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Three Primary Producers of the Tropical Rainforest


Tualang (Koompassia excelsa) 2 : The Tualang, also known as the Mengaris or the Honey Bee Tree, grows in the Southeast Asian rainforests of Thailand and Malaysia. They are typically described by their honeycombs hanging from their branches and their ability to grow to the height of 250 feet. These unique trees can be found along rivers, slopes of hills or in valleys. The Tualang have silvery smooth trunks and do not begin to branch until around 100 feet up, therefore it is difficult for bears to disturb the honeycombs while the bees can enjoy them in peace. It is not particularly abundant and quite isolated from forests because it is valued for its honey and the wood is difficult to cut. 1

Kapok Tree (Ceiba Pentandra) 4 : Kapok trees can be found from the southern parts of Mexico to the southern Amazon, also known as the Neotropics. Similar to the Tualang, the Kapok can grow up to 200 feet in height and can appear intimidating due to its thorns although it’s decorated with white and pink flowers. Because of the bats that are attracted to the odor of the flowers, the Kapok tree is especially good at spreading its seeds to open regions of the forest. Humans use the Kapok tree for carvings, soaps, and medicines. The Mayans actually thought that the Kapok tree stood at the center of the earth. 3

Strangler Figs 6 : The Strangler Fig, or Ficus aurea are found in Florida, northwestern Caribbean, southern Mexico, and Central America. This peculiar plant grows by wrapping its roots around a host tree, with foliage growing to cover the entire tree, and eventually killing the tree within and leaving a hollow trunk. Its small nooks and crannies provide homes for invertebrates and delicious figs for  consumption while its knotted wood keeps loggers away. The seeds from the figs are spread through animal feces and populates the forest with more fig trees. This type of tree is considered a keystone species because it has tree producing qualities. 5

Three Primary Consumers of the Tropical Rainforest

Sloths (Folivora) ⁷ : Sloths are herbivorous animals whose diet mainly consists of small twigs and young leaves. Due to their low calorie plant-based diet, they are known for their slow movements in the treetops of the amazon rain forest in order to conserve energy. Sloths also maintain a commensalistic relationship with many insects such as beetles, moths and cockroaches, by providing them shelter in their fur. ⁸

Jaguar (Panthera onca) ⁹ : Jaguars are carnivores animals, normally found in the Orinoco and Amazon rain forests, who prefer to feed off small to medium sized animals. Due to their high protein diet, they enjoy swimming as well as stalking their prey. Unfortunately, the jaguar population is on the decline because of the loss of their primary habitat. This decline is leading to an imbalance in animal populations as jaguars are apex predator and play a vital role in maintaining other species' populations. ¹⁰



Peccaries(Tayassuidae) ¹¹ : Peccaries are pig-like creatures found in rain forests in Asia, Africa, and South Africa. Their diets consists mostly of small berries, insects and leaves but they sometimes also eat other small animals because they are omnivores. Though their main habitat is in rain forests, they have begun being raised in agricultural environments as a sources of food, especially in South American communities. ¹²

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