Ecosystem of Amazon Rainforest Research Assignment (Research Paper Sample)

Ecosystem of Amazon Rainforest
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Introduction
An ecosystem defines living organisms and their physical environment and how they interrelate with one another and the environment. This paper will explore the ecosystem of the Amazon Rainforest, in Brazil. Amazon rainforest covers an extensive geographical area of about 5.5 million square kilometers, extending to nine South American countries namely Venezuela, Suriname, Columbia, Bolivia, Guyana, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, and French Guyana. However, the distribution of the rainforest is quite uneven in the nine countries, with some holding bigger portions. The abiotic phenomena of the Amazon rainforest comprise of relatively high humidity, which is attributed to a protective barrier against forest fires. Direct precipitation accounts for about 9 feet of water in the Amazon rainforest, which is essential to harbor a large number of species in the rainforest. The forest has a nutrient-rich soil base with most of the nutrients coming from the animal droppings and the humus from decomposed plant species. Moreover, rocks in the Amazon rainforest undergo weathering processes and breakdown to yield more ions to the soil, necessary for the growth of the plant species in the rainforest.
Amazon Rainforest has a variety (more than 40,000 plant species) of plant species that span from epiphytes (cacti, water lilies, Orchids, among other) to big trees. However, the palms are the most common tree species in most parts of the rainforest, making it the dominant tree species. Moreover, Amazon rainforest is a habitat for more than 427 mammals, 1300 birds, 378 reptiles, 400 amphibians. Mammals such as the primates dominate the animal population due to the favorable climatic conditions such moderate temperature of about 79 F. However, recent research by Edwards (2014) reports that the temperature in Amazon forest is rising at a significant rate to more than a quarter of the whole forest due to increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
The most striking part of the Amazon rainforest is the nutrient cycle of plants in the forest. Typically, no one applies inorganic fertilizers the Amazon forest to improve soil fertility for the survival of the vast number of plants on this forest. However, most of the soil nutrients culminate from the high rate of decomposition of the flora. While the humus converts to nutrients with the aid of vast microorganisms prevalent in the high humid soils, the plants shed more leaves creating a nutrient source for the soil. The whole process occurs quite often creating a perfect nutrient cycle (Balmford, 2015).
Most of the mammals in this forest feed on plant herbs and fruits On the other hand; there is a significant level of predation for various animal species in the Amazon rainforest. In the Amazon rainforest, there are highest order predators that comprise of jaguars, gorillas, and anacondas that do not have particular predators. The primary consumers in this forest include macaws, monkeys, toucans, and sloths. Typical secondary predators include the Jaguars and the boa constrictor. Moreover, there are decomposing agents in this food chain that include the rainforest mushrooms, insects, and other microorganisms.
Amazon’s plant and animal species display great mutualism in the Amazon rainforest. For instance, the monkeys play a great role in seed propagation for most trees that bear fruits. This is because they are responsible for seed dispersal in the vast geographical coverage of the forest. In addition to that, there is a prevalence of a great level of predation in the Amazon forest. In fact, scientists attribute this phenomenon to the fact that most of the animals in the Amazon forest have giant bodies that emanate from both high consumption rate and due to the presence of high oxygen levels in t...