What is rainforest

What is rainforest

What is rainforest
WHAT IS A RAINFOREST

A Rainforest and its waterfall


Rainforests are the Earth's oldest living ecosystems.
They are so amazing and beautiful

These incredible places cover only 6% of the Earth's surface but yet they contain MORE THAN 1/2 of the world's plant and animal species!

A rainforest can be described as a tall, dense jungle. The reason why this is called "rain" is because of the high amount of rainfall it gets per year. The climate of a rain forest is very hot and humid so the animals and plants that exist there.

 

 Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with annual rainfall in the case of tropical rainforests between 250 and 450 centimetres (98 and 177 in), and definitions varying by region for temperate rainforests. The monsoon trough, alternatively known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating the climatic conditions necessary for the Earth's tropical rainforests.

Around 40% to 75% of all biotic species are indigenous to the rainforests. It has been estimated that there may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests are also responsible for 28% of the world's oxygen turnover, sometimes misnamed oxygen production,processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and consuming it through respiration.

The undergrowth in some areas of a rainforest can be restricted by poor penetration of sunlight to ground level. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs and small trees, called a jungle. The term jungle is also sometimes applied to tropical rainforests generally.

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