Rainforest Biome

Rainforests are thick, warm and wet forests. They are forests that get at least 250 cm a year of rain, often more. There are two kinds of rainforest: tropical and temperate. Both kinds are endangered.
Tropical rainforests are millions of years old, and temperate rainforests are about 10,000 years old.

Tropical rainforests are located close to the equator, in 85 different countries, and most are in Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The largest tropical rainforest in the world is the South American Amazon rainforest, much of which lies in Brazil. The world's largest river, the Amazon, flows through the rainforest.

The equator is an imaginary line around the widest part of the earth (not pole to pole), dividing it into two halves, a northern and southern. The equator is where the sun shines most directly onto the earth, and the area in a wide band on either side of the equator is called the tropics. Tropical weather is always very warm and humid.

Only about 40% of forests in the tropics are rainforests. Only places with high rainfall throughout the year that are warm and frost free with little variation in temperature are rainforests. The tropical forests that are not rainforests are in places that have rainy and dry seasons, and the trees often drop their leaves in the dry season. Some forests in mountain areas may get snow and frost even though close to the equator.

Temperate rainforests are found near coastal areas and there are fewer of them than tropical rainforests. Temperate rainforests are found along the Pacific coast of Canada and the USA, and in New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, Scotland and Norway.

In Australia both tropical and temperate rainforests can be found.

Tropical Rainforest Layers
A tropical rainforest grows in four main layers, with different trees, flowers, and other plants in each layer.

The layers are:
The Top Layer (called the emergent layer)
Huge trees rising high above the rest of the forest, therefore receiving the most sunlight.
The second layer (called the canopy)
Tall trees growing close together so that their tops are close, forming a fairly continuous cover.
The third layer (called the understorey)
Smaller trees, bushes, and plants such as ferns, form the understorey. Not much sunlight reaches here, because the canopy blocks the sun.
The fourth layer (called the forest floor)
Few plants grow on the forest floor because almost no sunlight reaches it. The leaves and plants that drop from the upper layers provide food and shelter for animals and insects that inhabit the forest floor.

Temperate rainforests have just two layers, the canopy and floor.

Why are rainforests important? Why are they disappearing? Go here to find out...

For more information about rainforests click here
http://kids.mongabay.com/
http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/rforest/index.htm
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/what.html

If you use any part of this, acknowledge it in your bibliography like this:
Sydenham, S. & Thomas, R. Rainforest Biome [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au(2002).

updated May 2010 ©kidcyber