Rainforests can be generally classified as tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests,

But other types have been described.

Estimates vary from 40% to 75% of all biotic species being indigenous to the rainforest.

There may be millions of species of plants,

Insects,

And microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests.

Tropical rainforests have been called the jewels of the earth and the world's largest pharmacy because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there.

Rainforests,

As well as endemic rainforest species,

Are rapidly disappearing due to deforestation,

The resulting habitat loss and pollution of the atmosphere.

Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy,

High humidity,

The presence of moisture-dependent vegetation,

A moist layer of leaf litter,

The presence of epiphytes and lianas,

And the absence of wildfire.

The largest areas of rainforest are tropical or temperate rainforests,

But other vegetation association,

Including subtropical rainforests,

Littoral rainforests,

Cloud forests,

Vine thicket,

And even dry rainforests have been described.

Tropical rainforests are characterized by a warm and wet climate with no substantial dry season,

Typically found within 10 degrees north and south of the equator.

Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 degrees Celsius during all months of the year.

Average annual rainfall is no less than 168 centimeters and can exceed a thousand centimeters,

Although it typically lies between 175 centimeters and 200 centimeters.

Many of the world's tropical forests are associated with the location of the monsoon trough,

Also known as the intertropical convergence zone.

The broader category of tropical moist forests are located in the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

Tropical rainforests exist in Southeast Asia to the Philippines,

Malaysia,

Indonesia,

Papua New Guinea,

And Sri Lanka.

Also in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Cameroon to the Congo,

South America,

Central America,

Australia,

And on Pacific Islands.

Tropical forests have been called the Earth's lungs,

Although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net oxygen addition to the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

Tropical forests cover a large part of the globe,

But temperate rainforests only occur in a few regions around the world.

Temperate rainforests are a rainforest in temperate regions.

They occur in North America,

In Pacific Northwest and Alaska,

British Columbia,

Washington,

Oregon,

And California.

In Europe,

Parts of the British Isles,

Such as the coastal areas of Ireland and Scotland,

Southern Norway,

Parts of the Western Balkans along the Adriatic coast,

As well as in Galicia and coastal areas of the Eastern Black Sea,

Including Georgia and coastal Turkey.

In East Asia,

In southern China,

Islands of Taiwan,

Much of Japan and Korea,

And on Sakhalin Island and the adjacent Russian Far East coast.

In South America,

Southern Chile,

And also in Australia and New Zealand.

Dry rainforests have a more open canopy layer than other rainforests and are found in areas of lower rainfall.

They generally have two layers of trees.

A tropical rainforest typically has a number of layers,

Each with different plants and animals adapted for life in that particular area.

Examples include the emergent canopy,

Understory,

And forest floor layers.

The emergent layer contains a small number of very large trees called emergents,

Which grow above the general canopy reaching heights of 45 to 55 meters,

Although on occasion a few species will grow to 70 to 80 meters tall.

They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas.

Eagles,

Butterflies,

Bats,

And certain monkeys inhabit this layer.

The canopy layer contains the majority of the largest trees,

Typically 30 meters to 45 meters tall.

The densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy,

A more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops.

The canopy,

By some estimates,

Is home to 50% of all plant species.

Epiphytic plants attached to trunks and branches,

And some of the most abundant plants in the rainforest,

Can obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collect on the supporting plants.

The fauna is similar to that found in the emergent layer,

But more diverse.

A quarter of all insect species are believed to exist in the rainforest canopy.

Scientists have long suspected the richness of the canopy as a habitat,

But have only recently developed practical methods of exploring it.

As long ago as 1917,

Naturalist William Beebe declared that another continent of life remains to be discovered,

Not upon the earth,

But one to two hundred feet above it,

Extending over thousands of square miles.

A true exploration of this habitat only began in the 1980s,

When scientists developed methods to reach the canopy,

Such as firing ropes into the trees using crossbows.

Exploration of the canopy is still in its infancy,

But other methods include the use of balloons and airships to float above the highest branches,

And the building of cranes and walkways planted on the forest floor.

The science of accessing tropical forest canopy using airships or similar aerial platforms is called dendronotics.

The understory layer lies between the canopy and the forest floor.

It is home to a number of birds,

Snakes,

And lizards,

As well as predators such as jaguars,

Boa constrictors,

And leopards.

The leaves are much larger at this level and insect life is abundant.

Many seedlings that will grow to the canopy level are present in the understory.

Only about five percent of the sunlight shining on the rainforest canopy reaches the understory.

This layer can be called a shrub layer,

Although the shrub layer may also be considered a separate layer.

The forest floor,

The bottommost layer,

Receives only two percent of the sunlight.

Only plants adapted to low light can grow in this region.

Away from riverbanks,

Swamps,

And clearings where dense undergrowth is found,

The forest floor is relatively clear of vegetation because of the low sunlight penetration.

It also contains decaying plant and animal matter,

Which disappears quickly because the warm humid conditions promote rapid decay.

Many forms of fungi growing here help decay the animal and plant waste.

More than half of the world's species of plants and animals are found in rainforests.

Rainforests support a very broad array of fauna,

Including mammals,

Reptiles,

Amphibians,

Birds,

And invertebrates.

Mammals may include primates,

Felids,

And other families.

Reptiles include snakes,

Turtles,

Chameleons,

And other families,

While birds include such families as vangidae and caculidae.

Dozens of families of invertebrates are found in rainforests.

Fungi are also very common in rainforest areas as they can feed on the decomposing remains of plants and animals.

The great diversity in rainforest species is in large part the result of diverse and numerous physical refugees,

I.

E.

Places in which plants are inaccessible to many herbivores,

Or in which animals can hide from predators.

Having numerous refugees available also results in much higher total biomass than would otherwise be possible.

A Kermode bear from the Great Bear Rainforest,

Canada.

A Bengal tiger in Medumele National Park,

India.

A jaguar in the Amazon Rainforest,

South America.

Western lowland gorilla in the African Rainforest.

Orangutans in Tanjung Puting,

Indonesia.

Yellow anacondas reside in the Amazon Basin.

Lion-tailed macaque in Silent Valley National Park,

India.

A macaw in the Amazon Rainforest.

Some species of fauna show a trend towards declining populations in rainforests,

E.

G.

Reptiles that feed on amphibians and reptiles.

This trend requires close monitoring.

The seasonality of rainforests affects the reproductive patterns of amphibians,

And this in turn can directly affect the species of reptiles that feed on these groups,

Particularly species with specialized feeding,

Since these are less likely to use alternative resources.

Despite the growth of vegetation in a tropical rainforest,

Soil quality is often quite poor.

Rapid bacterial decay prevents the accumulation of humus.

The concentration of iron and aluminum oxides by the laterization process gives the oxysols a bright red color and sometimes produces mineral deposits such as bauxite.

Most trees have roots near the surface because there are insufficient nutrients below the surface.

Most of the tree's minerals come from the top layer of decomposing leaves in animals.

On younger substrates,

Especially of volcanic origin,

Tropical soils may be quite fertile.

If rainforest trees are cleared,

Rain can accumulate on the exposed soil surfaces,

Creating runoff and beginning a process of soil erosion.

Eventually streams and rivers form,

And flooding becomes possible.

There are several reasons for the poor soil quality.

First is that the soil is highly acidic.

The roots of plants rely on an acidity difference between the roots and the soil in order to absorb nutrients.

When the soil is acidic,

There is little difference and therefore little absorption of nutrients from the soil.

Second,

The type of clay particles present in tropical rainforest soil has a poor ability to trap nutrients and stop them from washing away.

Even if humans artificially add nutrients to the soil,

The nutrients mostly wash away and are not absorbed by the plants.

Finally,

These soils are poor due to the high volume of rain in tropical rainforests washing nutrients out of the soil more quickly than in other climates.

A natural rainforest emits and absorbs vast quantities of carbon dioxide.

On a global scale,

Long-term fluxes are approximately in balance,

So that an undisturbed rainforest would have a small net impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Though they may have other climactic effects on cloud formation,

For example,

By recycling water vapor.

No rainforest today can be considered to be undisturbed.

Human-induced deforestation plays a significant role in causing rainforests to release carbon dioxide,

As do other factors,

Whether human-induced or natural,

Which result in tree death such as burning and drought.

Some climate models operating with interactive vegetation predict a large loss of Amazonian rainforest around 2050 due to drought,

Forest dieback,

And the subsequent release of more carbon dioxide.

Tropical rainforests provide timber as well as animal products such as meat and hides.

Rainforests also have value as tourism destinations and for the ecosystem services provided.

Many foods originally came from tropical forests and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest.

Also,

Plant-derived medicines are commonly used for fever,

Fungal infections,

Burns,

Gastrointestinal problems,

Pain,

Respiratory problems,

And wound treatment.

At the same time,

Rainforests are usually not used sustainably by non-native peoples,

But are being exploited or removed for agricultural purposes.

On January 18,

2007,

FUNAI reported also that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontracted tribes in Brazil,

Up from 40 in 2005.

With this addition,

Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of contracted tribes.

The province of Irian Jaya or West Papua in the island of New Guinea is home to an estimated 44 uncontracted tribal groups.

The tribes are in danger because of the deforestation,

Especially in Brazil.

Central African rainforest is home of the Mbuti Pygmies,

One of the hunter-gatherer peoples living in equatorial rainforests,

Characterized by their short hide,

Below 1.

5 meters or 59 inches on average.

They were the subject of a study by Colin Turnbill,

The Forest People,

In 1962.

There are many tribes in the rainforests of the Malaysia state of Sarawak.

Sarawak is part of Borneo,

The third largest island in the world.

Some of the other tribes in Sarawak are the Kayen,

Kenya,

Kejaman,

Kelabit,

Punanba,

Tanjong,

Sekapan,

And the Lohanan.

Collectively,

They are referred to as Dayaks or Orangaloo,

Which means people of the interior.

About half of Sarawak's 1.

5 million people are Dayaks.

Most Dayaks,

It is believed by anthropologists,

Came originally from the Southeast Asian mainland.

Their mythologies support this.

A cloud forest,

Also called a water forest,

Primus forest,

Or tropical montane cloud forest,

Is generally tropical or subtropical evergreen,

Montane,

Moist forest characterized by a persistent,

Frequent,

Or seasonal low-level cloud cover,

Usually at the canopy level,

Formally described in the International Cloud Atlas 2017 as silvogenitus.

Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation,

In which case they are also referred to as mossy forests.

Mossy forests usually develop on the saddles of mountains,

Where moisture introduced by settling clouds is more effectively retained.

Cloud forests are among the most biodiversity-rich ecosystems in the world,

With a large number of species directly or indirectly depending on them.

Other moss forests include black spruce,

Feather moss,

Climax forest,

With a moderately dense canopy,

And a forest floor of feather mosses.

These wet-form mosses grow in boreal moss forests.

The presence of cloud forests is dependent on local climate,

Which is affected by the distance to the sea,

The exposition and the latitude,

From 23 degrees north to 25 degrees south,

And the elevation,

Which varies from 500 meters to 4,

000 meters above sea level.

Typically,

There is a relatively small band of elevation,

In which the atmospheric environment is suitable for cloud forest development.

This is characterized by persistent fog at the vegetation level,

Resulting in the reduction of direct sunlight,

And thus of evapotranspiration.

Within cloud forests,

Much of the moisture available to plants arrives in the form of fog drip,

Where fog condenses on tree leaves,

And then drips onto the ground below.

Annual rainfall can range from 500 to 10,

000 millimeters per year,

And mean temperature between 8 and 20 degrees Celsius.

While cloud forest today is the most widely used term,

In some regions these ecosystems or special types of cloud forests are called mossy forest,

Elfin forest,

Montane thicket,

And dwarf cloud forest.

The definition of cloud forest can be ambiguous,

With many countries not using the term,

Preferring such terms as afromontane forest and uppermontane rainforest,

Montane laurel forest,

Or more localized terms such as the Bolivian yungas and the lara silva of the Atlantic islands,

And occasionally subtropical and even temperate forests,

In which similar meteorological conditions occur,

Are considered to be cloud forests.

In comparison with lower altitude tropical moist forests,

Cloud forests show a reduced tree stature,

Combined with increased stem density and generally a lower diversity of woody plants.

Trees in these regions are generally shorter and more heavily stemmed than in lower altitude forests in the same regions,

Often with gnarled trunks and branches forming dense compact crowns.

Here leaves become smaller,

Thicker,

And harder with increasing altitude.

The high moisture promotes the development of a high biomass and biodiversity of epiphyte,

Particularly bryophytes,

Lichens,

Ferns,

Including filmy ferns,

Bromeliads,

And orchids.

The number of endemic plants can be very high.

An important feature of cloud forests is the tree crowns that intercept the wind-driven cloud moisture,

Part of which drips to the ground.

This fog drip occurs when water droplets from the fog adhere to the needles or leaves of trees or other objects,

Coalesce into large drops,

And then drop to the ground.

It can be an important contribution to the hydrologic cycle.

Cloud forests are often peatlands,

Showcasing many classic peatland attributes.

Due to the high water content of the soil,

The reduced solar radiation,

And the low rates of decomposition and mineralization,

The soil acidity is very high,

With more humus and peat often forming the upper soil layer.

Stott-Müller,

1987,

Distinguishes two general types of tropical montane cloud forests.

Areas with a high annual precipitation due to a frequent cloud covering combination with heavy and sometimes persistent orographic rainfall.

Such forests have a perceptible canopy strata,

A high number of epiphytes,

And a thick peat layer,

Which has a high storage capacity for water and controls the runoff.

In drier areas with mainly seasonal rainfall,

Cloud stripping can amount to a large proportion of the moisture available to plants.

Only one percent of the global woodland consists of cloud forests.

They previously comprised an estimated 11% of all tropical forests in the 1970s.

A total of around 736 cloud forest sites have been identified in 59 countries by the World Conservation Monitoring Center,

With 327 of them legally protected areas as of 2002.

Important areas of cloud forests are in Central and South America,

Mainly Costa Rica,

Venezuela,

Honduras,

Mexico,

Ecuador,

And Colombia,

East and Central Africa,

India,

Sri Lanka,

Thailand,

Vietnam,

Indonesia,

Malaysia,

The Philippines,

Hawaii,

Papua New Guinea,

And the Caribbean.

The 1997 version of the World Conservation Monitoring Center's database of cloud forests found a total of 605 tropical montane cloud forest sites in 41 countries.

280 sites,

Or 46% of the total,

Were located in Latin America,

Known in biogeography as the neotropical realm.

12 countries had tropical montane cloud forest sites,

With the majority in Venezuela,

64 sites,

Mexico,

64,

Ecuador,

35,

And Colombia,

28.

Southeast Asia and Australasia had 228 sites in 14 countries,

66 in Indonesia,

54 in Malaysia,

33 in Sri Lanka,

32 in the Philippines,

And 28 in Papua New Guinea.

97 sites were recorded in 21 African countries,

Mostly scattered on isolated mountains.

Of the 605 sites,

264 were in protected areas.

Cloud forests occupied 0.

4% of the global land surface in 2001,

And harbored about 3,

700 species of birds,

Mammal,

Amphibians,

And tree ferns,

Approximately 15% of the global diversity of those groups,

With half of those species entirely restricted to cloud forests.

Worldwide,

About 2.

4% of cloud forests,

In some regions more than 8%,

Were lost between 2001 and 2018,

Especially in readily accessible places.

While protected areas have slowed this decline,

A large proportion of loss and TCF cover is still occurring despite formal protection.

Although far from being universally accepted as true cloud forests,

Several forests and temperate regions have strong similarities with tropical cloud forests.

The term is further confused by occasional reference to cloud forests in tropical countries as temperature due to the cooler climate associated with these misty forests.

The importance of cloud forests Watershed function Because of the cloud-stripping strategy,

The effective rainfall can be doubled in dry seasons and increase the wet-season rainfall by about 10%.

Experiments of Koston and Wimbush,

1961,

Showed that the tree canopies of non-cloud forests intercept and evaporate 20% more of the precipitation than cloud forests,

Which means a loss to the land component of the hydrological cycle.

Vegetation Tropical montane cloud forests are not as species-rich as tropical lowland forests,

But they provide the habitats for many species found nowhere else.

For example,

The Cerro de la Neblina,

A cloud-covered mountain in south of Venezuela,

Accommodates many shrubs,

Orchids,

And insectivorous plants,

Which are restricted to this mountain only.

Fauna The endemism in animals is also very high.

In Peru,

More than one-third of the 270 endemic birds,

Mammals,

And frogs are found in cloud forests.

One of the best-known cloud forest mammals is the spectacled bear.

Many of those endemic animals have important functions,

Such as seed dispersal and forest dynamics in these ecosystems.

Cloud forest conditions are hard and expensive to replicate in a glasshouse because it is necessary to maintain very high humidity.

Day temperatures have to be between 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit,

While night temperatures have to be maintained between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

In most cases,

Sophisticated refrigeration equipment has to be used to provide night temperatures below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Such displays are usually quite small,

But there are some notable exceptions.

In the United States,

The Atlanta Botanical Garden has a large tropical cloud forest greenhouse with a large collection of cloud forest epiphytes from around the world.

It implements a refrigeration system to decrease the temperature at night.

For many years,

The Singapore Botanic Gardens had a so-called cool house.

The gardens by the bay features a two-acre cool house that is simply named cloud forest.

The latter features a 35-meter high artificial mountain clad in epiphytes,

Such as orchids,

Ferns,

Club mosses,

Bromeliads,

And others.

Due to a relatively mild climate and summer fog,

The San Francisco Botanical Garden has three outdoor cloud forest collections,

Including a two-acre Mesoamerican cloud forest established in 1985.

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens contains a Panama cloud forest garden in House 11.

The gardens by the bay is a nature park spanning 101 hectares in the central region of Singapore,

Adjacent to the Marina Reservoir.

The park consists of three waterfront gardens,

Bay South Garden in Marina South,

Bay East Garden in Marina East,

And Bay Central Garden in Downtown Core in Kallang.

The largest of the gardens is the Bay South Garden at 54 hectares,

Designed by Grant Associates.

Its flower dome is the largest glass greenhouse in the world.

Gardens by the Bay was part of the nation's plans to transform its garden city to a city in a garden,

With the aim of raising the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city.

First announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Singapore's National Day Rally in 2005,

Gardens by the Bay was intended to be Singapore's premier urban outdoor recreation space and a national icon.

Being a popular tourist attraction in Singapore,

The park received 6.

4 million visitors in 2014,

While topping its 20 millionth visitor park in November 2015,

And over 50 million in 2018.

Bay Central Garden will act as a link between Bay South and Bay East Gardens.

It stands at 15 hectares with a 3-kilometre waterfront promenade that allows for scenic walks stretching from the city centre to the east of Singapore.

Bay East Garden is 32 hectares in size and it has a 2-kilometre promenade frontage bordering the Marina Reservoir.

An interim park was developed at Bay East Garden in support of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.

The first phase of the garden was opened to the public in October 2011,

Allowing alternative access to the marina barrage.

It is designed as a series of large tropical leaf-shaped gardens,

Each with its own specific landscaping design,

Character and theme.

There will be five water inlets aligned with the prevailing wind direction,

Maximizing and extending the shoreline,

While allowing wind and water to penetrate the site to help cool areas of activity around them.

Bay East Garden provides visitors with an unobstructed view of the city's skyline.

Upcoming developments of Bay East Garden will be based on the theme of water.

In 2018,

Bay East Garden was designated as the future site of the Founder's Memorial.

Bay South Garden opened to the public on June 29,

2012.

It is the largest of the three gardens at 54 hectares and designed to show the best of tropical horticulture and garden artistry.

The overall concept of its master plan by Grant Associates draws inspiration from an orchid,

As it is representative of the tropics and of Singapore,

Being the country's national flower.

The orchid takes root at the waterfront,

While the leaves,

Shoots,

And secondary roots then form an integrated network with blooms at key intersections.

Reviews

Worked for me, but the cat not so much. 😂😂😂

As always, thank you! 😻😻