Chapter 5

Spatial distribution of
Tropical Rainforest & Mangroves
 Course book pp 98-99

• What are tropical rainforests

and where are they found?

• What are mangroves and

where are they found?

• What are the • What are the

Spatial
characteristics of characteristics of
distribution of
mangroves? Tropical rainforests?
tropical
rainforest and
• How have plants in mangroves • How have plants in
mangroves adapted to Tropical rainforests
their environment? adapted to their
environment?
Objectives
You will learn to:

• Describe and explain the climatic conditions of tropical

forests.

• Describe the characteristics of tropical rainforests and

mangrove forests using photographs and sketches.

• Describe and explain how tropical rainforests and mangrove

forests adapt to the tropical climate.
 Course book pp 98-99

• What are tropical

rainforests and where
• What are mangroves
are they found?
and where are they
• What are the found?
characteristics of Spatial
distribution • What are the
Tropical rainforests?
of tropical characteristics of
• How have plants in rainforest and mangroves?
mangroves
Tropical rainforests
• How have plants in
adapted to their
mangroves adapted to
environment?
their environment?
 Course book pp 103

What is natural vegetation?

• Natural vegetation refers to
plant life which covers
particular parts of the
world’s land areas and
develops without human
interference.

• The Climate determines type

of natural vegetation found
there.
 Course book pp 102-103

Types of natural vegetation

Why do you think the vegetation are different?

Are trees and plants in Singapore similar to those found in United states?
Why?
 Course book pp 104

What is the tropical climate?

• Climate refers to the
average weather
conditions of a place over
a long period of time,
usually more than 30 Tropic of Cancer
years.

• Tropical climate are found Tropic of Capricorn

between Tropic of
Capricorn and Tropic of
Cancer.
 Course book pp 104

What is the tropical climate?

• Tropical climate has high annual

rainfall about 2000 to 4500mm.

• There is rainfall throughout the year

and there is no month in which
rainfall is very low or absent.

• Temperature is very high throughout

the year with a mean temperature of
above 26°C.
 Tropical
rainforest
 Course book pp 105

What are Tropical Rainforests and where are they found?

• The tropical rainforest is the main

type of natural vegetation found in
parts of the world which
experience the tropical climate.

• Most of these regions are located

very close to the equator,
between 20 ⁰N and 20 ⁰S.
 Course book pp 105

Where are they located globally?

• Global distribution of
tropical rainforests:
oCentral and South America
Southeast Asia
(the Amazon Basin)
Amazon
Congo Basin
Basin
oWest and Central Africa
(the Congo Basin)

oSouth and Southeast Asia

Where are they located in Singapore?

Two largest areas are the Central Catchment Nature

Reserve and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

They act as water catchment for reservoirs

Four reservoirs are:

Upper Seletar Reservoir,
Upper Peirce Reservoir,
Lower Peirce Reservoir
Mac Ritchie Reservoir.
 Course book pp 106-109

What are characteristics of Tropical rainforest?

• The vast majority of the tropical

rainforests are evergreen, which
means they do not shed all of
their leaves at particular times of
the year.

• As the tropical rainforests are

found in hot and wet
environment, they contain a very
large variety of plants species.
 Course book pp 106-109

What are characteristics of Tropical rainforest?

• The intense competition for

sunlight among the tropical
rainforest plants cause them to
develop a distinct vertical forest
structure, comprising three main
layers:

a) Emergent
b) Canopy
c) Undergrowth.
 Course book pp 106-109

What are characteristics of Tropical rainforest?

a) EMERGENT LAYER
• The tallest trees in the tropical
rainforest are able to grow to 30
metres or more in height.

• The crowns of these trees form

the emergent layers.

o Eg. The Kapok tree can

grow up to 70m in height.
Kapok tree Tualang Tree
 Course book pp 106-109

What are characteristics of Tropical rainforest?

b) CANOPY LAYER

• The canopy layer grow to about 20 – 30

metres in height.
• Because they grow very close to one
another, the crowns interlock to form a
thick and near continuous mass of
branches and leaves known as the
canopy.
• It prevents 97 – 98 per cent of the
sunlight from passing through to reach
the forest floor.
 Fa c t ! Crown
Fu n shyness
• Shorea resinosa is critically
endangered by habitat
conversion and the conservation
status is vulnerable for Malaysia.
• The crown shyness pattern is the
result when each of the tree
crowns was formed without
overlapping or touching due to
the reportedly sensitive shoots,
thus giving the impression of
“shyness”
 Course book pp 106-109

What are characteristics of Tropical rainforest?

c) UNDERGROWTH LAYER
• The undergrowth layer is
found beneath the canopy
layer.
• Very little sunlight is able to
reach this layer.
• Thus, not many plants are
able to grow here, except
smaller ones that are able to
grow in the shade and the
seedlings of taller trees.
 Emergent layer
50

Canopy layer
30

20

Metres

Undergrowth layer
 Course book pp 110-111

How have plants in Tropical Rainforests

adapted to their environment?

• To adapt to their environment, tropical rainforests have

developed special features to cope with the intense
competition for sunlight and high rainfall.

• These adaptations include:

a) broad leaves
b) waxy leaves
c) drip tips
d) buttress roots
 Course book pp 110-111

How have plants in Tropical Rainforests

adapted to their environment?

a) Broad leaves
• The board leaves of the
tropical rainforest plants
have large surface area
that enable the plant to
absorb as much sunlight
as possible in order to
make food for the plant to
grow well.
 Course book pp 110-111

How have plants in Tropical Rainforests

adapted to their environment?

b) Waxy leaves
The waxy leaves have
glossy surfaces that help
the plant to reduce the
amount of water vapour
lost through transpiration
so that the plants do not
die from dehydration.
 Course book pp 110-111

How have plants in Tropical Rainforests

adapted to their environment?
c) Drip tips
• Some tropical rainforest plants
have leaves with small, narrow tips
that point downward.

• These allow rainwater to flow off

the leaves easily.

• This helps the leaves to dry quickly

and thus prevents the growth of
fungi or bacteria on them.
 Course book pp 110-111

How have plants in Tropical Rainforests

adapted to their environment?
d) Buttress roots
• Tropical rainforest trees that grow
to great heights, up to five metres
above ground to reach for as
much sunlight.
• Buttress roots to keep them
upright toppling and prevent
them from over due to the heavy
weight of the tall trees.
• Support from the buttress roots
are also required because the rest
of the roots do not extend deep
beneath the ground surface.
 Course book pp 110-111

5. How have plants in Tropical Rainforests

adapted to their environment?
e) Shallow roots
• Nutrients are concentrated in the
topmost layer of the rainforest soils as
they are released when dead leaves and
branches that have fallen onto the
ground surface decompose.
• The shallow underground roots can
thus absorb nutrients as quickly as
possible.
• Roots do not need to grow deep
underground as the nutrients are
mostly found on the top layer of the soil
Why do you think shallow roots absorb nutrients?
due to the abundant leaf litter.
 Course book pp 98-99

• What are tropical

• What are mangroves
rainforests and where
and where are they
are they found?
found?
• What are the
Spatial • What are the
characteristics of
distribution characteristics of
Tropical rainforests?
of tropical mangroves?
• How have plants in rainforest and
mangroves • How have plants in
Tropical rainforests
mangroves adapted to
adapted to their
their environment?
environment?
Mangrove
Forest
 Course book pp 112-113

What are Mangroves and where are they found?

• Mangrove forests are a unique
type of natural vegetation that
is often found along or very
close to the coast.

• They are made up of a group of

plant species known as
mangroves, which are able to
grow in water that has a higher
salinity compared to fresh
water.
 Course book pp 112-113

6. What are Mangroves and where are they found?

What climatic conditions do they

survive in?

• Most of the areas where mangrove

forests are located experience the
tropical climate where the average air
and water temperatures do not fall
below 20 °C.

• They are unable to survive in places

very far north or south of the tropics
as a result.
 Course book pp 112-113

6. What are Mangroves and where are they found?

What water conditions do they survive in?

• Mangrove plants require calm water
conditions so that their seedlings are
able to take root and grow without
getting washed away by strong waves.

• Calm water conditions encourage the

accumulation of fine sediments
containing nutrients.

• Hence, mangrove forests are usually

found only in sheltered environments
along or very close to the coast, such as
shallow river mouths and behind islands.
 Course book pp 116-117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted NA optional
to their environment?

Like tropical rainforest plants, mangrove plants are also evergreen.

 Course book pp 116-117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted NA optional
to their environment?
Limited variety of plant species

 Mangrove forests have a much lower diversity of

plant species compared to tropical rainforests.
They are typically dominated by only a few plant
species.

 This is because not many plant species can

survive in waters of high salinity.
o Eg. There are only a total of 60-70 species of
mangroves tree species worldwide.
 Course book pp 116-117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted NA optional
to their environment?

Relatively uniform height

 Mangrove plants need as much sunlight as possible and cannot

grow in shaded conditions. Hence they are relatively uniform in terms
of height.
 Course book pp 116-117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted NA optional
to their environment?

Horizontal zonation
 Mangrove forests tend to exhibit a horizontal zonation that is largely determined by
the high and low tide levels.

 Mangrove species that can tolerate higher salinity levels and longer periods of time
are found closer to the low tide level as duration of flooding by the tide is longer.

 Other species that are not as tolerant of these conditions are found closer to the
high tide level where duration of flooding by the tide is shorter.

• Each zone is characterised by a dominant species

 Course book pp 116-117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted to NA optional
their environment?
a) salt-secreting leaves

• Avicennia zone, have salt-secreting leaves that

enable them to remove salt from the saline water that
their roots have absorbed.

• Salt crystals are left behind on the leaf surface and

are subsequently removed by rain or wind. Leaves
• Sonneratia zone are unable to secrete salt through
their leaves, will deposit excess salt in older leaves
which they eventually shed.

• This ensures that the salty water does not build up in

the plant.
 Course book pp 116-117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted to NA optional
their environment?

a)Salt-excluding roots
 These species have roots that prevent salt
from entering as they take in the water.

 This ensures that the salty water does not

enter the plant.
 Course book pp 116-117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted to NA optional
their environment?
b) Aerial roots

• Due to the tides, the soil found in the coastal

environment is waterlogged and very poor in
oxygen.

• Aerial roots grow partially above the soil surface

which enables them to take in oxygen directly from
the air when they are exposed during low tide.

• Aerial roots also help to anchor the mangrove

plants to the soil, thus preventing them from being
uprooted and washed away by strong waves.
 Course book pp 117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted to their
environment? NA optional

i) Pencil roots of the Avicennia zone due to their slender appearance.

 Course book pp 117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted to their
environment? NA optional
ii) Cone roots of the Sonneratia due to their conical appearance.
 Course book pp 117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted to their
environment? NA optional

iii) Prop roots of the Rhizophora, which help the plant breathe and
provide it with support as they form a broader base around the plant.
 Course book pp 117
7. How have plants in mangroves adapted to their
environment? NA optional

iv) Knee-bend roots of the Bruguiera, as they bend upwards to

emerge above the soil surface before bending downwards into the
soil at regular intervals.