The Rainforest ?

A forest is a large expanse of land covered by a complex terrestrial ecosystem dominated by trees and bushes.
If such a forest is situated in a wet tropical area that has a constant supply of rain all round the year resulting in the growth of massive trees with a continuous tree canopy that breeds epiphytes and lianas such a forest is called a rainforest.

Types of Rainforest

There are two basic types of rainforest which are tropical and temperate rainforests.

• Tropical rainforests
  Tropical rainforests grow near the equator and has continuous rainfall all round the year making it wetter but also hotter.
• Temperate rainforests
  The Temperate rainforests grow towards the north or south of the equator, compared to tropical rainforests, they are a lot cooler.

_{Forest area in AkwaIbom State, Nigeria}

Importance of Rainforest

It regulates our weather and the trees are an important part of the oxygen cycle.
The forest also serves as a cleaning agent as it helped extract carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. The forest is truly the lungs of the planet.
We get most drugs from trees and other plants that grows in the rainforest.
The forest is said to absorb a lot of solar radiations and is involved in the process of water cycle.
It is a home for humans and animals

layers of the Rainforest

A typical rainforest is made up of the following layers. emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor and each of this layer has it's unique characteristics which are based on the amount of water, sunlight and air circulation it experiences. Every layer of the rainforest has different animal and species of plants that dominates the layer.

Rainforest Location and size

The size of a rainforest is measured based on the amount of land it sits on, and the following countries have large chunks of rainforest, and I will like to start with the Amazon rainforest located in South America.
The Congo rainforest stretches to Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo which houses bonobos, gorillas, and chimpanzees. We also have the rainforest that stretches between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

Threats to our Rainforests

• Wildfires: fires have destroyed large chunks of rainforest especially the Amazon rainforests. While some fires occur naturally, others are man made.
• Plantations: serious deforestation to create space for palm-oil, rubber and cocoa plantations.
• Industries: companies are setting up sites and are exploiting the resources in these forests without any plan to replenish what is taken.
• Illegal logging: forest trees are cut down for timber resulting in massive deforestation in most areas. It will take less than an hour to bring down a tree that will require hundreds of years to replace.
• Climate change: global warming is also affecting our rainforest with unpredictable rains and droughts leading to desert encroaching into forest lands.

_{A Forest area in Uyo, AkwaIbom State}

I spy with my little eye – Mini contest (13)

This contest was organized by @patjewell

• The word Rainforest starts with an R
• the word Rainforest has ten letters.
• the rainforest is known for its biodiversity.
• it mostly consists of four layers.
• The rainforest plays a very important role.

I am Inviting the following to take part in this contest
@gentlesun @emmanuelfavour @emaidoreyin

To read more about me, please follow this link to my Achievement 1

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