General Rainforest Information

Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of one football field per second!  Rainforests make up about 2% of the earth or, not including the water, rainforests make up about 7% of the land.  The rainforests are made of layers -- the tallest can be 150 feet tall.  There are at least 1,400 different tropical plants (some can even cure cancer) and at least 300 trees that can only be found in the rainforests.  Most of these trees have shallow roots that fan out and provide homes to many animals and insects that also can only be found in the rainforests.  In only four square miles there are approximately 1,800 flowering plants, 800 trees, 125 mammals and 150 butterfly species.

There are four lays in the rainforests:

   Canopy

   understory

   underbrush

   ground

Rainforests

          At least 50% of rainforests are made up of animals. They are being cut down at the rate of one football field per second, so a lot of animals will be left without a home since they depend on the plants. Rainforests are about 2% of the earth, and 7% of just the land. The tallest layer in the rainforest could be 150 feet high. There are at least 1,400 different tropical plants that have a cure for cancer. There are at least 300 trees. The roots of the tallest trees are shallow and they fan out. In four square miles, there are about 1,800 flowering plants, 750 trees, 125 mammals, and 150 butterfly species. In one square mile, there might be about one or two of the same types of trees. There are four layers in rainforests: the canopy, the understory, the underbrush, and the ground. The canopy can be from 60 to 150 feet tall, with branches that fan out like an umbrella that is really close together. Because of this, it blocks the sunlight from the lower plants on the ground level, but also blocks it from rain falling directly on them, and instead, running down the trunks and dripping off the leaves. The vines (lianas) are as thick as a person and climb up the trees for sunlight. On the under story, the vines are smaller trees ferns and palms that have all adapted to poor soil and few nutrients, so they easily adapt indoors, including anthuriemicaladium, philodendron, and garden walls. In the underbrush, there are small trees under the bigger trees. On the ground, there are few plants, and is covered with wet leaves, leaf litter, mosses, herbs, fungi and lots of decay that gives nutrients back to the soil.
          In temperate rainforests, there are the following vegetation: bananas, avocados, pineapples, peppers, peanuts, oranges, papayas, lemons, cinnamon, spices, coconut, and sugar. Curare is used as an anesthetic and to relax people for surgery. Quinine from a cinchona tree is used to treat malaria. Rosy Periwinkle has a drug in it that is anti-lukemia and gives patients 99% chance to get the drug in vemision. Epiphytes grow canopy trees, as well as moss, orchids, and lichens.