Learn About Rainforests

What is a rainforest?

Rainforests are very dense, warm, wet forests. They are havens for millions of plants and animals.

Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness. Of all the plant and animal species in the entire world over 65% live in the rainforest yet rainforests cover less than 20% of the earth's surface.

What is the Rainforest Like?

The rainforest has many different plant and animal communities. These communities are determined by where they are in the forest, and these communities are called 'Strata'.

Different animals and plants live in different parts of the rainforest. Scientists divide the rainforest into strata (zones) based on the living environment. Starting at the top, the strata are:

EMERGENTS: Giant trees that are much higher than the average canopy height. It houses many birds and insects.
CANOPY: The upper parts of the trees. This leafy environment is full of life in a tropical rainforest and includes: insects, birds, reptiles, mammals, and more.
UNDERSTORY: A dark, cool environment under the leaves but over the ground.
FOREST FLOOR: Teeming with animal life, especially insects. The largest animals in the rainforest generally live here.

Animals of the Rainforests
An incredible number of animals live in rainforests. Millions of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals call them home. Insects are the most numerous animals in rainforests. Tropical rainforests have a greater diversity of plants and animals than temperate rainforests or any other biome.

In temperate rainforests, most of the animals are ground dwellers and there are fewer animals living in the forest canopy.

Where are Rainforests?
Tropical rainforests are found in a belt around the equator of the Earth. There are tropical rainforests across South America, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia (and nearby islands).

Temperate rainforests are found along the Pacific coast of the USA and Canada (from northern California to Alaska), in New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, Scotland and Norway. They are less abundant than tropical rainforests.

Rainfall
It is almost always raining in a rainforest. Rainforests get over 80 inches (2 m) of rain each year. This is about 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) of rain each week.

The rain is more evenly distributed throughout the year in a tropical rainforest (even though there is a little seasonality). In a temperate rainforest, there are wet and dry seasons. During the "dry" season, coastal fog supplies abundant moisture to the forest.

The Importance of Rainforests

Make a liana vine for a room decoration.
Tropical rainforests cover about 7% of the Earth's surface and are VERY important to the Earth's ecosystem. The rainforests recycle and clean water. Tropical rainforest trees and plants also remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their roots, stems, leaves, and branches. Rainforests affect the greenhouse effect, which traps heat inside the Earth's atmosphere. It is suspected cuutting of the rainforests will increase the green house effect and lead to global warming. If global warming gets out of control the worlds climate could shift and get warmer, and entire ecosystems could suffer.

People Living in Tropical Rainforests
There are many indigenous groups of people who have live in the tropical rainforests. Many of these groups, like the Yanomamo tribe of the Amazon rainforests of Brazil and southern Venezuela, have lived in scattered villages in the rainforests for hundreds or thousands of years. These tribes get their food, clothing, and housing mainly from materials they obtain in the forests.

Forest people are mostly hunter-gatherers; they get their food by hunting for meat (and fishing for fish) and gathering edible plants, like starchy roots and fruit. Many also have small gardens in cleared areas of the forest. Since the soil in the rainforest is so poor, the garden areas must be moved after just a few years, and another part of the forest is cleared.

Most indigenous populations are declining. There are many reasons for this. Their primary problems are disease (like smallpox and measles, which were inadvertently introduced by Europeans) and governmental land seizure.

Some Rainfroest Links to Check Out

Amazon Interactive
Explore the geography of the Ecuadorian Amazon through online games and activities. Learn about the rainforest and the Quichua people who call it home. Discover the ways in which the Quichua live off the land. Then try your hand at running a community-based ecotourism project along the Río Napo.

Endangered Animals of The World

Journey to Amazonia
Colorful PBS website discusses flora and fauna, the canopy, and waterways of the Amazon rainforest.

Wild Lifes Last Resort
This is a great entertaining and educational site for children that teaches them all about endangered animals of the rainforest.

Jungle Mouse
The goal of JungleMouse.net is to entertain and educate kids of all ages, with a focus on animals. Here you will find over four thousand animal pictures, hundreds of links to other animal sites, a few games, and hundreds of animal jokes!