We explain what the rainforest is and what kind of animals live there. In addition, how is its flora and the characteristics of the tropical forest.
Half of the rainforest has been razed, damaged or cut off by man.What is the rainforest?
Also called tropical forest, the jungle tropical is a green belt that is located on the equator. Among its main qualities are its high temperatures average, as well as its abundant rainfall, which is constant throughout the months, which can reach 5000 mm in a single year, in addition to having dense vegetation. Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, China, Peru, India, Philippines or Madagascar are some of the countries that have this biome.
Although it is true that they do not occupy much of the land surface –It is estimated that they represent about 5 percent of the total-, the tropical forest fulfills several functions that are key to theplanet. First of all, this green belt, found mostly in the Congo Basin, the Amazon and Southeast Asia, is thehabitat of millions of speciesBoth animals and plants, which are found in enormous quantities.
In addition, the importance of the tropical forest has to do with the amount of carbon that it manages to store, which is essential to avoid the erosion of the soils. And finally, this green belt helps balance the weather and water.
Experts in environment they have their eyes set on this biome for a simple reason: more than half of it has been razed, damaged or isolated as a result of the intervention of the human being. And this not only puts in risk the lives of the hundreds of thousands of plants Y animals that inhabit it, but also, the tropical forest is a source of raw Materials essential for humans, such as food, wood or even, it is the soil where about 60 million people live and that, therefore, require that they remain standing in order to survive.
Rainforest animals
Amphibians such as salamanders, toads or newts are found in the rainforest.Much of the fauna that inhabits tropical soils is characterized by beinginvertebrate, that is: without vertebral column or articulated skeleton. On the other hand, arachnids, insects and worms do abound. One of the most common insects are beetles. In fact, a good part of the 500,000 beetles that have been identified in the world are found there, in the woods tropical
Amphibians and reptiles also inhabit tropical soils. There, they can be found reptiles like crocodiles, turtles, snakes or alligators or amphibians like salamanders, toads or newts.
Also, tropical forests have streams, lakes and rivers that are the habitat of different fish, and of the most varied species. For example, about 3,000 different species have been identified in the Amazon River.
Finally, in this habitat there are alsomammals of different sizes. Some are small, such as rodents, but also other larger ones, such as tigers or elephants.
Rainforest plants
In one hectare of tropical forest, 200 different types of plants can coexist.Unlike what is usually portrayed, the rainforest floor does not have a huge amount of tangled vegetation but, on the contrary, is quite clear. The explanation is very simple: the sunlight.
For all this is that, when setting foot in the tropical forest, long trunks are already observed, which are the result of the trees that try to reach the contact of the sunlight. And to this we must add that many plants grow on these trunks. Some 2,000 epiphytic plants attached to the same tree can live, according to experts.
On the other hand, in tropical forests there is abundant diversity of species. In a single hectare, 200 different types can coexist. And, in addition to epiphytes in tropical forests there are also lianas, hemiepiphytes and saprophytes.
Forest characteristics
It is estimated that only 2% of sunlight reaches the floors of the rainforest.In addition to the abundant rainfall, which occurs constantly throughout the year, another factor that characterizes tropical forests is their temperatures between 19 and 28 ° C. In any case, there are forests with lower temperatures, as a consequence of its high heights. In this type of forest, it is also very common for there to be fog.
Rainforests have four types of layers:
- I usually. As previously mentioned, the ground has very little light, it is estimated that 2% is just what reaches it. This makes it a dark area, but also humid. This makes it a very unsuitable terrain for the development of plant life. Instead, it is the place where animal and plant remains decompose. The soils are characterized by being shallow, this makes it not useful for agricultural activities.
- Understory. This layer, above the ground, receives a little more sunlight, albeit sparingly. It is in this second layer where short plants and shrubs develop. Here it is also registered humidity.
- Canopy. In this third layer is where the branches of the different trees that coexist in the same tropical forest collide. It is also there where a good part of the fauna lives.
- Emergent. Finally, there is this layer, which is the one that is above all. It is there where most of the sunlight reaches, which is received by the canopy of the tall trees. Unlike what happens in the understory, where the humidity makes the leaves large, in this layer they are smaller.
Tropical forests are one of the biomes with the greatest diversity. Half of the species that exist in the world are estimated to live there. And, it is worth clarifying that the experts on the subject know that there is still much to discover there.
If we talk about plants, specifically, it is estimated that there are two-thirds of the total.