Tropical Dry Forest
By: Sarah Sturgill
Overview of the Climate :
Biotic Factors :
Adaptations :
Food Chain :
Producers : Bamboo
Primary consumer : Colobus MonkeySecondary Consumer : Anteater
Importance of this Biome :
Dry tropical forest once occupied more land area than rainforest, at 42% of all intra-tropical vegetation. However, it is easily converted to cattle pasture by logging and burning, and now very little dry tropical forest remains. In Ecuador less than 2% of the original extent of this forest type remains, a statistic which is characteristic of most tropical dry forest regions in the world; however, in Central America sadly less than one-tenth of one percent remains. Because of these tremendous rates of loss, organisms that once were common in these forests now face extinction, merely for lack of habitat. Furthermore, because few functioning dry forest ecosystems remain (the forest is reduced to small, isolated patches in most parts of the world), their ecology is poorly studied, and their fauna and flora are far less well understood than in the much better-studied rainforests.
Human Effects :
Citations
- Dry Forest Ecology
http://www.ceiba.org/loorecology.htm
- Biotic Factors
http://info.rforests.tripod.com/biotic_factors.htm