Tropical rainforest is one of the earth's most spectacular natural wonders! It seems to be mysterious for many people. A place of wilderness, where there are lots of trees and few people living in. In fact, they are so called because they grow in those parts of the world where there is heavy rain all the year round. They flourish in or near the tropics, the hot regions that lie either side of the equator. The atmosphere in a tropical rainforest is permanently humid – hot and damp.
A rainforest is often referred to as a jungle, which is a Hindi word from India meaning a wilderness. A true jungle is a thick tangle of vegetation, through which people have to force and cut their way. Rainforests contain patches of jungle, but mainly they are more open. The forest floor is covered with rotting leaves. Rainforest trees are very tall broadleaved evergreens. The tallest trees have buttress roots, wing-like growths that spread out from the base of the trunk to act as props, while others have stilt roots which grow down from the trunk or branches, often in graceful arches. All the trees carry their branches and leaves at the top of long slender trunks, forming a huge umbrella-like green canopy. The dense canopy filters much of the daylight, leaving a shady green world beneath it.
The rainforests contain more different species of plants and animals than any other part of the world – even more than the oceans that cover nearly three-quarters of the earth. A forest in the tropics has between five and twenty times as many species of trees as one in the temperate zone of North America or Europe, but there are relatively few of each species. Rainforests provide a home for many of the world's most fascinating animals.
The rainforests are a vast storehouse of substances potentially useful to humans. We already owe many of our foods and medicines to them, as well as much of our timber. Sadly, having survived virtually unchanged for millions of years, these precious rainforests are now being destroyed at an alarming rate.
retrive from http://library.thinkquest.org/26634/forest/intro.htm
A rainforest is often referred to as a jungle, which is a Hindi word from India meaning a wilderness. A true jungle is a thick tangle of vegetation, through which people have to force and cut their way. Rainforests contain patches of jungle, but mainly they are more open. The forest floor is covered with rotting leaves. Rainforest trees are very tall broadleaved evergreens. The tallest trees have buttress roots, wing-like growths that spread out from the base of the trunk to act as props, while others have stilt roots which grow down from the trunk or branches, often in graceful arches. All the trees carry their branches and leaves at the top of long slender trunks, forming a huge umbrella-like green canopy. The dense canopy filters much of the daylight, leaving a shady green world beneath it.
The rainforests contain more different species of plants and animals than any other part of the world – even more than the oceans that cover nearly three-quarters of the earth. A forest in the tropics has between five and twenty times as many species of trees as one in the temperate zone of North America or Europe, but there are relatively few of each species. Rainforests provide a home for many of the world's most fascinating animals.
The rainforests are a vast storehouse of substances potentially useful to humans. We already owe many of our foods and medicines to them, as well as much of our timber. Sadly, having survived virtually unchanged for millions of years, these precious rainforests are now being destroyed at an alarming rate.
retrive from http://library.thinkquest.org/26634/forest/intro.htm
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