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Rain Forest

Rain Forest

The rainforest is about life. Rain forests are wooded areas that receive more than 78 inches of rainfall a year and have temperatures that never reach freezing; the ecosystem that houses the largest amount of biodiversity on the planet.

Here are some interesting facts about the tropical rain forests:

1. In the tropical rainforest, a high percentage of plant families, genus and species are located in the canopy.

2. The tropical rainforest canopy experiences more drastic changes in temperature and humidity than the majority of hot deserts.

3. It has been shown that the evolution of prehensile tails in mammals is closely related to the abundance of lianas in the rainforest.

Rain Forest

4. The soil in the topical rainforest is generally quite poor. Nutrients are found in the vegetation, especially in large trees.

5. There are species of plants that have not been seen again in tropical rainforests that have been altered. Here lies the importance of preserving our virgin forests.

6. In spite of covering just 7% of the Earth’s land, tropical rainforests are home to more than 50% of all the plant and animal species on the planet.

7. Rainforests cover 2% of the Earth’s surface, or 6% of its land mass, yet they house over half the plant and animal species on Earth. They originally covered at least twice that area.

8. Rainforests are being destroyed at a staggering rate. According to the National Academy of Science, at least 50 million acres per year are lost, the size of England, Wales and Scotland combined.

Rain Forest

9. Despite the small land area they cover, rainforests are home to more than half of the 5 to 10 million plant and animal species on the globe. Rainforests also support 90,000 of the 250,000 identified plant species. Scientists estimate that there are at least 30,000 as yet undiscovered plants, most of which are rainforest species.

10. One fourth of the medicines available today owe their existence to plants. Seventy percent of the plants useful in cancer treatment identified by the National Cancer Institute are found only in the rainforest.

11. A typical four square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1500 species of flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 125 mammal species, 400 species of birds, 100 of reptiles, 60 of amphibians, and 150 different species of butterflies. One square meter of fallen leaves, when analyzed, turned up 50 species of ants alone.

By Dave Forest
Article Source: goarticles.com