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The tropical climate experiences hot, humid weather and rainfall year-round. While many might associate the region solely with the rainforests, the tropics are home to a wide variety of ecosystems that boast a great wealth of biodiversity, from exotic animal species to seldom-found flora.
Tropical rainforests are among the most threatened ecosystems globally due to large-scale fragmentation as a result of human activity. Habitat fragmentation caused by geological processes such as volcanism and climate change occurred in the past, and have been identified as important drivers of speciation. [ 10 ]
Tropical rainforests provide timber as well as animal products such as meat and hides. Rainforests also have value as tourism destinations and for the ecosystem services provided. Many foods originally came from tropical forests, and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest. [39]
As a result, island ecosystems comprise 30% of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, 50% of marine tropical diversity, and some of the most unusual and rare species. [2] Many species still remain unknown. The diversity of species on islands is highly impacted by human activities such as deforestation and introduction of the exotic species.
Tropical plants and animals are those species native to the tropics. Tropical ecosystems may consist of tropical rainforests , seasonal tropical forests , dry (often deciduous) forests , spiny forests, deserts , savannahs, grasslands and other habitat types.
Ecosystem respiration is the sum of respiration by all living organisms (plants, animals, and decomposers) in the ecosystem. [16] Net ecosystem production is the difference between gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration. [ 17 ]
Tropical Wet Rainforests have an excess of vegetation, compared to many other ecoregion types such as savannahs, and therefore have a much slower drainage rate than other ecosystems. [7] When an ecosystem has a high ground water table it separates the time between drainage and absorption of water in an area.
As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon rainforest. [ 47 ] This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world .