There are four different types of forests found around the world: tropical forests, temperate forests and boreal forests.
- Tropical Forests:
- Temperate Forests:
- Boreal Forests:
- Plantation Forests:
5 Rainforest Trees We Love—and You Will, Too
- ?Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) in Madre de Dios, Peru. Photo credit: Mohsin Kazmi.
- Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) Photo credit: Mason Phillips.
- Ramón tree (Brosimum alicastrum) Photo credit: Sergio Izquierdo.
- Xate (Chamaedorea elegans, Chamaedorea ernesti-augustii, Chamaedorea oblongata)
- Ipê (Tabebuia spp)
Most rainforests are structured in four layers: emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor.
Tropical rainforest
- An area of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
- Tropical rainforest climate zones (Af).
- Amazon River rain forest in Peru.
- Hillawe Falls in the Hawaiian tropical rainforests in the United States.
- Daintree "rainforest" in Queensland is actually a seasonal tropical forest.
- Western lowland gorilla.
- There are several different types of rainforests.
- Rainforests cover less than 3 percent of the planet.
- The world's largest rainforest is the Amazon rainforest.
- Rainforests house more species of plants and animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem.
- Much of the life in the rainforest is found in the trees.
Amazon rainforest is the most biodiverse region on earth, providing shelter to three million species on plants and animals. Billions of trees absorb tons of carbon dioxide every year and slow down the climate change along with producing 20% of earth's oxygen, hence named 'Lungs of Earth.
Since rainforests are at the middle of the globe, located near the equator, they are not especially affected by this change. They receive nearly the same amount of sunlight, and therefore heat, all year. Consequently, the weather in these regions remains fairly constant.
The tropical rainforest biome has four main characteristics: very high annual rainfall, high average temperatures, nutrient-poor soil, and high levels of biodiversity (species richness). Despite relatively consistent rain in these ecosystems, there are distinct dry seasons in some rainforests.
Characteristics of tropical rainforests
- Very wet with over 2,000 mm of rainfall per year.
- Very warm with an average daily temperature of 28°C. The temperature never drops below 20°C and rarely exceeds 35°C.
- The atmosphere is hot and humid .
- The climate is consistent all year round. There are no seasons.
Because of the ample solar energy, tropical rainforests are usually warm year round with temperatures from about 72-93F (22-34C), although forests at higher elevations, especially cloud forests, may be significantly cooler.
Since tropical rainforests have so many plants, there's a ton of transpiration. When you get that much water vapor hovering over rainforests, it's bound to rain a lot. In sum, tropical rainforests only exist in areas of high rainfall, but they also cause more precipitation through transpiration.
17 Biggest and Popular Rainforests in the World
- Amazon 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)
- Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve (Costa Rica)
The hot and humid conditions make tropical rainforests an ideal environment for bacteria and other microorganisms. Because these organisms remain active throughout the year, they quickly decompose matter on the forest floor.
The tropical rainforest is a hot, moist biome where it rains all year long. It is known for its dense canopies of vegetation that form three different layers. The top layer or canopy contains giant trees that grow to heights of 75 m (about 250 ft) or more. Thick, woody vines are also found in the canopy.
The tropical rainforest contains more species of plants than any other biome. Orchids, Philodendrons, Ferns, Bromeliads, Kapok Trees, Banana Trees, Rubber Trees, Bam- boo, Trees, Cassava Trees, Avocado Trees. Animals come in various colors which act as a camouflage to protect them from their pred- ators.
Biomes
| Question | Answer |
|---|
| Which biome does not have any seasons? | Tropical Rainforest |
| Which biome has the most nutrient-rich soil? | Savanna |
| Which biome has the most nutrient-poor soil? | Tropical Rainforest |
| This biome has large grazing herbivores that migrate during the dry season to find water? | Savanna |
Even though the savanna and the tropical rainforestes are VASTLY different in organisms and extent, they both have a climate that results in deep, highly weathered soils. The intense weathering causes these soils to be nutrient poor and low in organic matter.
One reason the rain forest soil is so poor is that most of the nutrients are stored in the plants themselves. In any forest, dead organic matter falls to the ground, providing valuable nutrients for new growth. In cooler or drier climates, the nutrients build up in the soil.
Mean temperatures in tropical rainforest regions are between 20 and 29 °C (68 and 84 °F), and in no month is the mean temperature below 18 °C (64 °F). Temperatures become critical with increasing altitude; in the wet tropics temperatures fall by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) for every 100 metres (328 feet) climbed.
The majority of tropical soils have shades of colour varying from yellow and brown to red. The reddish colour reflects the presence of iron oxides that form as a result of chemical weathering.
Tropical soils have been influenced by major geologic phenomena such as plate tectonics, weathering of ancient landscapes, uplifting of mountain ranges, volcanic outputs, and oceanic submergence or emergence. Much volcanic activity has characterized the Quaternary, especially in mountainous regions of the Tropics.
Tropical soils can be several metres thick BUT are often very nutrient poor as you go down through the soils. This is because the rainwater washes out or LEACHES the nutrients and minerals out of the soil. This releases nutrients into the surface of the soil which is taken up quickly by the plants.
List of Some Tropical Rainforest Trees
- Ceiba.
- Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis)
- Cecropia.
- Kapok.
- Banana tree.
- Strangler Fig (Teak)
- Giant Red Cedar (Curtain Fig)
- Cathedral Fig.
The mounds promoted landscape diversity, and show that small-scale communities began to shape the Amazon 8,000 years earlier than previously thought. The research confirms this part of the Amazon is one of the earliest centres of plant domestication in the world.
Not only do millions of species of plants and animals live in rainforests, but people also call the rainforest their home. In fact, indigenous, or native, peoples have lived in rainforests for many thousands of years.
The Amazon has traditionally been seen as a pristine, dense rainforest, populated by hunter-gatherers. In recent years, however, archaeologists have found hints that indigenous peoples lived in the thick forest, but managed to clear tracts of land for farming.
“People arrived in the Amazon at least 10,000 years ago, and they started to use the species that were there. And more than 8,000 years ago, they selected some individuals with specific phenotypes that are useful for humans,” says Carolina Levis, a scholar at Wageningen University who helped lead the study.
The first European to explore the Amazon, in 1541, was the Spanish soldier Francisco de Orellana, who gave the river its name after reporting pitched battles with tribes of female warriors, whom he likened to the Amazons of Greek mythology.
The Amazon is a vast region that spans across eight rapidly developing countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, an overseas territory of France. The landscape contains: One in ten known species on Earth.
Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Forestland has little value—but cleared pastureland can be used to produce cattle or sold to large-scale farmers, including soy planters. In the mid- to late-2000s, the situation in the Brazilian Amazon began to change.
Fifteen million years ago, the Andes were formed by the collision of the South American plate with the Nazca plate. The rise of the Andes and the linkage of the Brazilian and Guyana bedrock shields, blocked the river and caused the Amazon to become a vast inland sea. At this time the Amazon rainforest was born.
