What Are The Real Rainforest Facts?

We all know a few facts about rainforests fromfrom rainforest plants:
Tarzan movies; for instance, in the rainforest you will1) Beverages and snacks: coffee, cocoa, popcorn, cola,
find lush green vegetation, exotic animals, restlesssalsa
natives, and usually a few white men up to no good.2) Nuts and legumes: cashews, peanuts, Brazil nuts
But beyond those stereotypes, what are the real3) Fruit: bananas, pineapples, oranges, lemons, coconuts
rainforest facts? What is the status of the world's4) Staples: rice
rainforests, and why is it important to preserve them?5) Vegetables: avocados, onions, tomatoes, eggplants,
Here's the first rainforest fact: Rainforests are thepeppers
oldest ecosystems on earth - they have been evolving6) Spices: ginger, cinnamon, vanilla
for 70-100 million years.We're sorry to report, however, that the vast world of
The largest rainforest in the world is theplants and animals in the rainforest is suffering. An
Amazonrainforest in South America, which covers anaverage of 137 rainforest species are driven to
area about two-thirds the size of the continental Unitedextinction every day. The number one cause is loss of
States. To date, more than a quarter of a millionhabitat due to logging for lumber or tree clearing to
square miles of Amazon rainforest have been clearedprovide land for farming and cattle ranching. Another
- about 17.5 percent of it.problem is trade in rainforest species - sometimes
Average temperatures in rainforests stay relativelylegal, sometimes not - for exotic pets and plants; for
constant year-round, usually in the 75-80F range.fur, clothing, and shoes; even for research animals.
Mongabay lists the following countries as having thePollution from industrial operations like mining and oil
largest areas of rainforest:extraction also take a toll. Finally, climate change is
1) Brazilemerging as a serious threat to rainforest animals;
2) Congo (Democratic Republic)many biologists now believe climate change is second
3) Indonesiaonly habitat destruction in its capacity to wipe out
4) Peruspecies.
5) BoliviaThe Amazon rainforest is sometimes called the "lungs
6) Angolaof the planet" - it recycles enough carbon dioxide to
7) Venezuelaproduce more than 20% of the world's oxygen.
8) Papua New GuineaGlobally, rainforests also play a critical part in
9) Mexicomaintaining the earth's climate by helping regulate
10) Indiahydrologic cycles and by storing massive amounts of
Although most rainforests are found in tropical regions,carbon that might otherwise be converted to
they are sometimes also found in temperate-zoneheat-trapping carbon dioxide. Rainforests are
countries like Canada, the United States, and some ofestimated to be storing 610 billion tons of carbon.
the former-USSR countries. Like tropical rainforests,Rainforests that are cleared by burning generate the
these rainforests receive abundant, year-round rainfallmost immediate release of CO2. But even plant debris
and have a dense rainforest canopy, but they do notthat is left to rot causes a problem. In a healthy
get the year-round consistent sunlight and warmth.rainforest, dead leaves and trees are broken down
To be considered a rainforest, the forest must get atinto nutrients that are then quickly converted back to
least 80 inches of rain per year. Most tropicalnew plant growth, which uses carbon dioxide and
rainforests get anywhere from 160 to 400 inches oflocks it away where it can't add to the problem of
rain a year. That's a lot compared to Grinning Planet'sgreenhouse gas build-up. In a cleared forest, the
home state of Kentucky, which gets a moderatenutrients and carbon dioxide are still produced graphic
amount of rainfall - 0-45 inches per year.of logger during the breakdown of dead plant and
In some tropical rainforests, sudden deluges of rain cananimal matter, but there is no lush growth to use the
cause streams to rise 10-20 feet in a couple of hours.CO2, so it floats up into the atmosphere to add to
Rainforests create their own mini-climates - the waterglobal warming.
that evaporates from the forest forms clouds aboveWhile destruction of rainforests adds to the global
the area and later falls as rain. Not all of the waterwarming problem, global warming itself hurts
stays local, of course, but in the Amazon rainforest,rainforests. As the earth's climate warms, it tends to
50-80% of the water remains in the local ecosystem'sdry out the rainforests and causes there to be less
water cycle. When rainforests are cut down, much ofrainfall there. As the rainforest dries out, its
the moisture in the ecosystem is lost, leading toecosystems begin to degrade and the area becomes
droughts and further devastation of species.more susceptible to natural fire events, which cause
A tropical rainforest consists of four layers:further rainforest destruction. Roots that once held soil
1) canopy -- the level where most of the tops of thein place are no longer there, so when it does rain, the
trees aretopsoil washes away, making reestablishment of
2) emergent trees -- the few trees that manage torainforest areas difficult or impossible. Further, the
grow tall enough to poke up above the canopyeroded soil washes into streams and rivers, polluting
3) understory -- young trees and shrubs below thethe water and degrading aquatic habitat.
canopy, where growth is limited by lack of strongThe clearing of rainforests is a big negative in earth's
sunlightCO2 equation. Release of carbon dioxide from the
4) forest floor -- fallen leaves and branches and deadcarbonaceous materials in the soil of cleared, burned,
trees; some animals and insects; dark and humid; lotsand drought-devastated rainforest areas is one of a
of decomposition and recycling.number of "feedback loops" that scientists think could
The top few inches of rainforest soil has most of thelead to runaway climate change - that is, climate
nutrients, so the roots of rainforest trees are not verychange that is driven by factors that we no longer can
deep. Most of the plant growth is in the emergent andcombat, no matter how much we try.
canopy layers, where the sun is strongest. ThatSo, because climate change and rainforest health are,
means most of the available nutrients are there too, soin fact, closely connected, implementing your own
it makes sense that most rainforest animals, includingpersonal global warming solutions will help the
monkeys, birds, and tree frogs, live in the canopy.rainforests.
Rainforests cover only 2% of the earth's surface, butRainforests are amazing sources of products, both in
they host more than half of the planet's plant andterms of uniqueness and volume. But that can be a
animal species - more species per acre than any othergood thing or a bad thing, depending on the way
type of land-based ecosystem on the planet. The mainproduction is managed. Some products, such as plants
reasons for this are:for medicines, Brazil nuts, and shade-grown coffee and
1) the mega-doses of sunlight and rainfall in thecocoa, can be sustainably harvested from rainforests
rainforests make for lots of plant growth, which meanswithout damaging or destroying the forests.
lots of food for lots of animals; andUnfortunately, such operations often are done in an
2) the structure of the canopy, which has a largeunsustainable manner. Industrial operations such as gold
volume with many varied niches for plants and animalsmining and oil extraction are usually very destructive to
to fill.rainforests.
The sidebar to the right gives fun facts about fiveLogging operations for tropical timber products are
rainforest species. For more interesting facts aboutoften done by clearcutting and have contributed to
rainforest species, check out the general speciesmuch of the destruction of tropical rainforests. Each
pages from Rainforest Alliance or Rainforest Actionyear, more than thirty million tropical rainforest acres
Network; or these themed species pages fromare destroyed.
Mongabay, which have great pictures as well as basicTropical rainforests have given us pharmaceuticals to
information about rainforest species:treat or cure problems such as inflammation, fungal
1) Mammalsdiseases, rheumatism, diabetes, muscle tension, malaria,
2) Birdsheart conditions, skin diseases, arthritis, and glaucoma.
3) Reptiles and AmphibiansThe US National Cancer Institute has identified over
4) Fish2,200 rainforest plants that are active against cancer
5) Insectscells. And those are just the ones they've looked at so
Some animals that normally live outside the tropics -far. Many, many more rainforest-based compounds
including hummingbirds, warblers and thousands ofremain to be evaluated for their healing properties. But
other North American birds - migrate to spend theirthat future bounty is put at risk by the continued loss
winters in rainforests.of rainforest acreage and species.
One poison-dart frog produces enough toxin to coatLogging advocates are fond of saying that today the
50 to 100 poison darts. Leafcutter ants practiceworld actually has more acres of forest land than it did
sustainable agriculture. They gather fragments fromin the past, with the implication being that there is still
different plants and trees, thus ensuring that noplenty of forest for us to cut down, including
species is harvested to the point of harm and limitingrainforests and other old growth forests. But
the ability of any one species to evolve to build upclearcutting a rainforest and then replanting trees does
defenses against the leafcutters' operations.not leave us with the same original forest - not even
The cocoa tree - whose pods are the source ofclose. While it is possible for a company to replant the
chocolate - originated in the lowland rainforests neartrees, it is impossible for the company to recreate an
the Amazon River in South America but is nowancient forest with its complex ecosystem of plants,
cultivated as far north as southern Mexico.animals, insects, and people that lived there before all
The coffee plant is another shade-lover. Unfortunately,the original trees were cut down. Only nature can
in the 1970s, many coffee farmers began plantingcreate healthy rainforest ecosystems, and she takes
coffee bushes that produced higher yields andthousands, sometimes millions, of years to do it.
required no shade. This has resulted in the clearing ofRainforests are fascinating, exotic places, full of
forested area for more full-sun coffee plantations.ecological and mineral riches. But continued
Poinsettias originated in the tropical forests of southernunsustainable exploitation of those riches is damaging
Mexico and Central America but are now thethe rainforests, and because of their connection to
number-one flowering potted plant in the US.global climate change, these actions (among other
There are many now-common foods that originatedthings) endanger us all.