temperate forest, vegetation type with a more or less continuous canopy of broad-leaved trees. Fact 16: In a typical rainforest, you might find as many as 300 species/types of trees. Because rainforests are so rich in biodiversity, they hold enormous potential for future discoveries. Animals call the understory home for a variety of reasons. With the continued growth of the strangler figs, they enwrap their hosts and literally strangle the host tree to death! The annual average rainforest temperature is, The Amazon rainforest has the hottest temperatures of. These plants provide food and shelter for small animals and birds . Trees in temperate rainforests can live much longer than humans, some live for up to 1000 years! 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. The Black Ivory Coffee costs about $500 per pound, which equals around $50 per cup. Bengal tigers, mountain gorillas, orangutans, jaguars, and blue poison dart frogs are just a few of the magnificent animals found in rainforests. Compared to other biomes, everything decomposes 10 times faster in tropical rainforests. Plus, theres only one Earth, and its in shambles. If you purchase via links on Pawsome Advice, we may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. 1. In Australia, ground dwellers such as wallabies, bandicoots, and potoroos (small marsupials that are among Australias most endangered animals) feast on the foods provided by the forest floor. In addition to their own diet, pigs are valuable economic commodities for trade and sale. Tell the people how important rainforest preservation is. weird facts about Amazon rainforest! This layer of vegetation prevents much of the sunlight from reaching the ground. Layers Of Rainforests. They aren't blind. This is why the loss of forests often leads to drought. The Amazon rainforest covers an enormous 6.7 million square kilometres. Due to the Tropical Rainforests High Temperatures, the Average Air Humidity Falls Between 77% and 88%. 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. Also, palm oil plantations are the main reason why forest land is being cleared, leaving orangutans with no shelter and food. The canopy blocks winds, rainfall, and sunlight, creating a humid, still, and dark environment below. A falling raindrop can travel 10 minutes from a rainforests canopy to the bottom floor. Tropical rainforests have an average temperature of about 70-85 F (22-30 C). 11. Find out how you can help make a difference. Tropical woods such as teak, balsa, rosewood, and mahogany are used in flooring, doors, windows, boatbuilding, and cabinetry. 2,853 acres of tropical forest are lost each hour. Other amazing things you can find in the Belize rainforest include deep blue swimming holes, perfect for a refreshing swim on a hot day, and giant waterfalls. Shell do anything in her power to help an animal in need. Temperate rainforests are located in the mid-latitudes, where temperatures are much more mild than the tropics. 13. 2. Thats good because too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can make the planet too warm. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world's plant and animal specieseven though they cover . The cassowary is one of the most dangerous birds in the world, and also one of the most ancient rainforest animals. Temperate rainforests are not as biologically diverse as tropical rainforests. The Amazon is well known for a number of reasons. Save the Rainforest: Be a Role Model and Get Active. Rainforests also store a considerable percentage of the worlds freshwater, with the Amazon Basin alone storing one-fifth. Smaller rodents, such as rats and lowland pacas (a type of striped rodent indigenous to Central and South America), hide from predators beneath the shallow roots of trees that dominate the canopy and emergent layer. Due to palm oil concessions, between 1,000 and 5,000 orangutans are killed every year. By definition, rainforests are woodlands characterized by lush vegetation and comparatively high temperature and rainfall throughout the year. Tropical rainforests are home to one-third of the planets animals, including over 1 million different insect species. They absorb CO2 and release H2O. There are four layers of rainforest and here is the rainforest layers facts for kids: 1. 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. The rainforests act as natural water filters, keeping pollution out of the water supply. Fact 9: Rainforests are usually absent where the temperature goes below or gets close to 0o This is because the plants and animals which are usually found in rainforests are not well adapted to withstand frost! Rainforests Cover Less Than 2% of the Earths Surface. Explore a sampling in this colorful rhyming story. Amazon River facts: The Amazon River is the world's largest river by volume of water, reaching an elevation of 18,366 feet (5,598 m) above sea level. In turn, this seal allows tourists to make ecologically smart vacation plans. These trees are mostly broadleaf trees and have a shorter lifespan. Animals that cant fly or glide are usually quite smallthey need to be light enough to be supported by a trees slender uppermost layers. Occasional cases of dry seasons are . Lets learn more facts about the rainforest and see what you can do to prevent its destruction. U.S. states and territories facts and photos. Tropical forests presently cover about 1.84 billion hectares or about 12 percent of Earth's land surface (3.6% of Earth's surface). Lets discuss their jungle habitat, rainforest plants, and animals in numbers. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. This species of mahogany is an emergent tree (emerges through the canopy) and grows up to 70 meters tall. In the Amazon rainforest, the towering trees of the emergent layer include the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) and the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra). 6. Economic inequalities fuel this rapid deforestation. Fact 3: In Asia, the largest of the rainforests are situated along the Malay Archipelago (including the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, the Republic of the Philippines and the Malay Peninsula) and the island of New Guinea, including Northern Australia. world.LEARN Switching to reusable utensils and straws, or buying eco-friendly rubber toys for your pet will make at least a small difference. Rain Forest. Microsoft Encarta 2009 [DVD]. 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Fact 1: Rainforests only cover around 2 percent the total surface area of the Earth and about 6% of the Earth's land surface, but about 50 percent of all known species of the plants and animals on the earth live in the rainforest. Many individuals, communities, governments, intergovernmental organizations, and conservation groups are taking innovative approaches to protect threatened rainforest habitats. Rainforests are lush, warm, wet habitats. Examples of forests that meet these criteria can be found at the flanks of the equator in Asia, Africa, South, and Central America and South America. Tammy Slaton's weight loss journey has been a big part of 1000-lb Sisters as she tries to get her health back on track. In some rainforests it rains more than an inch every day! 25% of modern medicines originate from tropical plants. According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, 70% of plants useful in the treatment of cancer are found only in rainforests. There can be as much as 450inches of rain in a single year in a tropical rainforest. Learn the most interesting rainforest facts and statistics of 2023 about the most diverse, mysterious, and impressive ecosystem on Earth. 1996 - 2023 National Geographic Society. More than half of the worlds animals live in the rainforest. Tropical rainforests encompass approximately 1.2 billion hectares (3 billion acres) of vegetation and are sometimes described as the Earths thermostat. Rainforests affect the global rainfall pattern. These geographic conditions help create areas of high rainfall. 1. Because of the intricate interdependencies of the rainforest ecosystem, the entire web can suffer if it is damaged in one . Compounds in rainforest plants are already used to treat malaria, heart disease, bronchitis, hypertension, rheumatism, diabetes, muscle tension, arthritis, glaucoma, dysentery, and tuberculosis, among other health problems. The plots are never abandoned and are passed on within the family. Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park on the Pacific northwest coast of North America is an example of a temperate rainforest. Many of the plants and animals in the rainforest havent even been discovered yet! Here are our top facts about this magical place. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Among the rich rainforest vegetation, only 1% of plants are in use. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. The tropical rainforests are one of the oldest biomes on Earth, with some of them dating back to the age of dinosaurs. Their diet consists of plants and animals from every layer of the rainforest. Fact 15: The rainforests have been proven to be very productive! Fig trees, common throughout most of the worlds tropical rainforests, may be the most familiar fruit tree in the canopy. Rain Forest Warriors: How Indigenous Tribes Protect the Amazon, National Geographic Environment: Tropical Rain Forest Wildlife. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Unsustainable industrial and agricultural development, however, has severely degraded the health of the worlds rainforests. Even larger predators, including leopards (Panthera pardus), skulk in the darkness to surprise their prey. How are Spits Formed and 7 Most Famous Spits on Our Planet, Copyright 2023 Earth Eclipse . Out of 11,000 endemic plant species on the island, over 1,000 are jasmine, found in abundance in the rainforests. The tropical rainforest biome covers less than 10% of the Earth's surface but more than half of all terrestrial species live here; Rainfall in tropical rainforests varies between 2000-5000 mm per year but tropical rainforests only have distinct wet and dry seasons 3. Eventually they extend into the canopy, reaching it via the understory and lower canopy trees, and sometimes growing up with their supporting trees. Game hunted by the Yanomami include deer, tapirs (an animal similar to a pig), monkeys, birds, and armadillos. 9. The biggest rainforest is the Amazon rainforest. Now, lets learn some interesting facts about the tropical rainforest biome. Maybe they don't know that they can actively contribute to the protection of the rainforest. Understory plants often produce flowers that are large and easy to see, such as Heliconia, native to the Americas and the South Pacific. 11. See the positive change our work is making around the Fact 5: The rainforests have been proven to play a critical role in global climate regulation. For instance, one of the worlds largest species of bat, the Madagascan flying fox (Pteropus rufus)found on the African island of Madagascaris an important pollinator that mainly feeds on juice from fruit, but will chew flowers for their nectar. The Amazon Rainforest is an excellent example of a tropical rainforest biome. GIVING OPTIONS, The Rainforest Alliance certification seal means that the Some rainforests are threatened by massive hydroelectric power projects, where dams flood acres of land. But some rainforests grow in temperate regions where its cooler. 48 acres of tropical forest are lost each minute. Fact 18: Rainforests hold more than two-thirds of the worlds plant species! Rubber and medicines also come from rainforests. Citizens, governments, intergovernmental organizations, and conservation groups are working together to protect these invaluable but fragile ecosystems. This area is comprised of the tops of trees and . Here are 15 serious threats to rainforests: 1. Orangutans build nests every night out of leaves intropical rainforest trees, giving themselves a safe and comfy place to sleep for the night! Parts of the Congo can be found in several other countries too, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. According to a study deciphering the Brazilian Atlantic forest, regenerating the rainforest to its native form can take up to 4000 years. However, we cannot afford to give up on tropical forests. An enormous butterfly flits from plant to plant. Animals often maneuver through the emergent layers unstable topmost branches by flying or gliding. Nearly two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest lies within the borders of Brazil. You cannot download interactives. Not only do they provide air, water, medicine, food, and shelter to a multitude of living beings, they are also one of our best natural defenses against climate change because of their capacity to absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The rainforest represents the worlds most biologically diverse ecosystems ever to be spotted on Earth! The old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, for example, produce three times the biomass (living or once-living material) of tropical rainforests. The diet is here to stay,, We cannot sustain our lives without our planet. Sign up for useful tips to green your life and protect our planet. The New Guinea rainforest has over 11,000 known species of vascular plants, 1,200 species of trees, and around 200 species of ferns. The New Guinea Rainforest Has Plants That Date Back 100,000,000 Years Ago. Occasional cases of dry seasons are usually short and unpredictable. Since 1947, the total area of tropical rainforests has probably been reduced by more than half, to about 6.2 to 7.8 million square kilometers (3 million square miles). The Amazon is also home to black caimans (Melanosuchus niger), large reptiles related to alligators, while the Congo River is home to the caimans crocodilian cousin, the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus). Nearly 1.6 billion peoplemore than 25% of the worlds populationrely on forest resources for their livelihoods, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and most of them (1.2 billion) use trees on farms to generate food and income. Stopping the Insect Apocalypse: Tips on How You Can Help Save Insects, How to Choose More Sustainable Gifts that Support People and the Planet, Use our conservation curricula in your classroom. The rainforest floor is very dark, with less than 1% of the light making it through the canopy of the trees. Typical examples include The rainforest in Southwestern Canada and Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. But there are types of monkeys much different, 89% of CO2 emissions came from fossil fuels and industry, 8% to 10% of all US fires are from discarded cigarettes, 70% of the worlds water supplies go to agriculture, 80% of the worlds insects and 40% of bird species, 50+ Terrifying Factory Farming Facts to Know in 2022, Disturbing Circus Animals Statistics & Facts To Know in 2022, Revealing Vegan Statistics: Veganism Is on the Rise in 2022, 2022s Environment Statistics Beyond the Human Impact, 30+ Insect Population Statistics Every Human Needs to Know. Gorillas are herbivores that move throughout the dark, dense rainforest as well as more sun-dappled swamps and jungles. Lots of smaller animals live in rainforests too, including dragonflies, tree frogs, and at least hundreds of species of ants. A rainforest is an area of tall trees and a high amount of rainfall. A . Fact 17: In most rainforests, some places within the forest get at least one (1) inch of rain or more per day! The Amazon rainforest locations cover nine countries, and more than half of the rainforest is in Brazil. Rainforests are Earths oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. The importance of rainforest species in public health is even more incredible considering that less than one percent of rainforest species have been analyzed for their medicinal value. Think of Pineapple, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Rubber and Medicines They all come from the rainforest! 4. The Mbuti, a community indigenous to the Ituri rainforest in Central Africa, have traditionally been hunter-gatherers. While there is some debate about its length, the river is generally believed to be at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long, which makes it the second longest river in the world after the Nile River in . Whats more terrifying, some Amazon facts predict the rainforest will collapse even sooner. Monkeys can understand written numbers and can even count. 7. These demands encourage local governments to develop rainforest acreage at a fraction of its value. Its about the size of the contiguous United States, which doesnt include Alaska or Hawaii. 30 Fun Penguin Facts For Kids Youll Wish Youd Known, What is a Spit Landform in Geography? The canopy is from 60 to 130 feet. Jewel-toned parrots squawk and fly through its trees. The shallow roots of rainforest trees absorb these nutrients, and dozens of predators consume the decomposers! Rainforests are lush, warm, wet habitats. They include beetles over 1,000 species , arachnids, scorpions, praying mantises, katydids, weaver ants, bullet ants, butterflies, centipedes, cockroaches, jeweled caterpillars, wasps and bees. 2. Sweet fruit entices animals, which eat the fruit and deposit seeds on the forest floor as droppings. One of the tropical rainforest characteristics is the diverse terrestrial ecosystems. 2. Rainforest inhabitants have a very different life than ours. They start out as small upright shrubs. Palm oil is among the threatening biotic factors, and with the increased oil production, the rainforests water and vegetation are at great risk. As their name implies, temperate rainforests are much cooler than their tropical cousins, averaging between 10 and 21C (50 and 70F). Trees and other plants release water into the atmospheresomething called transpirationthen the water falls back to Earth as rain. The silent two-toed sloth chews on the leaves, shoots, and fruit in the canopy. Plants here, such as palms and philodendrons, are much shorter and have larger leaves than plants that dominate the canopy. Because of their warmth and moisture, tropical rainforests produce. 3. Vampire bats and anacondas live in the rainforests of South America. ), Causes and Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion, Causes and Effects to Environmental Pollution, Causes and Effects of Ocean Acidification, Causes and Effects of Marine Habitat Loss, 35+ Outstanding Facts About the Planet Earth. Thriving in warm, humid regions, rainforests used to cover the majority of the world; 2. Here are five interesting facts about this incredible place: 1. The large leaves are necessary to capture as much light as possible (since most of the light is usually intercepted by the leaves of much taller trees). Tasmanias temperate rainforests have pine trees that. They usually live for 50 - 100 years. The population of humans has been on the rise with scientists estimating that it will reach 9 billion by 2050. They are also much less sunny and rainy, receiving anywhere between 150-500 centimeters (60-200 inches) of rain per year. The flower is well known for its putrid smell (which attracts flies as its pollinators). From the understory, the Mbuti may gather honey from bee hives, or hunt monkeys. Cooler temperatures and a more stable climate slow down decomposition, allowing more material to accumulate. 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. Most of the wildfires are caused by people, and 8% to 10% of all US fires are from discarded cigarettes. Many rainforests are located in developing countries with economies based on natural resources. Rainforests are a powerful natural climate solution. Such ample sunlight and moisture are the essential building blocks for tropical rainforests diverse flora and fauna. Considering how many forests there are worldwide, its no wonder there are still unknown animal and plant species. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c06ab0ece3b2a23 Fact 10: The altitude of a rainforest and distance from the equator determine the temperature in a rainforest. Ending deforestation is the best chance to preserve wildlife, help stop climate change and protect the rights of forest societies. Many bats, birds, and insects prefer the open airspace the understory offers. Amazing! The animals of the temperate rainforest are mostly made up of large mammals and small birds, insects, and reptiles. The rainforest is waking up. There are rows of sharp spines on the undersides of the leaves. Rampant deforestation could cause many important rainforest habitats to disappear completely within the next hundred years. Once covering 14% of land on Earth, rainforests now make up only 6%. While each layer is distinct, they exist in an interdependent system: processes and species in one layer influence those in another. All rights reserved. Others have a strong smell, such as orchids. The top layer of the rainforest is the emergent layer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. New Guineas dense tropical forests are home to some of the most unique plants and animals. Latin American forests are home to black howler monkeys, whose calls can be heard almost 5km away! Fact 22: As trees grow larger within the rainforest, the leaves tend to get smaller. Most lianas produce long shoots with tendrils that attach themselves to a support. The water forms a thick cloud-cover over the rainforest, so it is always warm and humid. Rainforests are important to our food supply. A mushroom discovered in the tropical rainforest of Ecuador, for example, is capable of consuming polyurethanea hard, durable type of plastic used in everything from garden hoses to carpets to shoes. The climbing plants expend less energy and time in growing, as the support system (for exposure to sunlight and adequate rainfall) needed for their growth is provided by climbing other trees within the rainforest. Rain Forests Facts for Kids. Over 100 million hectares of tropical rainforest are currently being destroyed each year due to deforestation, There are over 3000 km of roots in one hectare of forest which form a complex mesh that makes soil more stable.
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