Today I arrived in the Central African Republic, a small nation surrounded in massive rain forests. This was a much more exciting than the Malaysia trip because I got an entire tour. I saw many spectacular things on the tour. I would say the best part of the tour was when we came across a lion and a surprisingly small group of wildebeests outside of the jungle when the tour was about over. It was very interesting to watch as the lion pounced on the wildebeest while the others ran. I was very interested, and so was everyone else on the tour, except for three little children who traumatized the blood and guts and gore.
The lion reminded me of the movie, "The Lion King," and thinking of the, "Circle of Life." I remember in the movie Mufasa told Simba when lions die their bodies become grass, and antelope eat grass. At first I thought it was something metaphorical, but then I remembered studying ecology in biology class. Then it hit me, Mufasa was (in a way) right!
Okay, lions' corpses do not exactly become grass. In real life, the nutrients from the lion's dead body are taken in by the soil, making the ground more fertile for plants to grow. Feces also makes the soil fertile. These are cycles where the nutrients are in a nonstop rotation.
The Phosphorus Cycle
Among those cycles is the Phosphorus Cycle. As the name implies, the Phosphorus Cycle is a process where phosphate goes from organic to inorganic. Phosphorus is a vital element and important nutrient in biology. They are key components to ATP and lipids, and the backbone of DNA.
The cycle begins in the last place you would expect to find something important to your health, rocks. The rocks are then broken down and by rain and weathering. The pieces of the rock that was broken off by the weather contains phosphates. The phosphates are distributed in the soil and water all
across the planet. While many phosphates are distributed in the ground, many also are washed away by the rain into bodies of water, including the ocean. The phosphates in the soil are then absorbed by plants. The plant now has the phosphate to live. Now how do animals get the phosphorus? Simple. The plants containing phosphorus are eaten by herbivores, and then those animals are eaten by carnivores. But that phosphorus needs to find a way to get back into the ground. How? The animal dies, and as the body decays, it releases all of the nutrients in it's body into the soil, where it can be absorbed by plants nearby or washed away by rain into an ocean. Another way the animals give away nutrients is by simply dumping it out in it's feces.
| The Phosphorus Cycle |
The Water Cycle
Then, like the tour in Malaysia, it rained and thundered. That made the three little kids even more terrified. First they saw a wildebeest ripped to shreds and now its thundering.
Who knew the tropical RAIN forest rains so much? (I'm being sarcasstic). We all know that it rains in the jungle, but why? I went on two trips and it rained both times. Well the reason it rains in the jungle (or pretty much every place that has rain) is because of a process called the Water Cycle.
Water is the most important resource on the planet. Not only do humans need it, but so does every living organism on the planet. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of water on this planet. That is why we have the Water Cycle. The Water Cycle is a process which shows water going from the surface to the atmosphere and repeat. This has been happening since the beginning of the planet, so the water animals are drinking and plants are absorbing, is the exact same water drank by the dinosaurs.
The Water Cycle begins with evaporation. Evaporation is when the sun heats up the water in bodies of water such as creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, and the ocean. The heat causes the water to turn into a gas called water vapor. The water vapor then floats all the way up into the air. Notice how when it rains, there are puddles of water everywhere. Then after a few days, the water in the puddles are completely gone without a trace. That is evaporation.
Next is condensation, when the vapor gets so cold it becomes a liquid again. But if it doesn't rain, where does it go? The clouds catch the water and hold it until it gets to heavy.
Last is precipitation. Precipitation is when water in any shape or form falls from the sky. Rain, snow, fog, hail, and sleet are all examples of precipitation. When and how does it happen? Remember, the clouds are carrying water. Since evaporation happens a lot in regions like tropical rain forests, the weight of the water that the cloud is holding gets heavier, and heavier, and heavier, and heavier until the cloud can't hold anymore water and just lets it go. That causes plants to get the water they need, and bodies of water like oceans and lakes and rivers get back the water they had before.
The Water Cycle
Now why does the rain forest have so much rain? Remember, tropical rain forests are known to be very hot. Heat + water = evaporation. Evaporation leads to condensation, and condensation leads to precipitation.
All together, I enjoyed the trip. I got to see tons of plants and animals (that's for another jungle) and felt great nostalgia near the end.
Next stop, the AMAZON! Yes!
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