The largest part of is located in Brazil (60%) and covers almost half of that country. The space covered with the forest is 5.5 million square kilometers (3.4 million square miles ). When the Old World explorers reached the Americas they were all looking for gold.
The "Rain" forest is a nickname that describes the humidity that you find in tropical and equatorial forests, but it doesn't rain all the time. Tropical rainforests are always located near the equator, and are very hot. All this heat associated with great portions of water make a lot of evaporation into the air. The forest also helps to retain water in their branches, roots and soil. All of this makes these forests very humid and there's a well defined rainy season that works towards the establishment of this nickname for tropical and equatorial forests.
All this heat, rain and humidity make these forests a very rich ecosystem or habitat for many organisms. A rainforest has trees, like any other forest, but they are very different from the temperate forest you are used to seeing in colder places like in US, Europe and parts of Asia. There are 120 foot trees, thousands of different species of plants, and all sort of rainforest animals including the red eyed tree frog, insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. The rainforest canopy is home to thousands of animal species. The bio diversity one can experience here is unparalleled. And the most amazing part is that all this apparent chaos is actually a very balanced system, a product of million of years of evolution and natural selection.
But the forest is not only populated by animals and plants, there are many humans there too. The Indians are part of the equilibrium that existed there for thousands of years. The indigenous tribes of the forest live off the land as their ancestors have for thousands of years.
Amazon flora
The Amazon rainforest has a huge live collection of flora species. Botanical experts say that in 2.5 acres of the forest you can find 700 different species of trees and twice that number of plants. One of the most awesome things you will notice is that the forest has a high density of trees and they are very tall. Many trees reach 130 meters high (some species reach 200 feet), and under they form a shadowed place where at times is hard to see the sun. The high canopy of the Amazon rainforest is a very unknown place even for most botanists and until recently very few researches have even explored this hard to reach area of the forest. The high canopy is also the home of thousands of still undiscovered species of insects and birds.
the most important species are:
bromeliads: there are more of 2700 of them. The most well known bromeliad is the pineaple.
orchids: are very well known by their beaurtifull flowers aqnd have strongs smells that atract incects that pollinate them.
whater lily: is the biggest flower in the world and can reach six feet in diameter. This giant can be found in the calm waters on lakes or calm parts of rivers. Although they are extremely big, they are very thin and weigh very little so they can float on the water. In the Amazon rainforest you can find lakes filled with water lilies almost creating an illusion of a solid floor.
heliconia: there are about 40 different species of them. They have a leaf that resembles a lobster claw with very bright colours and combinations. The flowers of the heliconia are usually hiden among the leaves and they are avalued as ornamental plants.
kapok tree: is the biggest tree in the amazon rainforest, it can grow to 200 feet tall and 10 or 11 feet in diametre. Is the home of many other species from incects to frogs and birds.
Fauna
According to the National Academy of Sciences, a typical four square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 125 mammal species, 400 species of birds, 100 of reptiles, 60 of amphibians, and 150 different species of butterflies. In one study, one square meter of leaf litter, when analyzed, turned up 50 species of ants alone. Following are some nice examples of the Amazon rainforest fauna.
tapir: it is the larget hervibore in the amazon rainforest. tapir has a strange look with a nose that is like a small elephant trunk. the tapir it’s all day and have a greats sense of smell and hearing wich are just evade predators.
vampire bat: it is the only bat that feed on blood. they are very silent and when find the prey they cut a small part of the prey skin and lick the blood. the blood doesn’t close because of the vampire bat saliva.
anaconda: it is the one of the longer and heavier snakes in the world, but is not poisonus . the snake hunts by crushing the prey by crushing it. the anaconda can swallow and entire cow, but it takes some days to digest and in this process is inmovable
jaguar: it is the biggest feline in america, it is in the top in the food chain and it can climb trees. the jaguar can move extremely quietly and hunts at night.
leafcutter ant: they have a very specialized social system where ant has a job. they have a very sustainable agriculture system, they cach fragments of diferents species of plants. they build underground tunels and a chamber complex where they cultivate their food.
amazon rainforest products
natural rubber(latex): it is to make rubber products and is extracted from trees called Seringueiras.
brazil nut: it is the biggest nut on the world and is exported over the planet.
açai: it is another fruit that has strong taste and purple color, it brings energy after consumption and is used by athletes of kinds
minerals: in the amazon are a lot of minerals like iron, uranium, cooper, gold and more
diamonds and other gems in the amazon too
wood: they are hundreds of differetns woods in the amazon, but this extaction hurts the rainforest and leads some species to extinction
medicinal plants: they are many medicinal plants in the amazon that may cure many diseases.
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