Tropical Rainforest

          There are two different types of rainforests. One is the tropical rainforest and the other is the temperate rainforest. Rainforests are found in 15 countries. Rainforests are found near the equator where the temperature stays above 80 degrees farenheit. These dense, damp forests occur in Latin and South America, Africa, and in Southeast Asia. Even though these forests only cover 7% of the Earths surface, the rainforest accounts for 50-90% of its animal and plant life.

    Tropical rainforests are the oldest of the rainforests. The Tropical Rainforests have three layers: the forest floor, the understory, and the canopy. The forest floor has very poor soil. Mainly bugs live on this layer, but larger animals such as jaguars and gorillas live there. Smaller animals live in the understory, such as anteaters, lemurs, and tree kangaroos. In the understory you will also find small trees and shrubery. The canopy is made up of the tops of the trees which can stand 200 feet in some places. Many birds, monkeys, apes, snakes, and other animals also live in this layer.

    Temperate rainforests are located along the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States, and are also found in New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, as well as Scotland and Norway. These rainforests are much more scarce than the tropical rainforests. The Temperate rainforest is the youngest of the rainfoersts, they tend to be less than 10,000 years old. The soil in the Temperate rainforest is much more nutrient based than that of the tropical rainforests.

    Rainforests are very important for us to protect. This is one of the only areas where trees can grow to amazing heights. There are over 180 different types of trees in these rainforests. These trees are quickly being cut down because the  rainforest houses valuable woods like mahoganies, teaks, rosewoods and okoumes. These woods are very valuabe to wood companies. These trees also offer other valuable materials like nuts, fruits, rubber and rattans. It is very important for us to keep these rainforests the way they are.

    In these rainforests we also find a very large number of animal species. These different species have adapted hemselves to this particular biome. Scientists have noticed that most of the species have a green or brown coloring. These colors help the animals blend in with their surroundings. One of the best creatures we see this with is the chameleon. The chameleon changes its body color to whatever it is standing on or next to. This is not the only creature that has adapted but it is one of the best examples that alot of people have seen.


click on the animals of the rainforest below to learn more:

Tree Frog: 
Rhinoceras Beetle:

Information provided by: