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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