Abiotic Factors
There are several abiotic, or nonliving, factors that affect Lear International Park's ecosystem. The most important are temperature, light, water, soil, and nutrients.
Temperatures in the park remain mostly consistent at around 77°F year-round and never drop below 64°F. Tropical rainforests are never found in climates that have temperatures of 32°F or lower, because the plant life has not adapted to survive frosty or icy conditions.
A lot of sunlight reaches the Earth at the equator, however the understory of the rainforest receives little direct sunlight because the dense canopy blocks most of it from reaching the soil and plants below.
Tropical rainforests are known for being some of the rainiest places on Earth, and Lear International Park is no different. It receives at least 4 inches of precipitation each month, yielding 50 to 260 inches of precipitation in one year. Half of the park's rain comes from itself, as trees transpire water through their leaves and it evaporates into the air, only to later be dropped back into the park by rain clouds.
The soil in the park is shallow, poor in nutrients, and has very little soluble minerals. Lear International Park, like most tropical rainforests, originally had quite rich soil with nutrients from weathered rocks; however, those nutrients have now been washed away after thousands of years of heavy rain. Because of this, plants must rely on other sources for nutrients.
The nutrients within the ecosystem go through a short cycle, and at any given time 99% of the ecosystem's nutrients are found in root mats of the plants.
Temperatures in the park remain mostly consistent at around 77°F year-round and never drop below 64°F. Tropical rainforests are never found in climates that have temperatures of 32°F or lower, because the plant life has not adapted to survive frosty or icy conditions.
A lot of sunlight reaches the Earth at the equator, however the understory of the rainforest receives little direct sunlight because the dense canopy blocks most of it from reaching the soil and plants below.
Tropical rainforests are known for being some of the rainiest places on Earth, and Lear International Park is no different. It receives at least 4 inches of precipitation each month, yielding 50 to 260 inches of precipitation in one year. Half of the park's rain comes from itself, as trees transpire water through their leaves and it evaporates into the air, only to later be dropped back into the park by rain clouds.
The soil in the park is shallow, poor in nutrients, and has very little soluble minerals. Lear International Park, like most tropical rainforests, originally had quite rich soil with nutrients from weathered rocks; however, those nutrients have now been washed away after thousands of years of heavy rain. Because of this, plants must rely on other sources for nutrients.
The nutrients within the ecosystem go through a short cycle, and at any given time 99% of the ecosystem's nutrients are found in root mats of the plants.