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What are Rainforests?
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Hi there, and welcome to our Tropical Rainforest website! We hope that you will learn all about the different areas of the rainforest, and about the different people, animals and plants that call it home. |
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Lets have a look at the map. It shows us where most of the worlds tropical rainforests are located. As you can see, they are mainly in South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. But lets go and find out what a rainforest is. |
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What are Tropical Rainforests? Tropical Rainforests are large areas of evergreen trees and plants that are located along the equator. These regions are commonly known as the tropics. The Rainforest is an ecosystem that has a special climate that encourages year round growth.
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Where are they located?
Tropical rainforests are located along the equator. The largest rainforest is to be found in South America, and is known as the Amazon Rainforest. There are also rainforests to be found in Africa, Asia and in a small area of Australia. |
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What do these rainforests have in common? The weather in the rainforest is very warm and damp, and, as a result Tropical Rainforests are normally very wet and warm. It rains almost every day. Most of the rain falls during the rainy season, which is called the monsoon, between mid July and mid September. The average yearly rainfall is about 60 inches. The rainforest receives about 12 hours of sunshine each day, which provides plenty of energy for plants to grow. |
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Layers of the Rainforest
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There is a fantastic variety of plants to be found in the rainforest. All these plants and trees form a system of layers. The rainforest is made up of four of these layers. They are |
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The Forest Floor: The forest floor is very dark. The canopy trees prevent light from reaching the floor, so the plants and animals must adapt to the darkness. The soil is very rich because of all the decaying plant and animal life. It is mainly made up of decomposed material, and this provied food to the living plant through a special root system. |
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The Understory:The
understory has a little more light. It is the home of many animals, including frogs,
owls, bats and monkeys. Shrubs and young trees form part of this layer. The
leaf cutter ants are inportant here, as they eat the fallen leaves. Most animals and
plants live in this layer and the next one, which is the canopy.
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The Canopy:The
canopy receives a lot of sunshine. Birds love this layer because of its fruit and
nuts. Small
plants called epiphytes, which need a lot of sunlight, attach themselves
to the trunks and branches of trees here. They never touch the ground and are called
air plants, even though they live on other plants. Many plants here are used for
medicines. Animal find both food and shelter here.
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The Emergent
Layer:
The emergent layer is where the trees break through. These trees are unusual, because they have huge base fins, called buttresses, which help support them in the soil and also help protect them from being blown over in the high monsoon winds. Eagles, macaws and toucans fly around here, looking for nesting areas and fruit. |
