Facts about Tropical Rainforests

Rainforests are characterized by high rainfall and tropical rainforests are forest in tropical region (near the equator). These forests occupy a larger area as compared to any other rainforest. They have the largest bio-diversity in the world. These are the most common rainforest and are evenly distributed all over the world except Europe and Antarctica, of course. The continents where rainforests are found are:

• Asia: Rainforests are mostly present in South-east Asia from Myanmar to Philippines.
• Australia: The north-eastern part of Australia is covered with tropical rain forest.
• America: The tropical forests are located in South America (Amazon river basin) and Central America.
• Africa: The forests are present in the Congo-river basin.

Soil
The ecosystem in the tropical rain forest is much different from any other forests in the world. Heavy rain in these forests causes weathering of the soil. The soil here is very poor in nutrients but rich in aluminum and iron oxide. Most of the tropical rain forests in the world are very old; which means there has been extensive usage of the available nutrients. Then how does the soil support such a huge vegetation? The answer is their 'rapid nutrient cycle'. Unlike most of the forests the soil in these rain forests get the nutrients from the living vegetation, dead wood and decaying vegetation. Due to abundance of decomposing agents present in these areas, the decomposition of waste products is so fast that the nutrients do not penetrate in the soil and are present in the upper layers. Hence, the soil in this region cannot be recommended for agriculture.

Vegetation
More than 2/3rd of the plant species around the world are found in the tropical rainforests. These forests are dense with vegetation. The soil being poor the trees have shallow roots. Broad-leaf evergreen trees are very common in these forests. Trees that grow very tall (70 to 80 m) to receive the sunlight are called emergents. To absorb more nutrients from the soil these tall trees have developed a special feature called 'buttressed roots'. Buttressed roots are the additional roots which grow from the base of the trunks, and can reach up to a height of 15 feet. There are also many epiphytes in these forests. They may be parasitic or free-living. You will find a number of carnivorous plants out here including the famous pitcher plant. The under growth is less developed. As soon as some sunlight reaches the ground by any means, dense under growth starts developing.

The plants of rainforests are mostly known for their medicinal properties. One in every four pharmaceutical products comes from these plants. About 1400 tropical rainforest plants are believed to be effective for cancer cure. Amazon rainforests alone produce about 40% of the world's oxygen through photosynthesis, so you can guess what is the amount of oxygen that all these forests combined produce!.

Animals
More than half of the earth's animal and insect species live here. Only 1% of these species have ever been studied. There are over millions of species of insects. Many species of rare birds live here. Some of the amazing animal species that are found here are:

• The anacondas, the biggest snakes in the world. They are mostly found in the amazon rainforest region.
• A large constricting called Boa constrictor is found in South and Central America.
• The extremely rare blue morpho butterfly is also found in South and Central America.
• Aye-Aye is a strange nocturnal primate found in Madagascar.
• The blue-tongued skink, is an Australian lizard with blue tongue.
• Chlamydosaurus, these are frilled lizards found in Australia.

Around 40% of tropical rainforests have already been cut down in Latin America and Southeast Asia. If we do not take proper measures to save these forests, we will lose the most valuable source of pharmaseutical products as well as the wide variety of species available in these forests. They play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance. They are extremely necessary for our survival. Protecting the tropical rain forests is the need of the hour.