Amazon Rainforest series - part 2: eco system and food chains

Welcome back to our Amazon mini-series!

Today, we're going to talk about the eco system and food chains of the Amazon Rainforest.

The eco system is very complex. If you read our last Amazon post you will know the great number of species that call the Amazon Rainforest home.

The Amazon Rainforest is a very accurate name for it. Massive amounts of rain fall on the forest every year. Most of that rain is blown in from the Atlantic Ocean. The rest comes from evaporation. The rainforest is known to be full of life. It provides one of the last refuges for jaguars, harpy eagles and pink river dolphins. But the rainforest is home to many more animals than that. Everyone has heard of poison dart frogs right?

In fact, the Amazon Rainforest contains 1 in 10 of all known animal species on Earth! That's a lot of animals!

The Amazon is home to over 1 000 species of birds, from hummingbirds to eagles. Macaws are probably the most well known bird species in the Amazon. They live in flocks of 10-30 and mate for life. Some types can even mimic humans - just like parrots!

The main predators are jaguars and harpy eagles. But in the end, every animal depends on plants. The food webs of the Amazon Rainforest are vital for its ecosystem. Every single animal plays an important role. For instance:

If squirrel monkeys didn't exist, the tree frog population would get to big.

If the tree frog population got to big, they would eat all the insects.

If all the insects were eaten by tree frogs, then lizards and toucans will dwindle in number and could starve.

That would affect the animals that prey on lizards and toucans.

So, if the squirrel monkeys didn't exist, then tree frogs, insects, lizards, toucans, ocelots, jaguars and harpy eagles would all be affected.

Of course, one species not existing, doesn't automatically mean in the destruction of the entire ecosystem, but that just proves how delicate they really are. However, food webs are designed to work - not to break. As long as no influence comes from the outside, there should never be a problem. The problem is, we're that influence from the outside. And we're not a good one.

Next time we'll go into more details about what is threatening this unique ecosystem. And we'll look at how we can help to stop the terrifying destruction currently underway.

Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/topics/amazon-rainforest/
https://sciencing.com/ecosystem-amazon-rainforest-6495612.html
https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/ecosystems_amazon/

Images:
Trees lining the river: This image, owned by Anna and Michal (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Poison dart frog: This image, owned by Paul Balfe (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Macaws: This image, owned by Wayne S. Grazio (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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