Rainforests

The tropical forests are located territorially on the equator and in the tropical belt of the globe. A distinctive feature of them is the multi-tiered and interweaving branches of vegetation among themselves. Because of this, being in such a forest, it is impossible to see sunlight. They are very rich in vegetation, especially all kinds of lianas and epiphytes. Most of them are trees that reach heights of up to 40 meters. Plants are represented by more species in the number of one and a half thousand, and there are more than 750 species of trees. The air temperature throughout the year is 22-32 degrees, and the precipitation falls from 1500 to 2000 mm.

No biome can boast of such a variety of flora and fauna as tropical forests. They are a storehouse of all kinds of plants, including medicinal plants, but due to inaccessibility, many of these plants have not yet been studied by botanists. Interestingly the fact that all the most valuable species of trees come from such forests.

The rainforests gave us many such plants and trees, without which we can no longer manage, for example: bananas, coffee, citrus, tea and hevea. Unfortunately, more than half of the forests in the tropics have already been destroyed. The basin of the Congo River and the adjacent territories to the Amazon, as well as the jungles of India, have been severely damaged by the intervention of the "master of nature" - a human being. Tropical forests, which are more than 80 million years old, today are cut down with catastrophic speed, and if people do not change their attitude to nature, they can disappear forever.

An unusually diverse fauna of the tropics. Here live about 100 species of mammals, as many reptiles, more than 400 species of birds, as well as rare amphibians. In the tropical forests, hippopotamus, elephants, rhinoceroses live, which are real giants of the animal world. And monkeys! They are almost everywhere. People living in their neighborhood often suffer from the foreknowledge of these ubiquitous fidgets.

Unusual coloring of hummingbirds can be found only in these places, and butterflies, almost the same size as they, pollinate tropical flowers. In rivers you can find all varieties of crocodiles, a huge number of turtles and snakes, most of which are poisonous. From insects here you can meet almost at every step of ants and termites.

Wet tropical forests are common in the Amazon basin, in equatorial Africa, Indonesia and Australia (Queensland). In the year, up to 7000 mm of precipitation falls here, and the height of the trees reaches 60 meters. Wet tropical forests have from 4 to 5 tiers, each with its own inhabitants. A distinctive feature is that there are no shrubs, and trees have a very thin bark, the soil is covered with moss, but not everywhere. The processes of decay occur very quickly due to high humidity. Nevertheless, all representatives of flora and fauna feel fine, because in the course of evolution they adapted to such conditions of life.

In humid tropical forests, animals such as porcupines, possums, broad-eared monkeys, sloths, armadillos live. They live only in this biome, and most of them belong to rare species.

The African rainforest is located in the Congo Basin and is also under threat of extinction. They are mercilessly cut down and planted with plantations, which the owners soon abandon because of the depletion of the soil. In these forests, more than 25,000 plant species grow. In the African tropical forests, many species of climbing animals and birds. These are gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, parrots, hoopoes. You can meet in a large number of elephants and antelopes. The rainforests of Africa are inhabited by the most undersized people - pygmies. These unique representatives of homo sapiens have learned to live in full harmony with nature. They are engaged in hunting, gathering of forest gifts and do not aspire to civilization. Their growth reaches 1.4 meters, and they live in huts, protecting them from rain. For them, permanent migration is very characteristic.