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 Tropical rainforest |
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 Tropical rainforests are usually found around the equator. They are common in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Southern Mexico and on many of the Pacific Islands. Within the World Wildlife Fund's biome classification, tropical rainforests are considered a type of tropical wet forest (or tropical moist broadleaf forest) and may also be referred to as lowland equatorial evergreen rainforest. Minimum normal annual rainfall between 1,750 millimetres (69 in) and 2,000 millimetres (79 in) occurs in this climate region. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year.
Rainforests are home to half of all the living animal and plant species on the planet. Tropical rain forests are called the "world's largest pharmacy" because over one-quarter of modern medicines originate from its plants. The undergrowth in a rainforest is restricted in many areas by the lack of sunlight at ground level. This makes it possible for people and other animals to walk through the forest. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned for any reason, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense tangled growth of vines, shrubs and small trees called a jungle. |
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| Rainforest Layers |
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 The rainforest is divided into five different parts, each with different plants and animals, adapted for life in the particular area. These are: the floor layer, the shrub layer, the understory layer, the canopy layer and the emergent layer. Only the emergent layer is unique to tropical rainforests, while the others are also found in temperate rainforests.
The emergent layer contains a small number of very large trees which grow above the general canopy, reaching heights of 45-55 m, although on occasion a few species will grow to 70 m or 80 m tall. They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds. Birds of pray, butterflies, bats inhabit this layer.
The canopy is host to the largest percentage of animals, such as tree frogs, birds and insects. The canopy is the layer containing many trees just underneath the emergent. |
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| Rainforest Habitation |
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 Tropical rainforests are able to support human populations. Food resources within the forest are extremely dispersed due to the high biological diversity and what food does exist is largely restricted to the canopy and requires considerable energy to obtain. Some groups of hunter-gatherers have exploited rainforest on a seasonal basis but dwelt primarily in adjacent savanna and open forest environments where food is much more abundant.
Other peoples described as rainforest dwellers are hunter-gatherers who subsist in large part by trading high value forest products such as hides, feathers, and honey with agricultural people living outside the forest. |
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| Rainforest Pharmaceutical and biodiversity resource |
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Tropical rain forests are called "the world's largest pharmacy" because of the large amount of natural medicines discovered in rainforests that are derived from rainforest plants. For example, rain forests contain the "basic ingredients of hormonal contraception methods, stimulants, and tranquilizing drugs". Curare (a paralyzing drug) and quinine (a malaria cure) are also found there. |
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