Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches). 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 a rainforest is restricted in many areas by the poor penetration of sunlight to ground level. This makes it easy to walk through undisturbed, mature rainforest. 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. There are two types of rainforest, tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest.
Read more about Rainforest: Tropical, Temperate, Layers, Flora and Fauna, Soils, Effect On Global Climate, Human Uses, Native Peoples, Deforestation
Other articles related to "rainforest, rainforests":
... small remnant of "gallery" or "riverine" rainforest in Northern New South Wales ... It was once part of a larger rainforest known as Boyd's Scrub ... It is dominated by a large Moreton Bay Figtree surrounded by Black Beans and other rainforest trees including the Brown Pine ...
... Johan Eliasch and MP Frank Field out of their common interest in protecting the rainforest ... to enable individuals to sponsor a piece of the rainforest and be engaged directly in the rainforest’s preservation, helping to prevent climate change ...
... A tropical rainforest climate is usually found at latitudes within five degrees North and south of the equator, which are dominated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone ... far North Queensland), while not everywhere along the equatorial region there is a tropical rainforest climate (see also Equatorial dry zone) ... Additionally, while tropical rainforest climates are typically located near the equator (hence the alternate name “equatorial climate”), there are a number of instances where the climate is found some distance ...
... Cool Earth promotes the ethos that rainforests should be worth more standing than cut down ... They claim to secure threatened rainforest that, within 18 months or less, would otherwise be sold to loggers and ranchers ... The charity works with rainforest communities and employs local people to protect the forests which enables them to get income from the forest without cutting it down ...
... Tropical and temperate rainforests have been subjected to heavy logging and agricultural clearance throughout the 20th century and the area covered by rainforests around the world ... be exterminated within 50 years) due to the removal of habitat with destruction of the rainforests ... Another factor causing the loss of rainforest is expanding urban areas ...