Ituri Rainforest

The Ituri Rainforest

(Maiko National Park)

Location

The Ituri rainforest is located on the Northeastern lip of the Congo river in the central african nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The total area of the Ituri rainforest is 24,300 Square miles. The Maiko National Park Maiko National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is in one of the most remote forest areas of country and covers 4,203 square miles. In 1949, the Belgian colonial administration created the Bakumu Hunting Reserve on an area that would later lye in the boundaries of the Park as we know it today. The creation of this park is for protection of the nature and the wildlife that lies in the Ituri Rainforest.

The Forest Floor

Transferred Energy

The Canopy Layer

The rainforest floor is the lowest level of the rainforest. It only gets 2 percent of sun's light. The only plants that are able to grow here are those that have adapted to receiving little sunlight. The fungi at this level help to decay the waste of plants and animals.

Flora

In the canopy layer of the rainforest, the biggest trees only grow to up to 45 meters tall. Biodiversity’s densest sections can be found in this canopy layer. Some estimates claim that up to 50 percent of all life is found in the canopy layer.

Components of Ituri Rainforest

-Maiko National Park posses of 50% of Africa’s tropical rainforests

-The Park contains almost no natural grasslands, and is essentially completely covered by forest

-Massive emergent trees, standing anywhere from 60-80 ft tall

-Flowering plants, Ferns, Bamboo, Coconut trees, Citrus and other Fruit trees are commonly found in the tropical rainforests of Maiko National Park

-100% of the solar energy comes into the atmosphere from the sun

- 51% of energy is absorbed by the land and bodies of water

-16% is absorbed by the atmosphere

-23% is carried to clouds and atmosphere by latent heat in water vapour

-the rest is radiated back into space by the atmosphere, clouds and earth’s surface

- furthermore the energy absorbed by flora is used for photosynthesis

-therefore energy is passed along through the food chains and each trophic level is transferring energy between one another

-along with the concept that energy cannot be created or destroyed therefore, the energy used by each organism in the environment is constantly being recycled whether it be between organisms or chemical reactions within a single organism such as photosynthesis or cellular respiration

The Ituri rainforest is a giant eco system. The Ituri rainforest has four important layers, the emergent, canopy, understorey and forest floor. In these layers are many different plants and animals that are unique to each one.

The Emergent Layer

The first layer is the emergent layer, the emergent layer features huge trees that are referred to as emergents, which can get up to 80 meters in height. They grow beyond the general canopy of the rainforest.

The Understorey Layer

Animals

The understorey layer is in between the rainforest floor and the canopy layer. Lizards, birds, snakes and predators like jaguars make their home within this section. There is a lot of insect life, and the leaves are a lot bigger on this rainforest level. The understorey layer is where many of the seedlings grow all the way to the canopy level.

Environmental Concerns and Solutions

- The Maiko National Park embodies the intent of the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) government to protect the immense rainforest and to safeguard the survival of key endemic species such as eastern lowland gorilla, the okapi and the Congo peacock, elephant, chimpanzee and various other species of primates

- there is 189 species whose ranges overlap with the protected area boundaries

- Endangered: 2 (Chimpanzee, Eastern Gorilla)

- Vulnerable: 3 (African Elephant, Bongo, Giant Ground Pangolin)

- Threatened: 8

- Least Concern: 169

- Data Deficient: 7

- Not all registered species are apparent in the national park at all times

- All information on topic was taken from Protected Planet, which the animals are registered by the ICUN Red List of Threatened Species and therefore is credible

Resources

Environmental Issues:

The Ituri Rain forest affects the biome by controlling the climate by influencing wind, rainfall, humidity and temperature. With all the trees they recycle water, oxygen and carbon which reduces soil erosion, flooding and air pollution.

People are destroying the world's Rain Forests. They are depleting at a rate of about 100 acres every two or three minutes. Because of this the Earth is losing oxygen

The solution to this is the development of rain forests efforts to rehabilitate and restore degraded forest lands along with the establishment of protected areas are key to securing rain forests for the long-term benefits they can provide mankind.

Another flaw in the environment of the Ituri forest is that most of the trees located in the forest are too tall to help the wildlife (animals) of the region because most of the animals cannot inhabit or feed off trees that reach heights greater than 50-70 feet.

http://articles.usa-people-search.com/content-the-rainforest-a-guide-for-young-people.aspx

http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/at0124

https://sites.google.com/site/tropicalrainforest3/wild-life-and-environmental-issues

http://www.rainforest-facts.com/rainforest-ecosystem.html

http://www.fauna-flora.org/explore/drc/

http://www.protectedplanet.net/sites/Parc_National_De_La_Maiko