A rainforest is described as tall, hot and dense forest near the equator and is believed to be the oldest living ecosystems on Earth which gets maximum amount of rainfall. As the name implies, rainforests are the forests that get very high amount of rainfall every year, more than the normal annual rainfall of 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches).
What defines a rainforest?
A rainforest is defined by the fact that it contains many large evergreen trees that never lose their leaves, and by the high amount of rainfall it receives. Specifically, to be classed as a rainforest, the area must receive continuous and heavy rainfall, reaching a range of between 98 and 177 inches in a year.
Where are tropical rainforests found?
Tropical rainforests are found in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Central America, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. A tropical rainforest typically has several layers, such as the emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor, each with different types of plants and animals adapted for life in that particular area.
What are the characteristics of rainforest?
Rainforest. Rainforests usually occur in regions where there is a high annual rainfall of generally more than 1,800 mm (70 inches) and a hot and steamy climate. The trees found in these regions are evergreen. Rainforests may also be found in areas of the tropics in which a dry season occurs, such as the “dry rainforests” of northeastern Australia.
What are the different types of rainforests?
Rainforest. Other kinds of rainforests include the monsoon forests, most like the popular image of jungles, with a marked dry season and a vegetation dominated by deciduous trees such as teak, thickets of bamboo, and a dense undergrowth. Mangrove forests occur along estuaries and deltas on tropical coasts.
What are the 3 types of rainforests?
The types of rainforest include: Tropical mangrove forests. Temperate rainforests. Seasonal rainforests.
What are the 7 rainforests in the world?
17 Biggest and Popular Rainforests in the WorldAmazon Rainforest (South America) ... Congo Rainforest (Africa) ... Valdivian Temperate Rainforest (South America) ... Daintree Rainforest (Australia) ... Southeast Asian Rainforest (Asia) ... Tongass National Forest (North America) ... Kinabalu National Park (Malaysia)More items...
What are 2 rainforests?
The world's largest rainforest is the Amazon rainforest Nearly two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest lies within the borders of Brazil. The second largest rainforest is found in Central Africa's Congo Basin. Next is the rainforest of New Guinea.
What are the names of the 5 rainforests?
Popular rainforests around the worldAmazon Rainforest, South America. ... Congo Rainforest, Africa. ... Southeast Asian Rainforest. ... Kinabalu National Forest, Malaysia. ... Tongass National Forest, South America. ... Daintree Rainforest, Australia. ... Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica. ... New Guinea Rainforest, Mongabay.More items...•
What is the 3 largest rainforest?
New Guinea rainforest The third-largest continuous rainforest in the world is on the island of New Guinea, which is split into two territories: The eastern half is part of Papua New Guinea, and the western half is part of Indonesia, according to the WWF (opens in new tab).
What are the 5 largest rainforest in the world?
This article focuses specifically on the world's tropical rainforests. The following charts show the extent of primary forest cover and tree cover in the tropics for the world's five largest blocks of rainforest: Amazon, Congo, Australiasia, Sundaland, and Indo-Burma.
What is the biggest rainforest?
The AmazonThe Amazon is the world's largest rainforest. It's home to more than 30 million people and one in ten known species on Earth. See some of this region's splendor in our new video.
How many rainforest are in the world?
There are only seven temperate rainforests in the world. Tropical rainforests have 40–100 tree species per one hectare of land. Over 30 million people live in the Amazon rainforest, rainforest statistics show. A quarter of drugs used in Western medicine come from rainforest plants.
Is a jungle a rainforest?
The term “jungle,” however, is a descriptive term, not a scientific one—it doesn't actually refer to a specific ecosystem. But “rainforest” does. A rainforest, like a jungle, is filled with thick vegetation—but unlike a jungle, it has a layer of tall trees, called a canopy, that blocks out most of the sunlight.
What are the top 10 biggest rainforests in the world?
The 10 largest rainforests in the worldThe Amazon. Covering an area of over 1.2 billion acres, the Amazon rainforest is the largest in the world. ... The Congo Rainforest. ... Bosawas Biosphere Reserve. ... Daintree Rainforest. ... Southeast Asian Rainforest. ... Tongass National Forest. ... Kinabalu National Park. ... Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.More items...•
What is a popular rainforest?
The Amazon Rainforest is the biggest and most famous rainforest in the world. Located in South America, the Amazon rainforest covers parts of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The Amazon rainforest covers much of the Amazon Basin.
Where are the main rainforests in the world?
The largest rainforests on Earth surround the Amazon River in South America and the Congo River in Africa. The tropical islands of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia support dense rainforest habitats.
Where are the 7 temperate rainforests located?
Temperate rainforest extends through the Appalachian areas of western North Carolina, southeastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, northern South Carolina, and northern Georgia, Red spruce and Fraser fir are dominant canopy trees in high mountain areas.
How many rainforests are in the world?
There are only seven temperate rainforests in the world. The Pacific Temperate Rainforest is the biggest of these. It stretches for 23,300 square miles across North America, encompassing the Tongass National Forest and the Great Bear Rainforest.
Where are the main rainforests in the world?
The largest rainforests on Earth surround the Amazon River in South America and the Congo River in Africa. The tropical islands of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia support dense rainforest habitats.
Where are the rainforests of the world?
The largest rainforests are in the Amazon River Basin (South America), the Congo River Basin (western Africa), and throughout much of southeast Asia. Smaller rainforests are located in Central America, Madagascar, Australia and nearby islands, India, and other locations in the tropics.
What are the plants in the rainforest used for?
Many of the plants found in rainforests are being used to make medicine, including anti-cancer drugs, along with beauty products and foods . One drug under development for treating HIV, Calanolide A, is derived from a tree discovered on Malaysian Borneo. And Brazil nut trees will not grow anywhere but in undisturbed sections of the Amazon rainforest. There, the trees are pollinated by bees that also visit orchids, and their seeds are spread by agoutis, small, tree mammals. Rainforests are also home to endangered or protected animals, such as Sumatran rhinos, orangutans, and jaguars.
Why are forests important?
Forest trees also absorb carbon, an important function needed as human-caused greenhouse gas emissions stoke climate change. Rainforest loss is a double-whammy for the climate: It contributes emissions while removing a future potential source of carbon storage. Human activity has caused tropical rainforests to emit more carbon dioxide than they absorb at this point, according to one study.
What happens when we lose rainforests?
When we lose rainforests, we lose an important natural resource. Tropical rainforests are centers of biodiversity, holding an estimated half the world’s plants and animals, many of which have yet to be catalogued (some scientists estimate that it’s two-thirds of the world's plants). Rainforests produce, store, and filter water, protecting against soil erosion, floods, and drought.
What is the definition of forest destruction?
destruction or removal of forests and their undergrowth.
What is the byproduct of burning fossil fuels?
greenhouse gas produced by animals during respiration and used by plants during photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is also the byproduct of burning fossil fuels.
Where do toucans live?
While most of a rainforest's animals, live in the upper canopy, these Costa Rican black mandibled toucans ( Ramphastos ambiguus ), are dwelling in its uppermost, or emergent, layer.
Which gases absorb heat from the Earth?
gas in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and ozone, that absorbs solar heat reflected by the surface of the Earth, warming the atmosphere.
What is the soil in a rainforest?
Soil conditions vary with location and climate, although most rainforest soils tend to be permanently moist and soggy. The presence of iron gives the soils a reddish or yellowish colour and develops them into two types of soils—extremely porous tropical red loams, which can be easily tilled, and lateritic soils, which occur in well-marked layers that are rich in different minerals. Chemical weathering of rock and soil in the equatorial forests is intense, and in rainforests weathering produces soil mantles up to 100 metres (330 feet) deep. Although these soils are rich in aluminum, iron oxides, hydroxides, and kaolinite, other minerals are washed out of the soil by leaching and erosion. The soils are not very fertile, either, because the hot, humid weather causes organic matter to decompose rapidly and to be quickly absorbed by tree roots and fungi.
Why are temperate rainforests less dense than other types of rainforests?
Temperate rainforests filled with evergreen and laurel trees are lower and less dense than other kinds of rainforests because the climate is more equable, with a moderate temperature range and well-distributed annual rainfall. temperate rainforest. A temperate rainforest in the Pacific Northwest.
What is the role of plants in the evaporation cycle?
The role that plants play in perpetuating the cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation within tropical rainforest biomes. Rainforests usually occur in regions where there is a high annual rainfall of generally more than 1,800 mm (70 inches) and a hot and steamy climate. The trees found in these regions are evergreen.
How deep is the soil in the equatorial forest?
Chemical weathering of rock and soil in the equatorial forests is intense, and in rainforests weathering produces soil mantles up to 100 metres (330 feet) deep. Although these soils are rich in aluminum, iron oxides, hydroxides, and kaolinite, other minerals are washed out of the soil by leaching and erosion.
What happens when rain falls on a tropical rainforest?
Rain falling on the forests drips down from the leaves and trickles down tree trunks to the ground, although a great deal of water is lost to leaf transpiration. tropical rainforest. Vegetation profile of a tropical rainforest. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How tall is the canopy of a rainforest?
The highest plant layer, or tree canopy, extends to heights between 30 and 50 metres. Most of the trees are dicotyledons, with thick leathery leaves and shallow root systems.
What type of soil is iron?
The presence of iron gives the soils a reddish or yellowish colour and develops them into two types of soils—extremely porous tropical red loams, which can be easily tilled, and lateritic soils, which occur in well-marked layers that are rich in different minerals.
How much rain does a rainforest receive?
Rainforests, as you might guess, are forests that receive a great amount of rainfall—more than 80 inches each year. Composed of millions of unique ecosystems, rainforests are the central nervous system of our planet—a hotbed of evolution, life, and diversity.
How does the rainforest help the world?
We forget that the forest regularly saves our global food supply by offering new, disease-resistant crops. We forget about the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of trade in timber, non-timber forest products and forest-derived pharmaceuticals. We forget about things that are ultimately beyond value: the livelihoods of millions of forest communities, a stable and livable climate for us all, the existence of most of our fellow species, and simple things we take for granted, like regular rain and clean air.
What percentage of the world's biodiversity is in the tropical rainforest?
Tropical rainforests are home to 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, all squeezed into a narrow strip of equatorial land. They are also home to millions of human beings that have been a part of forest ecosystem for thousands of years. While tropical rainforests are perhaps the most iconic, temperate rainforests are equally diverse and beautiful. Together, rainforests offer a gallery of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring places and creatures on Earth.
What are the resources that humans have in the rainforest?
Since the beginning of history, humans have relied on rainforests, finding in them a steady supply of wood, plants, and animals, as well as fruits, fibers, grains, medicines, cloths, resins, pigments, and other materials . As millennia passed and many human communities moved farther away from the forest, our reliance on the forests did not weaken. Major trade routes, and even empires, developed to control the flow of the rainforest’s treasures.
What is the biosphere made of?
The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life exists. The biosphere extends from the deepest root systems of trees to the dark environment of ocean trenches, to lush rain forests and high mountaintops.
What animal pokes its head out of the river?
Photo of otters poking their heads out of a river.
What are the threats to the Amazon rainforest?
Mining, logging, ranching, agriculture, and oil and gas extraction have put unsustainable pressure on the delicate rain forests of the Amazon Basin.
What is the Amazon Basin?
The Amazon Basin is home to half of the world's tropical forests. These forests are home to an incredible diversity of plant and animal life.
What is the purpose of analyzing a map?
Students analyze a map to identify and describe the relationship between habitat loss, land cover, and indigenous territories. After analyzing the effects of human activity on the current map, students make a prediction about how railroad development may impact the rain forest ecosystem and distribution of indigenous populations.
What is a rainforest?
A rainforest is an area of tall trees and a high amount of rainfall.
What is the heart of the Amazon?
The heart of the Amazon is its rivers and forests, home to thousands of plant and animal species. Zoom in to see some of the dazzling wildlife in these dwindling ecosystems.
Where Are Rainforests Found?
Rainforests can be found basically everywhere except Antarctica. The largest ones on this planet are situated near the famous Amazon River in South America and the Congo River in Africa. As well, scientists have found the balmy islands of Southeast Asia and portions of Australia to be ideal regions for the type of climate required to house and sustain these ecosystems. Colder rainforests can be found in America's northwest region, and even in the north of Europe.
What is the outermost layer of the rainforest?
The outermost layer of the rainforest is the emergent layer. Here it is where the massive trees, sometimes stretching up to 200 feet, control the skyline. Foliage on the tree trunks tends to be minimal and thin but spread wide as the trees reach their sunny upper layer, where they can properly absorb nutrition from the light of the sun.
What is the largest rainforest in the world?
The Amazon Rainforest is the Earth's most massive tropical rainforest. The forest spans through the basin of the previously mentioned Amazon river (which itself is the world's second-longest river) and houses about 20% of the planet's plants and birds, with 10% of mammal types found there.
How tall are rainforest trees?
These rainforests can contain a top layer of a canopy featuring giant trees that grow. up to staggering heights of 250 feet or more . This uppermost layer prevents too much sunlight from reaching the ground, encouraging the growth of thick, ropey vines.
What is the average temperature of a rainforest?
However, definitions can vary by region with temperate rainforests also being classed by the temperature they are, with an expected mean annual temperature of between 39 and 56 degrees Fahrenheit.
How much rain does a rainforest receive?
Specifically, to be classed as a rainforest, the area must receive continuous and heavy rainfall, reaching a range of between 98 and 177 inches in a year.
How many layers are there in the rainforest?
Most rainforests are split up into four distinct layers. Each of these parts is defined by a unique set of characteristics that vary based on levels of sunlight, air circulation, and water. This article will go through them from the top down.
What is the largest rainforest in the world?
1. Amazon Rainforest (South America) It is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, also known as Amazonia or Amazon Jungle. It has an area of 5,500,000 km² and covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America and runs through Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
How much of the world's rainforests are wet?
These evergreen forests have a warm and wet climate with consistent rainfall of a minimum 2,000mm annually. Tropical rainforests once used to cover 14% of the Earth’s land surface, which is now reduced to only 6%. However, about 80% of the world’s documented species can be found in tropical rainforests.
Why are rainforests called the Jewels of the Earth?
These rainforests are rightly called the “jewels of the Earth” and the “world’s largest pharmacy,” because more than one-third of natural medicines have been discovered here.
What are the two types of rainforests?
Primarily, there are two types of rainforests – tropical and temperate. Globally tropical forests cover a large part while temperate rainforests occur in few regions around the world.
What is the rainforest?
Rainforests constitute some of the globe’s most important ecosystems and environments. The globe’s rainforests cover nearly 2% of the earth’s total surface area and host more than 50% of the world’s animals and plants. The rainforests are also regarded as the planet’s regulators of weather and environmental temperatures.
How many species of plants are there in the rainforest?
To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region, with many more remaining to be discovered. The rainforest also contains several species, and among the largest are predatory creatures, including the jaguar, cougar, and anaconda.
How much of Brazil's forest is covered by trees?
About 60 percent of the forest is contained in Brazil. The forest is estimated to be covered by 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species. Some of the species found in this region include 2.5 million insects, about 2,000 mammals & birds, and tens of thousands of plants.
1. Amazon rainforest
More than 850,000 indigenous people in over 300 tribes live in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. (Image credit: Shutterstock)
2. Congo Basin
The Congo River at sunset in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Image credit: UN Photo/Marie Frechon)
3. New Guinea rainforest
An aerial photograph of a rainforest in Papua New Guinea. (Image credit: Andrew TB Tan via Getty Images)
4. Sundaland rainforest
The Sundaland rainforest is the next-biggest rainforest, at about 197,000 square miles (510,000 square km), according to Mongabay. The rainforest includes the Malay Peninsula on mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo. It spans several countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore.
5. Mekong River basin
The Khon Phapheng Falls, part of the Mekong River in southern Laos. (Image credit: Thirada Srinil via Getty Images)
Honorable mention: Tongass National Forest
A photo in the Tongass National Forest on Baranof Island, Alaska. (Image credit: earleliason via Getty Images)
Are There Tropical Rainforests in the USA?
Before we dive into the list of which rainforests to see, let’s start with a definition. What is a rainforest, anyway? What’s the difference between a tropical rainforest and a temperate one?
What is the largest rainforest in the USA?
By far the largest rainforest in the USA, Tongrass covers a shocking 16.9 million acres — giving it the simultaneous superlative of being the largest national forest of any type. It’s comprised largely of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, and western red cedar, tucked into the famed “Inside Passage” of Alaska that also includes Glacier Bay National Park.
Where is the Hoh Rainforest?
One of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S., the Hoh Rainforest is tucked away in the west-central part of Olympic National Park, a stunning 1,400-square-mile wilderness that includes both towering alpine peaks and pebble-strewn Pacific beaches. The Hoh itself is only one small part of the park, but a popular one…
What are the animals that live in the rainforest?
Home to both small animals, like frogs and salamanders, as well as larger fauna like deer and bear, rainforests come in a number of different varieties, including both hot, tropical rainforests (like the Yunque, mentioned above) and cool, temperate rainforests (like those along the northwestern coast of America).
What are the animals that live in the Smoky Mountains?
Seeing more than 60 inches of rain per year and temperatures hovering between 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, this landscape is home to more than 30 species of salamander and two species of turtles, along with the mammals you’d expect to find like deer and black bear. Accessible wildernesses that are encompassed by this ecosystem include the Nantahala National Forest, the Cherokee National Forest, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, as well as the Appalachian Trail.
How much of the world is rainforest?
Originally published on October 13th, 2019. Although they cover a mere 6% of the earth’s surface, rainforests are home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species, not to mention the unique, fairy-tale-like quality of actually wandering through one. Towering trees whose trunks are overgrown in moss and fern-strewn forest floors couple ...
Where is the largest temperate rainforest in the world?
The northwestern U.S. is home to one of the largest collections of temperate rainforests remaining in the world, though they’re separated into a variety of smaller, distinct wildernesses.
