Day 3 : The plants/animals survival

6/20/16
Plants and animals around me have found a way to somehow stay alive through the immense population of other animals and plants. It amazes me very day how they change their lifestyles to stay alive! These changed are called adaptations.Most animals in the tropical rain forest have a predator and are being hunted at almost all times. Animals need to stay safe from these predators at all times so they use camouflage. They change the color of their skin to blend in with their surroundings to not be seen by a predator. I almost stepped on a leaf-tailed Gieko today because I did not see it camouflaging on the log I stepped on. Another way that animals have adapted is changing their diets. They have done this by eating foods eaten by no other animals so they have a constant supply of it and don't have to worry about running out of food or starvation. Toucans have developed eating fruit with their long beak at the top of trees in the past 100 years. Piranhas in the rain forest's rivers have adapted to swim in schools instead of by themselves for hunting to make it easier to find prey. Plants have adapted in many ways as well that I can see with my very own eyes. Seeds that fall to the ground quickly die due to no sunlight so animals have dropped them on host tree's branches to have them grow on their. Bark of certain types of trees have adapted to becoming thicker so the water can evaporate faster and doesn't sit in the tree. This bark is found on some types of deciduous trees. I like to set my tents up around these types of trees because they protect from a lot of the rainfall. When too much water stays on or in a leaf it makes it hard for it to survive that is why many leaves have adapted the drip tips. The drip tip makes it easier for water to run off and not stay on the leave, but it makes it harder for me to walk without getting water on my head!! The density dependent factors in the rain forest are animals hunting more a specific type of prey and different parasites that take over animals. A density independent factor could be the deforestation. It is very sad to see the affecting of the ecosystem due to this, almost disgusting. Also, natural disasters such as droughts which are very rare due to the humidity but when they do happen, like back in 2005, lots of carbon dioxide gets released to the atmosphere and lots of animals die. Below I have a picture of a Gieko in camouflage and one of the old 2005 drought I have.