Tropical Rainforests rainforests are the most complex ecosystems on

earth
lush, equatorial evergreen forests
highest diversity of any terrestrial biome
àa belt of green extending ≥10º N & S of
equator
à has the greatest number of coexisting
species
receive an average rainfall of 50-260”/yr
Today rainforests encompass 6% of earth’s surface
plants are so densely packed that rain falling on the (13% of land)
canopy can take as long as 10 minutes to reach
the ground (30,603,000 km2 = 14 M sq mi)

support ~half of all known species of plants and

temperature almost always in the 70’s or 80’s F animals

average humidity is ~83% eg. 2/3rd’s of all flowering plants

rainforests are one of oldest of terrestrial ecosystems some estimate that less than 5% of all tropical
once covered 20% of earth’s land surface species have been identified

à millions of years ago would have looked very similar from the 1 hectare (2.2 acres) of rainforest supports:
air as it does today

à fossil evidence indicates tropical rainforests have existed since 42,000 different species of insects
the Cretaceous (>60MY ago)
up to 800 trees of over 300 species
à rainforests once existed on almost every continent

Location 1,500 species of other plants

Amazon in Brazil – world’s largest
central and So America, more biomass and more species than any other
Africa ecosystem on earth
SE Asia

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eg. 830 B tons of living matter on earth’s surface descriptions of rainforest ecosystems tend to stress
460 B tons (55%) are in tropical forest
ecosystems
the remarkable or unusual

eg. temperate forests are often dominated by 1 or 2 but standing inside to untrained eye it wouldn’t
tree species look particularly distinctive
rainforests have many dominant species
the diameter of most trees is not unusual
eg. lots of local endemics
buttresses are found in many large trees
eg. 1 hectare (2.2 acres) has >200 species of trees
with trunks >12” diameter
even in temperate forests

[in New England forest ~10-25 species in same vines are commonplace as are epiphytes
area]
there are several subcategories of rainforests
eg. in 300 sq mi of rainforest up to 600 bird species most of the descriptions below refer to wet tropical rainforests
were found à more than 4 x’s number that is
found in eastern US forests the uniqueness of the rainforest ecosystem is in its
eg. 90 species of frogs and toads in a few km great diversity of life and in its complex layering of
à more than all species in whole USA habitats
eg. 1 ha (2.2 acres) Abiotic Features
eg. 1 tree yielded 54 species of ants
1. Climate
eg. 2000 sweeps of a net in ground level of Central
American forest yielded 500 species of insects; warm constant temperature throughout the year
usually much higher diversity in mid and upper
level of canopy
à no seasonal temperature changes
eg. of 19 trees in one panama study 1200 species of
beetles were collected and 80% of them were
new species
high precipitation almost daily
(200-450cm: 80-180”/yr)
à reservoir for genetic diversity

humidity rarely below 95%

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 much of rainfall comes from locally recycled water from forest
transpiration
interwoven, shallow roots quickly absorb
freed minerals from soil
àrainforest creates its own climate!
most minerals and nutrients are tied up in
2. Soil biomass

ancient soil root hairs and micorrhizae actually grow into the litter
as it decomposes

one paradox of the lush tropical rainforest is that

àthe nutrients are held in living organisms
the soil is nutrient poor
not in the soil
soil of rainforest is some of poorest of all
soil is just for anchoring the plants
forest soil
eg. in Northern deciduous forests ~ half of all nutrients when trees are cut and removed most of the
in the ecosystem are in soil and the other half in nutrients are removed with them
the plants

in rainforests, most nutrients are in the plants when land is cleared and converted to agriculture
and very little in the soil or other use it can only be used a couple of
years without massive additions of fertilizers
canopy produces a continuous shower of dead
leaves, twigs and blossoms à results in slash and burn; use an area for 2 or 3
years then clear another area
organic matter is decomposed rapidly
3. Light
à rapid recycling of nutrients
intense competition for light
ants, termites, fungi and bacteria quickly decompose
them
leads to stratification of plants and animals into 6
à after 2-3 weeks they are mostly gone or 8 “layers”
(temperate decomposition takes ~ 1 yr;
conifers ~ 7-10 yrs
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tropical forests have more leaves/area than mosses, lichens and even small ferns
other forests leaves commonly have “drip tips”
à hastens the drainage of water
à almost no direct sunlight reaches the àslows growth of epiphytes
forest floor in mature rainforest
trees grow continuously; no dormant period
àmake optimal use of sunlight
à no growth rings in wood
Biotic Features
(except in seasonal rainforest with dry/wet
periods)
Plants
timing of leaf fall, flowering or fruiting is most
Trees
closely related to seasonality in rainfall,
not temperature
rainforests contain ~1/3rd (80,000) of the known
flowering plant species
roots often shallow (<1’) and form dense
interconnected mat
general features that characterize the tropical
rainforest plants: many actually grow above the soil into the leaf
litter
trees characterized by long straight trunks
buttress roots & prop roots help support taller
that may not branch below 100’
trees
almost all rainforest plants are perennials
vines
trees are the predominant lifeform, shrubs are
over 2500 species of vines grow in the erainforests
rare
eg. Lianas begin life as small shrubs
trees usually evergreen flowering plants
(not conifers) sends out tendrils that attach to sapling trees

both grow together to reach canopy

old leaves often have a film of cyanobacteria, green algae,
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 the vines grow from one tree to another and may
comprise 40% of all the canopy leaves
seeds produced by canopy trees are often
eg. rattan vines have spikes on underside of its leaves to small and dispersed by wind
grab onto trees
canopy trees support lots of epiphytes
eg. strangler vines use trees as support and grow thicker
and thicher as they reach the canopy
eg. bromeliads
eventually kills its host tree
epiphytes can’t use roots to absorb water
so many are succulents or hold water
epiphytes
eg. some of the largest bromeliads can
Rainforest Strata hold several gallons of water

become small aquatic ecosystems for aquatic

a fully developed rainforest has 3 or 5 layers fauna and frogs, etc
(strata):
eg. strangler fig
A. canopy (>50M; >160’): starts life as an epiphyte

tall, straight, disproportionately slender some roots grow quickly down trunk to the
tree trunks ground

as roots develop they surround the trunk

canopy tree trunks rise 60-80’ before and fuse into a rigid cylinder that
branching into flattened crowns restricts further growth of “host” tree

eg. some grow to over 200’ tall fig’s branches and leaves overshadow the
tree’s foliage
entirely exposed to sun eventually host dies and rots leaving
strangler fig freestanding
exposed to more wind and air movements
eg. lianas

more temperature and humidity extremes stems of lianas hang from upper branches of
giants and grow in great loops between
trees often buttressed at base canopy trees
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shade and seedlings of taller trees

thicken and become woody but flexible

à become highways for wildlife generally few low growing species on

forest floor
à bind the canopy together

but when old tree falls sometimes other lots of bare areas
healthy trees are pulled down with it
àits very open except around “holes” where
an old tree has fallen, or at road cuts and
some trees grow adventitious roots to river edges
absorb water and nutrients from these
pads of epiphytes (the old TV versions of hacking through
dense undergrowth is an exaggeration)

B. middle story (30-40M; 100-130’)

little forest litter since it is rapidly
dense, forms continuous canopy of leaves decomposed
that trap most of the remaining
sunlight seedlings of large trees must adapt to
conditions of each level as they grow
air currents are blocked so humidity is toward the canopy
greatly increased
tropical vines grow up trees to find light
C. understory (ground level to several m) (when young grow away from light!)

have very low light (<5%) year round dark, humid

almost all understory trees are perennials à somewhat rivals a cave in constancy
lots of algae, lichens and mosses growing on plants
à better adapted to low light
understory plants often have leaves that are smooth
annuals generally need lots of light to and slick and drooping to allow water to run off
complete life cycle in one year and discourage growth of algae, lichens and
mosses
shrubs and herbs specialized for life in the
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 little or no wind in understory locomotion and ability to conceal vary greatly
àseeds of understory plants are most often eg. in treetops, animals can obtain large quantities of plant
dispersed by animals foods; leaves, flowers, fruits

When a large tree dies and falls to forest floor: most have limbs adapted to climbing or swinging,
jumping and gliding
its decay releases a large burst of nutrients to the soil
many of the birds, bugs, frogs of treetops rarely come
shade loving plants in opening also die due to too much down to ground level
light
the mosquitoes of canopy are different species than
saplings in “opening” which normally grow very slowly those found at ground level
(~1”/yr) now grow at ~40”/yr
eg. ground mammals – little or no climbing ability and
even then it takes ~100 yrs to fill the gap depend for food largely on fruits and other plant
materials that drop from above

Animals: also extremely diverse, and occurs in layers

monkeys,
especially diverse array of birds, ants, termites sloths,
and other insects great diversity of insects,
reptiles,
amphibians
often with adaptations for living entire life in trees colorful exotic birds

often brightly colored and patterned lots of plant/animal interactions:

loud vocalizations feeding types: flowers, fruits, leaves, roots

diets heavy in fruits breeding sites

insects are the largest single group pollinators: birds, beetles, bees, flies, moths, bats,
mammals
including huge colonies of ants
animals play key role in dispersal of seeds
in various strata, the available foods, modes of
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Threats To Rainforest Ecosystems (slash and burn) (50-75%)

33,000 mi2/yr

Rainforests today are rapidly being destroyed 2. commercial logging (15-20%)

11,400 mi2/yr
the destruction is larger in scale and much quicker
than the forests lost to spread of western 3. cattle ranching (10-15%)
5700 mi2/yr
civilization across Eurasia and N America
1. Subsistence Agriculture
it no longer forms an unbroken band along the
(Slash and Burn Farming)
equator soil productivity declines quickly
soil fertility declines
each year 5.8 Million hectares are destroyed (2002)
soil erosion increases
another 2.3 Million hectares are degraded (2002)
regional climate changes
à each year area size of Washington State is cleared
àmore severe flooding and droughts
= size of football field lost each second
species extinctions
effective for only 2-3 years
~1/3rd has already been destroyed; à then repeat in new area
àwhat is left is less than area of US need 20-100 years for recovery
(6M km2 (2.6 M mi2))
was once done sustainable

the highest rates of deforestation are in SE Asia entire Amazon jungle was farmed at one time or another
during human history
à ~1/2 if it is in 3 countries: Brazil, Zaire, Indonesia
small areas were used for one season the abandoned to
Brazil is losing the largest amount of forest land/yr but since it allow regeneration
also has the world’s largest existing area of rainforests its rate of
loss is less quicker recovery since not all the nutrients were removed

some native people today farm sustainably by planting crops in

because of thin soil layer clearing rainforest leads to long rows along foot paths rather than destroying forest
its permanent destruction
2. Wood Collecting & Commercial Logging
major causes of deforestation:
firewood
1. subsistence agriculture ~ half of wood cut worldwide is used for fuel wood and
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 charcoal eg. 2006à China is now the largest importer of
à mostly in developing countries illegally cut timber from tropical rainforests

>1/2 people in world depend on firewood or US and UK are its two biggest markets for the
charcoal as main source of heating and cooking fuel furniture made from this illegal lumber

~1.5 B people can no longer find enough eg. Japan consumes 1/3rd the worlds wood exports
ave = ~1m3/person/yr 45% of this is from SE Asia

lumber includes 11 Bil prs of disposable chopsticks

à enough wood for 15,000 Japanese style
lumber, plywood, veneer, particleboard houses/yr

total world wood consumption 3. Cattle Ranching & Grazing

~ 3.7 B tonnes/yr (3.7 B m3/yr) effective for only 6-10 years
almost all cattle are exported for fast foods

exceeds use of steel and plastic combined

international trade in timber, pulp and paper

= $114 B/yr
developed countries produce <1/2 of all wood but
account for 80% of its consumption

developing countries produce >1/2 and use ~20%

timber could be harvested sustainably but today only

~0.1% is logged this way

~2/3rd ‘s of paper produced worldwide is made from virgin

logs

the rest comes from wastepaper

Asian companies dominate rainforest logging

worldwide

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Solutions to the Problem Economic Impacts of Tropical

is anything being done to solve the problem? Rainforests
Biodiversity
1. champion for the rights of indiginous peoples
tropical rainforests are some of the worlds
its not just an ecology issue it’s a human rights issue greatest outdoor laboratories
eg. provide surveying and legal defenses
also monuments to natural wealth
eg. develop programs to pay indigenous peoples for à far older than the human species
medicines derived from rainforest plants
forests offer habitat and refuge for diversity &
2. boycotts of beef from cattle raised in pastures
commercially important species
created from the destruction of rainforests
livestock forage, water
3. include preservation of the rainforests as a
resources, fish and wildlife habitat, etc
means to reduce CO2 emissions and fight
climate change
a fundamental service provided by nature is
deforestation contributes 18% of annual world carbon ensuring that ecosystems are relatively
emissions; second only to electricity generation (24%) stable and resilient
= the ability to withstand disturbance and bounce back
4. determine a monetary value for the “natural
services” provided by natural ecosystems and as ecosystems are affected by human
the financial cost of their destruction activities they become simplified

then insist that these values be an integral and become more brittle and more vulnerable
part of any cost/benefit analysis for their to decline
direct commercial use
some species act as “keystone species”
à their destruction would likely
permanently alter the ecosystem in
which they are found
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 eg. 1990’s 40 M tons of bananas were consumed worldwide
cause a dramatic loss of species eg. 13 M tons of mangos

wetlands have been converted to intensive eg. coffee exports from central america worth Billions of dollars
aquaculture in several countries:
Rainforests also have many “nonextractive uses”
eg. Phillipines: 78% of coastal wetlands
eg. Ecuador 70% of coastal wetlands Release Significant Amounts of O2
à can bring $11,600/ha/yr for ~ 5-10 yrs
amt of O2 produced by all the world’s forests
= 55,490,000,000 metric tons/yr or 16.9 tons
using natural mangroves for fish, game, fuel,
per hectare
wood, medicines etc could bring $1000-10,000/yr
indefinitely
contribution of tropical rain forests =
th 15,300,000,000 or 28 tons per hectare per yr.
about 1/4 of all the medicines we use come from
rainforest plants
- represents only a small fraction of O2 in
eg. curare cromes from a tropical vine atmosphere
used to relax muscles during surgery à probably the amt used by microorganisms
decomposing dead organic matter
eg. quinine from the cinchona tree is used to treat malaria

eg. potent anti-leukemia drug comes from the rosy periwinkle

Essential role in global carbon cycle

eg. more than 1400 varieties of tropical plants are thought to be trees remove CO2 and store it
potential cures for cancer = carbon sequestering
yam, coffee, chocolate, bananas, mango, papaya,
burning rainforests puts 2.4 B tons of CO2 into
macadamia nuts, avocados and sugarcane all
atmosphere each year
originally came from tropical rainforests
globally, tropical deforestation releases 18% of
still mostly grown on plantations in regions that
human produced greenhouse gasses
were formerly primary forest

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à conserving forests could reduce emissions eg. CO2 and SO2 are removed by vegetation
cost/benefit analysis found this a greater eg. CO is removed by soil microorganisms
benefit than money derived from agriculture or eg. NOx is removed by fungi and bacteria
logging
worms, insects and microorganisms create and
forests modify local climates aerate soil and recycle nutrients

à generate rain

à stabilize temperature

Waste recycling, water purification, &

pollution control

help to regulate the world’s temperature and

weather patterns

hold critical supplies of worlds freshwaters

eg. 20% of worlds freshwater is found in the Amazon basin
(the largest area of rainforest)

roots reduce soil erosion, and create new soil

absorb, hold and slowly release water

à making it available in dry periods and
reducing flooding

recharge groundwater

plants, bacteria, fungi can remove toxins from air,

water and soil:

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 Recalculating the “Value” of Nature: à yet this is exactly what economics
Ecological Pricing encourages
eg. Indonesian forests
although societies value nature in many ways $3,600/ha à timber only
traditionally most of this “value” has never been $4,800/ha à non timber uses:
fish, products, erosion control, etc
converted to monetary terms
by not cutting these forests they could produce over
à in terms of economy, a tropical rainforest, $35 M/yr in sustainable use for 70% of the local
population
or coral reef is not worth a cent until it is
cut for lumber, harvested, drained and our market system should reflect, not hide, ecological
filled for housing, etc realities of our economy

à cost/benefit analysis always favors the more recently, conservationists have attempted to
destruction of a natural resource NOT its apply marketing economics to attach a monetary
sustainable use value to “nature’s services” provided if the
forest is NOT destroyed:
financial benefits from natural resources are given to watershed protection
private individuals and companies biodiversity conservation
but
need to develop “ecological pricing” schemes
costs of any loss are distributed across society
restructure costs, taxing, subsidies to reflect the
= “social costs”
true value
à there is little economic incentive for those
exploiting a resource to use it judiciously eg. Ecological Pricing of 1 hamburger
factor in value lost of forests destroyed to create range land
eg. globally, government subsidies and programs for cattle
à $200
shunt >$800 Bil/yr (98) toward activities that
harm the environment how to calculate “ecological pricing”

the least sustainable and truly profitable use of forests known 1 time “market” values must be balanced
is for the production of a single commodity with LOSS of value of sustainable uses
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also need to factor in value of “nature’s services” that the net value of sustainable collection and
sale of fruits, oils, rubber, and medicines from
>100 different studies have concluded that the current Amazonian rain forest would generate over
economic value of the world’s ecosystems is at $6330/ha/yr
least $16-54 Trillion/yr
vs cutting a rain forest for timber yields $1000/ha
exceeds GWP of $28 T/yr for one time use or $490/ha/yr from selective
cutting
àif every service of every ecosystem type were
measured the figure would be much higher or tree plantation on a hectare of cleared forest is
worth $3184/yr
1. Sustainable Uses
or pastureland on one ha of cleared forest is worth
today (2012) only about 10% of all tropical forests are $2960/yr
sustainably used:
eg. timber could be harvested sustainably but today only
2. essential role in global carbon cycle
~0.1% is logged this way
trees remove CO2 and store it
eg. food, fiber, fuels, fertilizers, art objects, etc = carbon sequestering
providing these services requires healthy ecosystems
burning rainforests puts 2.4 B tons of CO2 into
eg rattan trade (Asia) atmosphere each year
$2.7 Bil/yr

in Thailand value of Rattan exports is 80% of legal globally, tropical deforestation releases 18% of
timber exports human produced greenhouse gasses
eg. market for 4 “obscure” plants in Oregon forests:
beargrass, huckleberries, solal and sword fern à conserving forests could reduce emissions
= $72 Mil/yr cost/benefit analysis found this a greater
benefit than money derived from agriculture or
logging
1989 study (Peters, Gentry, Mendelsohn, Nature June 29,1989)
estimate:
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 à eg. 1 ha of “carbon storage” function of these areas are strictly controlled and are
forests ~ $3000 value open to hiking, camping, canoeing

3. Waste recycling, water purification, & Parks

pollution control à more intensive use; less fragile areas

water purification and storage is a major part of US Natl Park Service was established >100 yrs
the water cycle ago with estab of yellowstone
eg would cost $100,000/yr to duplicate water
purification and fish propagation value of 1 acre of established “to preserve natural areas of
wetland public lands considered unique because of
scenery, history, wildlife, etc”
eg. estimates for value of water recharge and storage
services near large cities = $40,000/ha
parks preserve another 76M acres in US
eg. for each 1% increase in wetlands, downstream flooding
increases 3% -4%
>100 countries have adopted our system of
eg. total losses due to unsustainable wetland and soil parks as a model
practices:
US = $44 B/yr parks are intensively used
World = $400 B/yr

unfortunately while visitation has increased,

4. Ecotourism
maintenance budgets have been reduced
à lead to commercialization of parks
used for recreation
with increased vandalism, crime
àobservations and appreciation of wildlife and
and crowds
natural areas
tourism dollars are valuable commodities:
US protects ~ 3% of all US land; >76M acres in
alaska alone eg. Kenya
àroads, timbering, motor vehicles etc are à tourism is the largest single source of
all prohibited income for the country

eg. Companies hiring in Oregon have found

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that potential employees are willing to take less pay

(?$500/month) eg. digitalis à heart
quinine à malaria
à combined total is = to all states lumber antibiotics à fungi
and wood products payrolls aspirin à pain relief
taxol à anticancer
5. Future Wealth
of 76 pharmaceutical products derived from
plants only
enormous future wealth in the variety of
à6 can be artificially synthesized at
organisms if ecosystem is preserved
commercial levels
à contribute to basic biological theory
à pharmaceuticals
in some cases, collecting medicinal plants
provides significant income to indigenous
if forests and their inhabitants are used sustainabily it
peoples
could be a continuing source of these and as yet
unknown commercial products eg. Belize- gathering medicinal plants yields 2-10
x’s the annual income of slash/burn farmers
a. Future Industrial Chemicals & Products
not just plants, all kinds of organisms
many important compounds come from or eg. microorganisms (bacteria and fungi)
were 1st discovered in wild organisms à produce over 3000 antibiotics

eg. rubber tree, antibiotics, aspirin, dyes, foods eg. snakes à antivenoms, anticoagulants
and spices, paper & clothing, etc amphibians à neurochemicals

b. Future Medicines and Pharmaceuticals only ~1% of rainforest species have been
examined for their potential uses
US à 25% of all prescriptions and 60% of non
prescription drugs contained active cmpds only ~5% of all plant species worldwide have
extraced from natural products (1996) been screened for pharmacological
substances
global pharmaceutical industry = $200B/yr
eg. of 275 species found in 1 ha of rainforest
à global forest derived drugs ~$40-100 à 72 species yielded products that could be
B/yr
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 exploited for direct economic gain

eg. of 842 individual trees

1. inbred species require gene infusions
à 350 yielded products with direct economic
maintaining wild varieties of crop plants allows us
value
to select for new traits or revitalize aging genetic stock

“potential” commercial products were not

2. may want to look for new genes in same
recognized as valuable until recently
species that might be useful
eg. rubber tree’s uses were completely unknown
eg. 1.5 M acres of California farmland is
150 yrs ago
threatened by salinization

est loss of potential pharmacological value à trying to find salt tolerant strains of plants
from plants that have already become that can grow there
extinct
eg. 1970 So Corn leaf blight
= $12 B in US alone 1st in Fla à wiped out $1 B corn
all US corn was based on 6 inbred lines
the more rare species that grow under unusual now have a resistant strain to this disease
conditions are often the ones most
important and most likely to be destroyed 3. also, many countries have “Germ Plasm
Repositories” for domestic crops.
c. Gene banks for agruculture and livestock
but some seeds, esp larger seeds, lose
foundation for all agricultural plants and viability after a few years.
animals
seeds are planted and new seeds are
all modern crop varieties were originally collected
produced using native plants
may need to collect new wild seeds to
traits were selected over 100’s or 1000’s of augment diminishing seed stores
years
est value of “gene banks” (crop ancestors)
most crops in US are domesticated species =$66 B
from tropics
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we don’t have “divine permission” to kill them

6. Social Values & Human Costs of Do species have a moral right to exist
Nonsustainable Uses independently of our need for them

as rainforests are cleared the indigenous peoples à we must be global stewards

usually suffer
“If I decide to accept your offer to buy our land, I will make
greater chances of droughts or floods one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this
new agricultural pests land as his brothers. I am a savage and do not understand
loss of topsoil any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on
the praries left by the white man who shot them from a
sedimentation of streams and rivers
passing train. What is man without the beasts? If all the
diminished yields from their crops beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of
fewer fish in streams spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to
shrinkng supplies of game, fruits, nuts the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the
earth, befalls the sons of the earth.”
rising: alcoholism - Chief Seattle
drug abuse
domestic violence also biological diversity adds to our quality of life
homelessness
emigration eg. landscape beauty: birds, flowers, wildlife, etc

7. Aesthetic, Cultural, Moral and Ethical Values some animals and plants have cultural significance

eliminating a few species won’t cause ecosystem others we may never “see” in nature, but its nice
collapse to know they are there
eg narwhales, rainforests, etc
probably won’t irreversibly affect human progress
“Human intelligence is bound to the presence
but of animals…they further, throughout our lives a refining
and maturing knowledge of personal and human being”
-Paul Shepard
Do we have the right to “play god” ‘Thinking Animals’
not only with individual lives
but with whole species and ecosystems

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