Rainforest Ecosystems

Learn about the characteristics of rainforests and the unique organisms that can be found in each layer.

Tropical Rainforest Ecosystems
Forests are ecosystems with tall trees and an undergrowth. Tropical rainforests are dense forests close to the Earth’s equator. They are warm and moist all year round and receive lots of sunlight – although much of the sunlight is blocked by a thick canopy.

In tropical rainforests, there are usually only two seasons – a wet season and a drier season. Plants have green leaves all year round.

Tropical rainforests are the most diverse of all land ecosystems. The single largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, is home to about 10 percent of all known organisms.'

Tropical rainforests have a great diversity of plants. Tall trees form a dense canopy that blocks much of the light from reaching the forest floor. Under the canopy is a layer of shorter trees and shrubs. Mosses, ferns and orchids can often be found attached to trees.

A warm, moist environment with a great variety of plants makes rainforests the perfect ecosystem for many different kinds of animals.

There are spiders, leeches and all kinds of insects. There’s a great variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish too.

What is an Ecosystem?
In a rainforest, there is a great diversity of organisms. There are many different kinds of plants, from tiny mosses to giant trees. Hiding amongst the plants you’ll find many different kinds of animals. There’s also fungi growing on the forest floor or attached to logs and tree trunks.

There are also many non-living things in a rainforest, such as air, water, rocks and soil. All of the organisms and non-living things in a rainforest along with the interactions between them, make up a rainforest ecosystem.

An ecosystem is group of organisms that live and interact with each other and with the non-living things in a specific environment.

The organisms in a given ecosystem live in different places. In a rainforest, there are leeches and insects crawling on the moist rainforest floor. Fish and frogs can be found in and around streams. Monkeys and birds move from tree to tree high up in the canopy. The place where an organism lives within an ecosystem is called a habitat. An organism’s habitat provides it with all of the things it needs to survive.

Ecosystem Interactions
All ecosystems have living and non-living components that interact with each other so that the system functions as a whole.

Frogs are organisms found in a pond ecosystem. The frogs interact with the insects and other small animals they eat for food. They interact with plants when they use them for shelter from predators. Birds and snakes preying on frogs are interactions too.

Frogs also interact with the non-living parts of the pond ecosystem. They take in oxygen from the air through their lungs and skin. The water in the pond provides the frogs with a place to live and reproduce.

The interactions between the components in an ecosystem keep the whole system in balance. When a component of an ecosystem changes, the ecosystem as a whole can be affected. If the water in a pond was to dry up, there would be no place for frogs to live and reproduce. With no frogs, there would be fewer snakes and birds.

Ecosystem Organization
To study different parts of an ecosystem and to better understand the interactions between organisms and the environment, scientists organize ecosystems into different levels.

The simplest level is a single organism, called an individual. In an African grassland, a single antelope is an example of an individual. All of the organisms of the same kind within an ecosystem are called a population. All of the same kind of antelope in the African grassland make up a population. Organisms within a population interact and reproduce together.

In the African grassland, there are populations of many other organisms. There are populations of acacia trees, termites, zebras, lions and many others. All of the populations in an ecosystem make up a community.

The community and the interactions with the non-living components of their surroundings make up the ecosystem. The interactions between the gazelles, zebras, lions and other organisms with the air, soil, water and other non-living things make up the African grassland ecosystem.