With the continued growth of the strangler figs, they enwrap their hosts and literally strangle the host tree to death! Fact 26: Since epiphytes (including bromeliads, mosses, and orchids) cannot produce their food by themselves (they do not have roots), they often depend on living plants for nutrient and water. They include orchids, lilies, heliconia and bromeliads. Rainforest inhabitants have a very different life than ours. Bengal tigers and orangutans live in Asias rainforests, and chimpanzees live in the rainforests of Africa. Some are very rare, and you cant find them outside the tropical rainforest biome. They start out as small upright shrubs. The Amazon Rainforest is responsible for producing than 20% of the world's oxygen, which is why it is many times referred to as "Lungs of the Earth". weird facts about Amazon rainforest! When it comes to rare rainforest animals, it's a fact that the biggest nocturnal primate in the world can only be found in Madagascar. In fact, the average annual temperature has been put at about 25 degree Celsius (approximately 77 degrees Fahrenheit). Thriving in warm, humid regions, rainforests used to cover the majority of the world; 2. These deter rainforest animals such as manatees from eating them. harmony.LEARN Its huge, and sometimes people call it the earths lungs, because without it, our planet would struggle to breathe. Kapok trees, which are found in tropical rainforests around the world, can grow to 200 feet. For instance, unique rainforest ecosystems have influenced the diet of cultures from Africa to the Pacific Northwest. Besides drinking, 70% of the worlds water supplies go to agriculture, so imagine what happens to the food we eat when its grown in a contaminated environment. Fact 4: On the African continent, most of the rainforest is concentrated along the Atlantic coast and the Congo River basin, whereas, in most regions of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, only small areas of the temperate rainforest is situated along the coasts where rainfall and humidity are high and humidity is mild. Sadly, many of these species are on the brink of extinction, and their continued existence is crucial to maintaining the balance of marvelously efficientbut delicaterainforest ecosystems. Every Year, Over 18 Million Acres of Forest Are Lost Due to Deforestation. There is much which can be done to stop or prevent deforestation. 2. Covering . These geographic conditions help create areas of high rainfall. Rainforests are very wet places, with high annual rainfalls. The fruit and seeds of many understory shrubs in temperate rainforests are edible. Forests are also natural water filters, keeping pollution and debris from flowing into water supplies and slowing the movement of rainwater so it flows into underground reserves. 17 It can reach a length of 30 feet and weigh up to 550 pounds. Also, the soil is usually hard and deficient of nutrients. The Amazon is well known for a number of reasons. (And What Attracts Them? The Tropical Rainforest Biome Is Home to Over 15 Million Animal Species. More than one-third of all known species on our planet live in the Amazon Rainforest. Orchids, bamboo, and bromeliads are other rainforest plants. 1. The Tropical Rainforest Biome Covers 7% of the Earths Surface. Rainforests also provide us with many medicinal products. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, but other types have been described.. At the current rate of tropical forest loss, 5-10 percent of tropical rainforest species will be lost per decade. Fact 23: The largest flower in the world The giant rafflesia flower (Corpse lily) is housed in the rainforest. Here are our top facts about this magical place. Unlike many rainforest species, both the Brazil nut tree and the kapok tree are deciduousthey shed their leaves during the dry season. The ecosystem supports fruits including bananas, papayas, mangos, cocoa and coffee beans. In addition to food crops, the Yanomami also cultivate cotton, which is used for hammocks, nets, and clothing. 48 acres of tropical forest are lost each minute. Many rainforests are located in developing countries with economies based on natural resources. Think of Pineapple, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Rubber and Medicines They all come from the rainforest! The annual average rainforest temperature is, The Amazon rainforest has the hottest temperatures of. Fact 13: While rainfall evaporation is carried to other (distant) places to fall as rain in most climates, nearly 50 percent of precipitation in the rainforest comes from local evaporation (generated within the rainforest itself). Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c06ab0ece3b2a23 3. Fact 11: True rainforests are usually not above 1,000 meters (approximately 3,280 feet). Rainfall in these forests is produced by warm, moist air coming in from the coast and being trapped by nearby mountains.. We should thank rainforests for providing some of the best cancer medicines. Get facts and photos of the U.S. states and territories, and the District of Columbia. The old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, for example, produce three times the biomass (living or once-living material) of tropical rainforests. LUNGS OF THE EARTH. Rainforests provide us with many products that we use every day. People must realize that by destroying the rainforest, were putting our natural source of fresh air and overall environmental stability at risk. Vampire bats and anacondas live in the rainforests of South America. They live in the Amazon river. It is home to around 40,000 plant species, nearly 1,300 bird species, 3,000 types of fish, 427 species of mammals, and 2.5 million different insects. Most rainforests are found along or near the Equator, where it tends to be hot. Added benefit: the shade requirements for Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee and cocoa farms also contribute to better quality crops. Fact 11: True rainforests are usually not above 1,000 meters (approximately 3,280 feet). Kelps and other seaweeds can be harvested and eaten in soups or dried. The Tropical Rainforest is a-ma-zing, and if youre learning about it at school, Im sure you agree! Nearly 90 percent of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty worldwide depend on forests for their livelihoods. Here are 25+ interesting facts about the rainforests. Many biologists expect rainforests will lose 5-10% of their species each decade. The Yanomami are a people and culture native to the northern Amazon rainforest, spanning the border between Venezuela and Brazil. 8. The world's most expensive coffee is made from coffee beans picked from elephant dung. Logically, the tallest trees form the emergent layer, and they get the most sunlight and rain. Citizens, governments, intergovernmental organizations, and conservation groups are working together to protect these invaluable but fragile ecosystems. Besides giving us fresh air, theyre essential for regulating the Earths climate. The top layer of the rainforest is the emergent layer. So let's look at our Top 50 Fascinating Facts about the Tropical Rainforest! Rainforests rich biodiversity is incredibly important to our well-being and the well-being of our planet. There are rows of sharp spines on the undersides of the leaves. Pink river dolphins are often assumed to be blind because their eyes are small and the visibility in the murky waters of the Amazon is so poor, but in fact they have pretty good eyesight and are known to be very inquisitive, even looking into your eyes. Fibers such as raffia, bamboo, kapok, and rattan are used to make furniture, baskets, insulation, and cord. These trees are mostly broadleaf trees and have a shorter lifespan. 10. Layers Of Rainforests. For example, there are only dry and wet seasons in tropical forests, with an average temperature of 77 F. 2.5 acres of tropical forest are lost every 3 seconds. In South-East Asia, alternative medicine uses around. . We havent forgotten about our youngest rainforest explorers. More than 150 ethnic groups have lived in the Congo rainforest for over 50,000 years. According to a study published by Nature, rainforests could tip from carbon sinks to carbon emitters solely due to changing climatic and growth conditions from 2035 onward - thus accelerating catastrophic climate change. The strangler figs begin their lives as epiphytes, they germinate in the canopy trees and send roots down to the soil. Fact 5: The rainforests have been proven to play a critical role in global climate regulation. In the Pacific Northwests rainforests, logging companies cut down trees for timber while paper industries use the wood for pulp. The rainforest is waking up. When you reach out to him or her, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. 21. They can occur naturally, and rainforests support plants and animals. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world's plant and animal specieseven though they cover . Animals that cant fly or glide are usually quite smallthey need to be light enough to be supported by a trees slender uppermost layers. This makes rainforests astoundingly dense with flora and fauna; a 10-square-kilometer (four-square-mile) patch can contain as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies. For starters,, Circus animals like big cats, elephants, and bears have all suffered in the name of entertainment throughout the, Vegan statistics are rising worldwide, and theres more than one reason why. Around 2% of sunlight actually reaches the ground. Located several meters below the canopy, the understory is an even darker, stiller, and more humid environment. We also make medicine from some of the plants there. The tropical islands of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia support dense rainforest habitats. The silent two-toed sloth chews on the leaves, shoots, and fruit in the canopy. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged to a 12-year high in the year between August 2019 and July 2020, according to the country's National Institute for Space Research . Parts of the Congo can be found in several other countries too, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. Pink Dolphin (Boto) Yes, there is such a thing as a pink dolphin, and they are known as the Boto. The temperate rainforest of the northwest coast of North America is the home of the Tlingit. Rainforests once covered 14% of the world's land surface, today they cover just 6%. Trees in temperate rainforests can live much longer than humans, some live for up to 1000 years! They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the worlds plant and animal specieseven though they cover just six percent of Earths surface. This could be attributed to the favorable plant growth environment the rainforests offer. They are used to treat asthma, arthritis, malaria, heart disease, and pneumonia. The next biggest rainforest is the Congo in Africa. Fact 22: As trees grow larger within the rainforest, the leaves tend to get smaller. Due to the Tropical Rainforests' High Temperatures, the Average Air Humidity Falls Between 77% and 88%. Plants gathered or harvested include berries, nuts, and wild celery.. 1. 6. It, therefore, follows that, as elevation increases, night time temperature decreases significantly, which in turn affects the forests ecology. Every tropical rainforest biome is important in its own way. Performance & security by Cloudflare. 2. Monkeys can understand written numbers and can even count. The rainforests act as natural water filters, keeping pollution out of the water supply. Out of 11,000 endemic plant species on the island, over 1,000 are jasmine, found in abundance in the rainforests. In some rainforests it rains more than an inch every day! Scientists estimate that about 15% of the worlds freshwater flows from the Amazon Basin alone. Around 20% of the Worlds Oxygen Comes From the Amazon Rainforest. Did you know that 89% of CO2 emissions came from fossil fuels and industry? Crops harvested in Chimbu garden plots include sweet potatoes, bananas, and beans. Many of the trees (such as Kapok trees) are supported by thick buttresses which can stretch up to 10 meters (approximately 33 feet) or more. We shouldnt underestimate these rainforest habitat facts and stats. Running through the north of the rainforest is the Amazon . In the Amazon rainforest, large-scale agricultural industries, such as cattle ranching, clear huge tracts of forests for arable land. As their name implies, temperate rainforests are much cooler than their tropical cousins, averaging between 10 and 21C (50 and 70F). Rainforests are crucial for keeping our planet healthy. This area is comprised of the tops of trees and . Therefore, the ground in rainforests is often bare (since little plants would not be able to produce their food from photosynthesis in the absence of energy from the sunlight). The Amazon River, for instance, is home to the boto (Inia geoffrensis), or pink river dolphin, one of the few freshwater dolphin species in the world. For example, there are only dry and wet seasons in tropical forests, with an average temperature of 77 F. The Amazon is found in South America, spanning across Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The rainforests understorey layer can be thousands of meters away from the canopy layer. Tropical tropical trees such as balsa are lightweight yet very strong which means they make good building material, In tropical forests, you can find over 1 million different species of flowering plants, The Amazon tropical rainforest is home to approximately 390 billion individual trees, There are over 30,000 tropical plant species in one hectare of tropical rainforest, Tropical rainforests give us 20% of all the oxygen we breathe, Humans first evolved in tropical rainforests, Over 350 million tonnes of organic matter is recycled through decomposition within tropical ecosystems each year, There are more than 50,000 different species of tropical butterfly, There are over 3000 species of tropical fish, Tropical rainforests cover only 2% of the Earths surface but tropical forests provide habitats for more than half of all land-based creatures. Rain Forest. Microsoft Encarta 2009 [DVD]. These demands encourage local governments to develop rainforest acreage at a fraction of its value. Also, there are more than 1,300 types of birds, 2.5 million insect species, 3,000 fish species, and 427 mammals.
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