Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
yellow flowers are associated with bird pollination. Hummingbirds pollinate a
large number of Neotropical plants. Flowers that are light purple are usually insect
pollinated. Some flowers pollinated by moths or bats flower at night, like the kapok
tree. Fragrant flowers are attractive to bees, moths, and other insects. Many tropi-
cal trees pollinated by larger animals like bats and birds have large flowers, high in
nectar content. Fruits can be small, medium, or large. Large fruits and seeds are
more common in tropical areas. Palms such as the coconut produce large fruits
with hard woody seeds inside. The monkey pot tree produces thick, large round
fruits up to 8 in (200 mm) in diameter with up to 50 seeds. The Brazil nut tree pro-
duces large woody pods of seeds that open upon falling to the forest floor. Large
fruits and seeds are a major food source for large tropical forest animals. Along
with large birds, monkeys, rodents, peccaries, tapirs, and bats are common con-
sumers of tropical fruits. They digest the fruit and aid in seed dispersal. In the
flooded forests, fish are consumers and dispersers of tropical seeds. The majority of
Neotropical rainforest trees have seeds dispersed by animals. Some trees produce
smaller fruits or seeds that are consumed and dispersed by insects. Others trees like
the kapok and mahogany have wind-dispersed seeds.
Many tropical fruits and trees can contain harmful substances to discourage
predation. The seeds of the monkey pot tree are high in selenium. Some legume
species have seeds in long pods containing toxic amino acids. Plants in the euphorb
family contain a toxic, milky white substance; the sap from the para rubber tree is
of economic importance in the production of natural latex. Some of these toxic
substances have been discovered to have medicinal properties.
Some Neotropical trees exhibit cauliflory. Cacao, from which chocolate is
derived, is cauliflorous. Several species of fig as well as others also exhibit cauli-
flory. Although insects pollinate some of the flowers of cauliflorous trees, larger
bats and birds pollinate most of the flowers and consume the fruits.
Vines are an important structural feature within the Neotropical rainforest, and
130 plant families include some type of climbing species. Six hundred different
vines have been identified in the rainforest, among them trumpet creepers (Bigno-
niaceae), squash (Curbitaceae), legumes (Fabaceae), milkweed (Asclepiadaceae),
morning glory (Convolvulaceae), and catbrier (Smilaceae). Vines can be danglers,
stranglers, or climbers. Lianas often dangle from the branches of canopy trees. Phil-
odendrons are common bole climbers. Other climbers store nutrients in roots and
tubers, like sweet potatoes. Figs (Moraceae) are common stranglers in the tropical
forests around the world. About 150 species have been recorded in the Neotropics.
Epiphytes are abundant and play a significant ecological role in the Neotropical
rainforest. More than 15,000 epiphyte species live in the forests of Central and
South America. They consist of an amazing variety of lichens, mosses, liverworts,
ferns, cacti, orchids, and bromeliads, to name only a few. Epiphytes in the pineap-
ple (Bromeliaceae), cactus (Cactaceae), Panama hat (Cyclanthaceae), and black
pepper (Piperaceae) families are almost exclusive to the Neotropical rainforest.
