Rainforest

There are four layers of the rainforest: the emergent layer, Canopy layer, Understory layer, and Forest floor. The emergent layer is when the tallest trees are emerging, towering 200 feet above the forest floor with trunks that are up to 16 feet around. Most of these trees are broad-leaved, evergreens. Sunlight is very prevalent in the emergent layer. Some anmals you may see are monkeys, eagles, and butterflies. The canopy layer is the primary layer of the forest and forms a roof over the two layers. Most of these trees have smooth, oval leaves that come to a point. Many animals live in this area since food is plentiful. Animals that you would see would be; treefrogs, snakes, and tucans. The understory layer has little sunshine, the plants have to grow larger leaves to reach sunlight. The plants in this area grow to 12 feet. Many animals and insects live in this areas as well. The forest floor is very dark. Almost no plants grow in this area. Hardly any sun reaches the forest floor causing things to decay quickly. Mainly giant anteaters live in this area.

Rainforests are very rich in animal life. They are populated with insects like butterflies and beetles, spiders, ticks, and worms.Reptiles such as snakes and lizards, and amphibians like frogs and toads, are also plentiful. Beautiful birds like parrots and toucans live throughout the trees and mammals like sloths and jaguars slink through the undergrowth. Different animals live in different areas of the rainforest. Birds live in the emergent trees. Large animals generally live on the forest floor, but others are living in the trees.Insects are found almost everywhere but mainly on the forest floor. Many species of rainforest animals are becoming extinct due to the nimber of acres that are disappearing due to logging.
Many animals have to resort to different tricks for survival. Some animals hide from predators, closeting themselves in burrows, under rocks or leaves, or in tree hollows. Some animals use camouflage, Camouflage is another way of hiding; the animal blends into its environment using its coloring. Many animals are camouflaged so well that they are techniquely invisible when they are standing still. Scaring animals use size as their advantage.They convince predators that they are bigger and more fierce than they really are. For example, the larva of the lobster mot, whose larva looks like a scorpion, but is in fact completely defenseless. Many butterflies have large "eye" designs on their wings. This makes them look like the head of a very large animal, and scares many predators away. Some animals use color as a weapon. Poisonous animals advertise their defense methods, usually with bright colors. When a predator eats one member of the group, it will get sick. This sacrifices a few individuals in order to protect the entire group. Examples of poisonous animals include the Monarch butterfly. Other animals have come to mimic poisonous butterflies. This is called mimicry. As in any food web, there are more plant-eaters than meat-eaters. There are also more small animals than another species and have unpredictable consequences.

The rainforests provide us with many benefits, which can be divided into environmental and human benefits. Rainforests are beneficial to humans because of what they can provide our doctors. Many of the medicines first came from plants. Plants have been found in the rainforests that eventually might help people with life-threatening diseases, like cancer. They are already helping people with things such as headaches, high blood pressure and heart problems. Many medicines come from the plants that grow in the rainforests. It is possible that there are many more that could help people.One of the things that the plants of the rainforest have provided us with is quinine.Quinine is found in Malaria. When people are travelling in areas where malaria is common, doctors provide malaria tablets to prevent people from becoming infected. The rainforest is also the original source of curare. It is also used in muscle relaxants. Muscle relaxants are very important when people need surgery, they help surgeons to perform their jobs as effectively as possible. Breakthrough medicines could be lying undiscovered in the rainforest. If we destroy the rainforest, we destroy the possibility of discovering such breakthroughs.It also affects the enviornment. Rainforests are important to the environment they recycle water and regulate levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Rainforests are the world's regulators of air and water. Water is essential to many things. Water plays an important role in keeping plants and animals alive and healthy. It is especially important to humans. In nature, water is found in three physical states: solid, liquid and gas. Most water is found in liquid form on the Earth's surface. Life could not exist without water. A rainforest's role in recycling water is very important to the planet.Oxygen is also important to the enviornment. We breathe in oxygen from the air around us and our bodies then use it to perform many of the basic functions that keep us alive. This is the same for mammals. Even fish need oxygen. Our bodies cannot use carbon dioxide in the same way we use oxygen. Rainforests, therefore, are extremely beneficial because they keep carbon dioxide levels down. They are also very beneficial because they turn the carbon dioxide into the oxygen we breathe. The rainforest is also very important because it is home to a large number of plants and animals. Even more importantly, it is home to many unique plants and animals that don't exist anywhere else in the world. If the rainforest were to be destroyed, so would the homes of these animals. Without a home, many of these species could become extinct.

Shifted cultivators, is the term used for people who have moved into rainforest areas and established small-scale farming operations. These are the landless peasants who have followed roads into already damaged rainforest areas. The additional damage they are causing is extensive. Shifted cultivators are currently being blamed for 60% of tropical forest loss. The reason these people are referred to as "shifted cultivators" is that most of the people have been forced off their own land. These people had their land stolen by government and corporations. Large-scale agriculture, logging, hydroelectric dams, mining, and industrial development are all responsible for the loss of poor farmers.
Agriculture,Cash Crops and Cattle Ranching, in undisturbed rainforest areas are being totally cleared to provide land for food crops. Much of this produce is exported to rich countries and in many cases, crops are grown for export while the local people go hungry. Due to the nature of rainforest soil and the destructive nature of present day agriculture, the productivity of cash crops grown on rainforest soils declines after a few years. Monoculture plantations are those that produce only one species of tree on rainforest soil they are examples of non-sustainable agriculture. They are referred to as cash crops because the main reason for their planting is to make money quickly. Fuelwood, The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 1.5 billion of the 2 billion people worldwide who rely on fuelwood for cooking and heating are overcutting forests. This problem is worst in drier regions of the tropics. The new dams had to be built or otherwise these countries would suffer an energy crisis. The construction of dams not only destroys the forest but often destroying both their land and their culture. The rates of waterborne diseases increase rapidly. Downstream ecosystems are damaged by dams which trap silt. The weight of water in dams has led to earthquakes. The irrigation powered by dams lead to further environmental damage. Irrigation leads to salination of soils and industry leads to pollution.