1. What and Where is a tropical rainforest?
A tropical rainforest is defined by two things: location and the amount of rainfall they receive. Tropical rainforests are obviously located in the tropics, between the tropic of cancer and Capricorn. Rainforests receive from 4 to 8 meters of rain a year. The heavy vegetation blocks the rainfall, and water reaches the forest floor by rolling down branches and trunks or as a fine spray. Another distinctive characteristic is that rainforests have no "seasonality" -- no dry or cold season of slower growth (Rainforest Action Network).
Tropical rainforests are located all around the world, from India to Peru to the Ivory Coast.
This image provided by Rainforest Action Network
Although rainforests cover only 7% of the land on Earth, they provide us with an abundance of resources. Here are a few direct uses humans find from the rainforest:
-One of the most important aspects of a rainforest is it's biodiversity. They contain over half of the Earth's estimated 2-30 million species. Scientists estimate that there are at least 30,000 undiscovered plants, most of which are rainforest species.
This image provided and copyrighted by Raintree Nutrition, Inc.
All rights reserved. http://www.rain-tree.com-Another importance rainforests have to humans are the discovered and not-yet-discovered medicinal plants. 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients and 25% of the active ingredient in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest. Two drugs have already been developed from rainforest in Madagascar that have proved to be effective for leukemia treatment.
-It is also important to remember that there are thousands of indigenous people that have made the rainforest their home and live a sustainable life in the forest.
This image provided and copyrighted by Raintree Nutrition, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.rain-tree.com
-Many of the foods we eat come from the rainforests, such as: Brazilian nuts, avocado, and bananas, along with dozens more.
Rainforests also play a critical role in our life, indirectly effecting humans.
-One of the most important aspects of rainforests is the affect they can have on global warming. Because they hold vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), when the forest is burned or cut down and left to decay, they release the CO2 into the atmosphere. CO2 is the second largest factor contributing to the greenhouse effect.
-Rainforests also serve as watershed protectors.
2. Amazon River Region
"The Amazon River Region is the includes the Amazon River and tributaries and the Amazon rainforest. It covers over 1.2 billion acres representing two-fifths of the enormous South American continent and is found in nine South American countries: Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and the three Guyanas. With 2.5 million square miles of rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest represents 54 percent of the total rainforests left on the planet"(Rain-tree).
This is a good picture of the Amazon River Region.
One can see that most of the rainforest lies in Brazil.
This image provide and copyrighted by Rain-tree Nutrition, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.rain-tree.com
3. Brazil's Amazonia
Almost all of Brazil's standing tropical forests are in the Amazon Basin, a region commonly know as Amazonia. About 58% of Brazil's total land area is covered with rainforest.
Amazonia has been characterized as the "single richest region of the tropical biome."(Mahar 5).
One of the most important environmental problems of today is the rapid disappearance of the Amazonian rainforest.
This image provided by Dan Petr
"Most scientist agree that deforestation is greatly reducing this natural variety and is thereby depriving some regional populations of their livelihoods and humankind of as-yet-undiscovered medicinal plants or pest-resistant genetic material" (Mahar 5).
continue to Causes of Deforestation or return to Deforestation Home
