Rainforests
“Jewels of the Earth” aka “The World’s Largest Pharmacy”
Is a botanical biosphere of a forest that is most notorious for its high rainfall and levels of moisture with humidity. Defined with a minimum annual rainfall between 1750 and 2000 mm a year (68-78 inches). Millions of plants, insects, and microorganisms; many of which are yet to be discovered, inhabit the Rainforest with between 40-75% of all the Earth’s species being indigenous to this kind of forest. Rainforests also supply 28% of the worlds oxygen, processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide. Undergrowth is restricted in much of the lower levels of the forest, thereby making it easy to walk through – otherwise where the leaf canopy is thinned, one would encounter dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs, and small trees called a jungle. There are two types of rainforests: tropical and temperate. The Pacific Northwest of North America is notorious for its temperate rainforests. South America is notorious for its Tropical rainforests. The diversity of life found within a rainforest is phenomenal … with millions of species, known and unknown, from fauna to flora including invertebrates, insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, primates, felids, snakes, turtles, chameleons, fungi, and bacteria. Decomposition is an amazing process in interpretive display throughout the forest. Unfortunately, due to deforestation, many of the 20 million species of plants and animals found in the world’s rainforests are endangered due to habitat loss and biochemical releases into the atmosphere.
simulated rainforest / jungle at National Arboretum
Smithsonian, National Mall, Washington, D.C.More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest
