Ecology, one of the Biology Topics, examines the interactions between organisms and their environment.
What is Tropical Rainforest and its features?
The area of earth near both sides of the equator is called tropical region. The tropical region has generally a hot climate because of its location around the equator. During hot summer days, the temperature in this region may go above 40°C. Even in the coldest months, the temperature is generally higher than about 15°C. The tropical regions get plenty of rainfall. This makes the region humid.
Thus, the tropical regions have hot and humid climate. In tropical regions, days and nights are almost equal in length throughout the year. An important feature of the tropical regions of earth is the tropical rainforests (see Figure). Tropical rainforests are found in India, South-east Asia, Central America and Central Africa. In India, tropical rainforests are found in Western Ghats and Assam (Western Ghats is a mountain range parallel to the West coast of India.
Western Ghats run through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala states). Because of highly favourable climatic conditions in tropical rainforests (such as continuous warmth and rain), a large variety of plants and animals are found in tropical rainforests. The major types of animals living in the tropical rainforests are Lions, Tigers, Leopards, Elephants, Monkeys, Apes, Lion-tailed macaque, Gorillas, Birds, Snakes, Lizards, Frogs and Insects, etc.
Since the number of animals living in the tropical rainforests is very large, they are adapted such that they eat different kinds of food (to overcome competition for food) and live in different kinds of places (to overcome competition for shelter). Some of the adaptations in animals living in tropical rainforests are : A skin colour which helps them to camouflage (mix up with the surroundings and hide) in order to catch prey or protect themselves from predators; Running very fast (to catch prey or escape from predators); Development of trunk, tusks, and large ears and feet ; Sharp eyesight, Sensitive hearing and Thick skin; Living on trees; Development of strong, gripping tails; Long and large beaks; Bright colours and Loud voice; Living on diet of fruits, etc. We will now describe the adaptations of some of the animals which help them to live and survive in the tropical rainforest habitats.