Rain Forest
Where would you go to find more
kinds of plants and animals than anywhere else on Earth? You would go to a
tropical rain forest.
Tropical rain forests are home to
an amazing number of plants and animals. A patch of tropical rain forest no
bigger than a school parking lot can have almost as many different
species (kinds) of trees as there are in all the forests of Canada and
the United States!
Biologists believe that more than
half of the world’s plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests.
WHAT IS A RAIN FOREST?
A rain forest is a place where
there is lots of rain. One kind of rain forest is called a temperate rain
forest. You can find temperate rain forests where the weather is cool and mild,
and very wet.
A temperate rain forest grows near
the Northwest coast of the United States. Just a few kinds of evergreen trees
grow there. Most of the world’s rain forests are tropical rain forests with many
kinds of trees.
Tropical rain forests grow in warm
places near Earth’s equator. The equator is an imaginary line that goes around
the middle of the planet. There are tropical rain forests in Central and South
America, Africa, and Asia. The world’s largest rain forest is the Amazon rain
forest in South America. It is always hot and wet in a tropical rain
forest.
WHAT PLANTS GROW IN RAIN FORESTS?
Different kinds of plants grow in
different layers of a tropical rain forest. The ground in a rain forest is
called the forest floor. The soil on the forest floor is very thin and
poor. Some plants living there get their food from dead plants. Other plants on
the ground eat insects. The pitcher plant is an insect-eating plant that grows
in rain forests in Asia.
The plant layer just above the
forest floor is called the understory. Not much sunlight gets down to
this layer. Young trees and plants that like low levels of light grow in the
shady understory.
The top layer of the rain forest
is called the canopy. The tops of tall trees make up the canopy. They
capture most of the sun and rainwater falling on the forest. The canopy is thick
and green.
Between the understory and the
canopy is a layer called the midstory. Medium-size trees grow in the
midstory. Thick vines climb up, around, and between the trees. Mosses, orchids,
and other air plants (plants without ground roots) grow on the midstory
trees.
WHAT ANIMALS LIVE IN RAIN FORESTS?
Most of the animals that live in a
tropical rain forest are insects. The forest is alive with millions of beetles
and ants. Bats and beautiful moths fly about at night. Snakes glide silently in
and around the trees. Birds are everywhere.
In Africa, wild pigs, gorillas,
and other large animals live on the forest floor. Elephants walk through the
rain forests of Asia and Africa. Jaguars hide in South American forests and wait
for prey, such as a wild pig, to go by.
Most of the rain forest animals
live in the canopy. Monkeys swing from branch to branch in the rain forests of
Central and South America.
WHY ARE RAIN FORESTS IMPORTANT?
Rain forests are home to huge
numbers of plants and animals. Scientists are discovering new ones all the time.
Some rain forest plants are used for medicine. Scientists believe there may be
many other plants that could be used to treat cancer and other diseases.
Rain forests are like the “lungs”
of planet Earth. The trees take up a gas called carbon dioxide. They give off a
gas called oxygen. All animals must breathe oxygen in order to live. Too much
carbon dioxide in the air could make Earth grow warmer.
For thousands of years, people have
lived in the rain forests. People native to the forests hunt wild animals and
collect plants for food. They use certain rain forest plants for medicines.
THE LOSS OF RAIN FORESTS
Today, rain forests all over Asia,
Africa, and South America are being cut down. Loggers cut down hardwood trees
for lumber. Teak, rosewood, and mahogany make beautiful furniture.
Farmers clear the rain forest to
plant crops. But the poor rain forest soil soon washes away. Then the farmers
must move and clear more rain forest.
People cut roads through the rain
forest to reach mines and oil wells. Lumber companies build roads to haul logs.
The amount of rain forest cut down every year would fill the state of
Wisconsin!
CAN WE SAVE THE RAIN FORESTS?
Conservationists are looking for
ways to save the rain forests. Some countries, such as Costa Rica in Central
America, have set aside rain forests as national parks.
In other places, poor people need
the rain forests for food and wood. Conservationists are looking for ways that
people can use the forests without destroying them. People are learning how to
grow nuts, seeds, and other crops in the rain forest. They are learning how to
make butterfly farms and other places that people can visit on a vacation.
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The Environment
