Rainforest

Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, high humidity, the presence of moisture-dependent vegetation, a moist layer of leaf litter, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. The largest areas of rainforest are tropical or temperate rainforests, but other vegetation associations including subtropical rainforest, littoral rainforest, cloud forest, vine thicket and even dry rainforest have been described.{{cite web |title=Rainforests |url=https://www.wettropics.gov.au/rainforest |publisher=Wet Tropics Management Authority |access-date=9 July 2021}}{{cite web |title=Rainforests |url=https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/habitats/rainforests |publisher=The State of Queensland |access-date=9 July 2021}}{{cite web |title=Rainforests |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/VegFormation.aspx?formationName=Rainforests |publisher=New South Wales Government Office of Environment and heritage |access-date=9 July 2021}}{{cite web |title=Dry Rainforest |url=https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/conservation/conservation-on-private-land/bush-information-management/identify-your-bush-type/bush-with-a-tree-layer-made-up-of-trees-that-are-not-eucalypts/dry-rainforest |publisher=Tasmanian Government Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment |access-date=9 July 2021}}{{cite web |title=Western Sydney Dry Rainforest |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/EECinfoWesternSydneyDryRainforest.pdf |publisher=New South Wales Government Department of Planning, Industry and Environment |access-date=9 July 2021}}

File:Koppen-Geiger Map Af present.svg

{{Main|Tropical rainforest}}

Tropical rainforests are characterized by a warm and wet climate with no substantial dry season: typically found within 10 degrees north and south of the equator. Mean monthly temperatures exceed {{convert|18|C|F}} during all months of the year.Susan Woodward. [http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/rainforest/rainfrst.html Tropical broadleaf Evergreen Forest: The rainforest.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225054655/http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/rainforest/rainfrst.html |date=25 February 2008 }} Retrieved on 14 March 2008. Average annual rainfall is no less than {{convert|168|cm|in|abbr=on}} and can exceed {{convert|1000|cm|in|abbr=on}} although it typically lies between {{convert|175|cm|in|abbr=on}} and {{convert|200|cm|in|abbr=on}}.Newman, Arnold. The Tropical Rainforest : A World Survey of Our Most Valuable Endangered Habitat : With a Blueprint for Its Survival. New York: Checkmark, 2002. Print.

Many of the world's tropical forests are associated with the location of the monsoon trough, also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone.Hobgood (2008). [http://geog-www.sbs.ohio-state.edu/courses/G230/hobgood/ASP230Lecture24.ppt Global Pattern of Surface Pressure and Wind.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318021749/http://geog-www.sbs.ohio-state.edu/courses/G230/hobgood/ASP230Lecture24.ppt |date=18 March 2009 }} Ohio State University. Retrieved on 8 March 2009. The broader category of tropical moist forests are located in the equatorial zone between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Tropical rainforests exist in Southeast Asia (from Myanmar (Burma)) to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka; also in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Cameroon to the Congo (Congo Rainforest), South America (e.g. the Amazon rainforest), Central America (e.g. Bosawás, the southern Yucatán Peninsula-El Peten-Belize-Calakmul), Australia, and on Pacific Islands (such as Hawai{{okina}}i). Tropical forests have been called the "Earth's lungs", although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net oxygen addition to the atmosphere through photosynthesis.Broecker, Wallace S. (2006). "Breathing easy: Et tu, O₂." Columbia University [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-2.1/broecker.htm Columbia.edu]{{Cite journal | doi=10.1007/BF00890069|title = Deforestation and land use in the Brazilian Amazon| journal=Human Ecology| volume=21| pages=1–21|year = 1993|last1 = Moran|first1 = Emilio F.| issue=1 | bibcode=1993HumEc..21....1M |s2cid = 153481315}}

File:Temperate rainforest map.svgs]] File:Rain Forest Walk - Pacific Rim National Park - Vancouver Island BC - Canada - 01.jpg in Canada]]

{{Main|Temperate rainforest}}

Tropical forests cover a large part of the globe, but temperate rainforests only occur in a few regions around the world.{{cite journal |last1=Link |first1=Timothy E. |last2=Unsworth |first2=Mike |last3=Marks |first3=Danny |title=The dynamics of rainfall interception by a seasonal temperate rainforest |journal=Agricultural and Forest Meteorology |date=August 2004 |volume=124 |issue=3–4 |pages=171–191 |doi=10.1016/j.agrformet.2004.01.010 |bibcode=2004AgFM..124..171L }}{{cite journal |last1=Cunningham |first1=S. C. |last2=Read |first2=J. |title=Do temperate rainforest trees have a greater ability to acclimate to changing temperatures than tropical rainforest trees? |journal=New Phytologist |date=January 2003 |volume=157 |issue=1 |pages=55–64 |doi=10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00652.x |pmid=33873691 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2003NewPh.157...55C |hdl=10536/DRO/DU:30080507 |hdl-access=free }} Temperate rainforests are rainforests in temperate regions. They occur in North America (in the Pacific Northwest in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California), in Europe (parts of the British Isles such as the coastal areas of Ireland and Scotland, southern Norway, parts of the western Balkans along the Adriatic coast, as well as in Galicia and coastal areas of the eastern Black Sea, including Georgia and coastal Turkey), in East Asia (in southern China, Highlands of Taiwan, much of Japan and Korea, and on Sakhalin Island and the adjacent Russian Far East coast), in South America (southern Chile) and also in Australia and New Zealand.{{cite web|url= http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/temprain.htm|title= The Temperate Rainforest}}

Dry rainforests have a more open canopy layer than other rainforests,{{cite web |last1=Coleby-Williams |first1=Jerry |title=Kumbartcho Dry Rainforest |url=https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/kumbartcho-dry-rainforest/12828434 |website=Gardening Australia |publisher=ABC |access-date=6 May 2022| date=2020}} and are found in areas of lower rainfall ({{cvt|630–1100|mm|in|0}}). They generally have two layers of trees.{{cite web | date=2004 |title=Identification of Rainforest: Field Guide |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/pnf/OGRFreviewFieldGuide.pdf |website=Department of Environment and Conservation |publisher=NSW Government |access-date=6 May 2022}}

{{main|Stratification (vegetation)}}

A tropical rainforest typically has a number of layers, each with different plants and animals adapted for life in that particular area. Examples include the emergent, canopy, understory and forest floor layers.{{cite journal |last1=Denslow |first1=J S |title=Tropical Rainforest Gaps and Tree Species Diversity |journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |date=November 1987 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=431–451 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.18.110187.002243 |bibcode=1987AnRES..18..431D }}{{cite journal |title=A Physiognomic Classification of Australian Rain Forests|first1=Len|last1=Webb|author-link=Leonard Webb (academic) | journal = Journal of Ecology| publisher=British Ecological Society : Journal of Ecology Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 551–570|date=1 October 1959|volume = 47|issue = 3|pages = 551–570|doi = 10.2307/2257290|jstor = 2257290|bibcode=1959JEcol..47..551W }}

The emergent layer contains a small number of very large trees called emergents, which grow above the general canopy, reaching heights of 45–55 m, although on occasion a few species will grow to 70–80 m tall.{{cite book |last= Bourgeron |first= Patrick S.|editor= Frank B. Golley |title=Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystems. Structure and Function |year= 1983 |edition= 14A|series= Ecosystems of the World |publisher= Elsevier Scientific |isbn= 0-444-41986-1 |pages= 29–47 |chapter= Spatial Aspects of Vegetation Structure}}{{cite web | url = http://www.nativetreesociety.org/worldtrees/sea_ei/malaysia/sabah2005.htm | title = Sabah | publisher = Eastern Native Tree Society | access-date= 14 November 2007}} They need to be able to withstand the hot temperatures and strong winds that occur above the canopy in some areas. Eagles, butterflies, bats and certain monkeys inhabit this layer.

{{Main|Canopy (biology)}}

File:FRIM canopy.JPG showing crown shyness]]

The canopy layer contains the majority of the largest trees, typically {{convert|30|m}} to {{convert|45|m}} tall. The densest areas of biodiversity are found in the forest canopy, a more or less continuous cover of foliage formed by adjacent treetops. The canopy, by some estimates, is home to 50 percent of all plant species. Epiphytic plants attach to trunks and branches, and obtain water and minerals from rain and debris that collects on the supporting plants. The fauna is similar to that found in the emergent layer but more diverse. A quarter of all insect species are believed to exist in the rainforest canopy. Scientists have long suspected the richness of the canopy as a habitat, but have only recently developed practical methods of exploring it. As long ago as 1917, naturalist William Beebe declared that "another continent of life remains to be discovered, not upon the Earth, but one to two hundred feet above it, extending over thousands of square miles." A true exploration of this habitat only began in the 1980s, when scientists developed methods to reach the canopy, such as firing ropes into the trees using crossbows. Exploration of the canopy is still in its infancy, but other methods include the use of balloons and airships to float above the highest branches and the building of cranes and walkways planted on the forest floor. The science of accessing tropical forest canopy using airships or similar aerial platforms is called dendronautics.{{Cite web|url=http://dendronautics.org/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614070953/http://www.dendronautics.org/|url-status=usurped|title=dendronautics|archivedate=14 June 2006}}

{{Main|Understory}}

The understory or understorey layer lies between the canopy and the forest floor. It is home to a number of birds, snakes and lizards, as well as predators such as jaguars, boa constrictors and leopards. The leaves are much larger at this level and insect life is abundant. Many seedlings that will grow to the canopy level are present in the understory. Only about 5% of the sunlight shining on the rainforest canopy reaches the understory. This layer can be called a shrub layer, although the shrub layer may also be considered a separate layer.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

{{main|Forest floor}}

File:Forest in the bluemountains.jpg, Australia]]

The forest floor, the bottom-most layer, receives only 2% of the sunlight. Only plants adapted to low light can grow in this region. Away from riverbanks, swamps and clearings, where dense undergrowth is found, the forest floor is relatively clear of vegetation because of the low sunlight penetration. It also contains decaying plant and animal matter, which disappears quickly, because the warm, humid conditions promote rapid decay. Many forms of fungi growing here help decay the animal and plant waste.

It is unknown how many species are found in the world's tropical rainforests, however a very large proportion of the vascular plants are native to them.{{Cite book |last1=Ghazoul |first1=Jaboury |last2=Sheil |first2=Douglas |date=2010 |title=Tropical Rain Forest Ecology, Diversity, and Conservation |url=https://archive.org/details/tropicalrainfore0000ghaz_x2k5 |url-access=registration |language=en |edition= |location=Oxford ; New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=5, 9 |isbn=978-0-19-928587-7 |oclc=456181268 |access-date=21 May 2025}} Rainforests support a very broad array of fauna, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and invertebrates. Mammals may include primates, felids and other families. Reptiles include snakes, turtles, chameleons and other families; while birds include such families as Vangidae and Cuculidae. Dozens of families of invertebrates are found in rainforests. Fungi are also very common in rainforest areas as they can feed on the decomposing remains of plants and animals.

The great diversity in rainforest species is in large part the result of diverse and numerous physical refuges,{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Euan G. |last2=Johnson |first2=Christopher N. |title=Predator interactions, mesopredator release and biodiversity conservation |journal=Ecology Letters |date=September 2009 |volume=12 |issue=9 |pages=982–998 |doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01347.x |pmid=19614756 |s2cid=11744558 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009EcolL..12..982R |hdl=10536/DRO/DU:30039763 |hdl-access=free }} i.e. places in which plants are inaccessible to many herbivores, or in which animals can hide from predators. Having numerous refuges available also results in much higher total biomass than would otherwise be possible.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0040-5809(87)90019-0 |title=Prey refuges and predator-prey stability |journal=Theoretical Population Biology |volume=31 |pages=1–12 |year=1987 |last1=Sih |first1=Andrew |issue=1 |bibcode=1987TPBio..31....1S }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0040-5809(86)90004-3 |pmid=3961711 |title=The effects of refuges on predator-prey interactions: A reconsideration |journal=Theoretical Population Biology |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=38–63 |year=1986 |last1=McNair |first1=James N.|bibcode=1986TPBio..29...38M }}

File:Ursus americanus kermodei, Great Bear Rainforest 1.jpg|A Kermode bear from the Great Bear Rainforest, Canada

File:Mudumalai by N A Nazeer (cropped).jpg|A Bengal tiger in Mudumalai National Park, India

File:Standing jaguar.jpg|A jaguar in the Amazon Rainforest, South America

File:MonkeyJungle 03.JPG|Western lowland gorilla in the African rainforest

File:Pongo tapanuliensis.jpg|Orangutans in Tanjung Puting, Indonesia

File:Anaconda jaune 34.JPG|Yellow anacondas reside in the Amazon basin

File:Lion-tailed macaque by N A Naseer.jpg|Lion-tailed macaque in Silent Valley National Park, India

File:Amazon macaw.jpg|A macaw in the Amazon rainforest

Some species of fauna show a trend towards declining populations in rainforests, for example, reptiles that feed on amphibians and reptiles. This trend requires close monitoring.Barquero-González, J.P., Stice, T.L., Gómez, G., & Monge-Nájera, J. (2020). Are tropical reptiles really declining? A six-year survey of snakes in a tropical coastal rainforest: role of prey and environment. Revista de Biología Tropical, 68(1), 336–343. The seasonality of rainforests affects the reproductive patterns of amphibians, and this in turn can directly affect the species of reptiles that feed on these groups,Oliveira, M.E., & Martins, M. (2001). When and where to find a pitviper: activity patterns and habitat use of the lancehead, Bothrops atrox, in central Amazonia, Brazil. Herpetological Natural History, 8(2), 101-110. particularly species with specialized feeding, since these are less likely to use alternative resources.Terborgh, J., & Winter, B. (1980). Some causes of extinction. Conservation Biology, 2, 119-133.

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Despite the growth of vegetation in a tropical rainforest, soil quality is often quite poor. Rapid bacterial decay prevents the accumulation of humus. The concentration of iron and aluminium oxides by the laterization process gives the oxisols a bright red colour and sometimes produces mineral deposits such as bauxite. Most trees have roots near the surface because there are insufficient nutrients below the surface; most of the trees' minerals come from the top layer of decomposing leaves and animals. On younger substrates, especially of volcanic origin, tropical soils may be quite fertile. If rainforest trees are cleared, rain can accumulate on the exposed soil surfaces, creating run-off, and beginning a process of soil erosion. Eventually, streams and rivers form and flooding becomes possible. There are several reasons for the poor soil quality. First is that the soil is highly acidic. The roots of plants rely on an acidity difference between the roots and the soil in order to absorb nutrients. When the soil is acidic, there is little difference, and therefore little absorption of nutrients from the soil. Second, the type of clay particles present in tropical rainforest soil has a poor ability to trap nutrients and stop them from washing away. Even if humans artificially add nutrients to the soil, the nutrients mostly wash away and are not absorbed by the plants. Finally, these soils are poor due to the high volume of rain in tropical rainforests washes nutrients out of the soil more quickly than in other climates.{{cite web |last1=Baird |first1=Dr. Chris S. |title=What makes the soil in tropical rainforests so rich? |url=http://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/07/12/what-makes-the-soil-in-tropical-rainforests-so-rich/ |website=Science Questions with Surprising Answers |access-date=11 April 2019}}

A natural rainforest emits and absorbs vast quantities of carbon dioxide. On a global scale, long-term fluxes are approximately in balance, so that an undisturbed rainforest would have a small net impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels,{{cite web|url=http://www.grida.no/CLIMATE/IPCC_TAR/wg1/pdf/TAR-03.PDF |title=Grida.no |access-date=26 August 2012}} though they may have other climatic effects (on cloud formation, for example, by recycling water vapour). No rainforest today can be considered to be undisturbed.{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=S. L. |last2=Phillips |first2=O. L.|author2-link=Oliver Phillips (ecologist) |last3=Baker |first3=T. R. |last4=Lloyd |first4=J. |last5=Malhi |first5=Y. |last6=Almeida |first6=S. |last7=Higuchi |first7=N. |last8=Laurance |first8=W. F. |last9=Neill |first9=D. A. |last10=Silva |first10=J. N. M. |last11=Terborgh |first11=J. |last12=Torres Lezama |first12=A. |last13=Vásquez Martinez |first13=R. |last14=Brown |first14=S. |last15=Chave |first15=J. |last16=Kuebler |first16=C. |last17=Núñez Vargas |first17=P. |last18=Vinceti |first18=B. |title=Concerted changes in tropical forest structure and dynamics: evidence from 50 South American long-term plots |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |date=29 March 2004 |volume=359 |issue=1443 |pages=421–436 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2003.1431 |pmid=15212094 |pmc=1693337 }} Human-induced deforestation plays a significant role in causing rainforests to release carbon dioxide,{{cite journal |last1=Malhi |first1=Yadvinder |last2=Grace |first2=John |title=Tropical forests and atmospheric carbon dioxide |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |date=August 2000 |volume=15 |issue=8 |pages=332–337 |doi=10.1016/s0169-5347(00)01906-6 |pmid=10884705 }}{{cite book |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567066.003.0002 |chapter=Twenty-first century atmospheric change and deforestation: Potential impacts on tropical forests |title=Tropical Forests and Global Atmospheric Change |year=2005 |last1=Cramer |first1=Wolfgang |last2=Bondeau |first2=Alberte |last3=Schaphoff |first3=Sibyll |last4=Lucht |first4=Wolfgang |last5=Smith |first5=Ben |last6=Sitch |first6=Stephen |pages=17–30 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-856706-6 }}{{cite journal |last1=Baccini |first1=A. |last2=Walker |first2=W. |last3=Carvalho |first3=L. |last4=Farina |first4=M. |last5=Sulla-Menashe |first5=D. |last6=Houghton |first6=R. A. |title=Tropical forests are a net carbon source based on aboveground measurements of gain and loss |journal=Science |date=13 October 2017 |volume=358 |issue=6360 |pages=230–234 |doi=10.1126/science.aam5962 |pmid=28971966 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017Sci...358..230B }} as do other factors, whether human-induced or natural, which result in tree death, such as burning and drought.{{cite news| url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/06/1078464675256.html?from=storyrhs | location=Melbourne | work=The Age | title=Drought may turn forests into carbon producers | date=6 March 2004}} Some climate models operating with interactive vegetation predict a large loss of Amazonian rainforest around 2050 due to drought, forest dieback and the subsequent release of more carbon dioxide.{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=P. M. |last2=Betts |first2=R. A. |last3=Collins |first3=M. |last4=Harris |first4=P. P. |last5=Huntingford |first5=C. |last6=Jones |first6=C. D. |title=Amazonian forest dieback under climate-carbon cycle projections for the 21st century |journal=Theoretical and Applied Climatology |date=June 2004 |volume=78 |issue=1–3 |page=137 |doi=10.1007/s00704-004-0049-4 |bibcode=2004ThApC..78..137C |s2cid=5122043 }}

File:Campo12Foto 2.JPG, taken from a plane.]]

{{further|Tropical rainforest#Human dimensions}}

Tropical rainforests provide timber as well as animal products such as meat and hides. Rainforests also have value as tourism destinations and for the ecosystem services provided. Many foods originally came from tropical forests, and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest.Myers, N. (1985). The primary source. W. W. Norton & Company, New York, pp. 189–193. Also, plant-derived medicines are commonly used for fever, fungal infections, burns, gastrointestinal problems, pain, respiratory problems, and wound treatment.{{cite web|url=http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/fieldcourses03/PapersCostaRicaArticles/FinalPaper.TheMedicinalVa.html |title=Final Paper: The Medicinal Value of the Rainforest May 15, 2003. Amanda Haidet May 2003 |publisher=Jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu |access-date=26 August 2012}} At the same time, rainforests are usually not used sustainably by non-native peoples but are being exploited or removed for agricultural purposes.

On 18 January 2007, FUNAI reported also that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition, Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted tribes.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN17285256 |title=Brazil sees traces of more isolated Amazon tribes |publisher=Reuters.com |date=17 January 2007 |access-date=26 August 2012}} The province of Irian Jaya or West Papua in the island of New Guinea is home to an estimated 44 uncontacted tribal groups.{{cite web|url=http://www.survival-international.org/news.php?id=2191|date=25 January 2007|title=BBC: First contact with isolated tribes?|url-status=dead|website=SurvivalInternational.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206061137/http://survival-international.org/news.php?id=2191|archive-date=6 February 2008|access-date=13 May 2020}} The tribes are in danger because of the deforestation, especially in Brazil.

Central African rainforest is home of the Mbuti pygmies, one of the hunter-gatherer peoples living in equatorial rainforests characterised by their short height (below one and a half metres, or 59{{nbs}}inches, on average). They were the subject of a study by Colin Turnbull, The Forest People, in 1962.[http://library.thinkquest.org/26252/explore/15.htm The Tribal Peoples] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020212056/http://library.thinkquest.org/26252/explore/15.htm |date=20 October 2012 }}, ThinkQuest Pygmies who live in Southeast Asia are, amongst others, referred to as "Negrito".

There are many tribes in the rainforests of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Sarawak is part of Borneo, the third largest island in the world. Some of the other tribes in Sarawak are: the Kayan, Kenyah, Kejaman, Kelabit, Punan Bah, Tanjong, Sekapan, and the Lahanan. Collectively, they are referred to as Dayaks or Orangulu which means "people of the interior".{{cite web |title=Indigenous People of the Rainforest |url=https://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/people.htm |website=Rainforest Information Centre Educational Supplement |access-date=11 April 2019}}

About half of Sarawak's 1.5 million people are Dayaks. Most Dayaks, it is believed by anthropologists, came originally from the South-East Asian mainland. Their mythologies support this.

{{further|Deforestation in Southeast Asia|Deforestation in Madagascar|Deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest}}

File:Satellite image of 2015 Southeast Asian haze - 20150924.jpg above Borneo and Sumatra, 24{{nbs}}September 2015]]

Tropical and temperate rainforests have been subjected to heavy legal and illegal logging for their valuable hardwoods and agricultural clearance (slash-and-burn, clearcutting) throughout the 20th century and the area covered by rainforests around the world is shrinking.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081204095313/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/entire-rainforests-set-to-disappear-in-next-decade-585840.html Entire rainforests set to disappear in next decade], The Independent 5 July 2003 Biologists have estimated that large numbers of species are being driven to extinction (possibly more than 50,000 a year; at that rate, says E. O. Wilson of Harvard University, a quarter or more of all species on Earth could be exterminated within 50 years){{cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=William K. |title=Talks Seek to Prevent Huge Loss of Species |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/03/news/talks-seek-to-prevent-huge-loss-of-species.html |work=The New York Times |date=3 March 1992 }} due to the removal of habitat with destruction of the rainforests.

Another factor causing the loss of rainforest is expanding urban areas. Littoral rainforest growing along coastal areas of eastern Australia is now rare due to ribbon development to accommodate the demand for seachange lifestyles.{{cite web|url=http://www.pittwater.nsw.gov.au/environment/plants__and__animals/threatened_species/endangered_ecological_communities/littoral_rainforest |title=Littoral Rainforest-Why is it threatened? |publisher=Pittwater.nsw.gov.au |date=9 August 2012 |access-date=26 August 2012}}

Forests are being destroyed at a rapid pace.{{Cite journal |last1=Feng |first1=Yu |last2=Zeng |first2=Zhenzhong |last3=Searchinger |first3=Timothy D. |last4=Ziegler |first4=Alan D. |last5=Wu |first5=Jie |last6=Wang |first6=Dashan |last7=He |first7=Xinyue |last8=Elsen |first8=Paul R. |last9=Ciais |first9=Philippe |last10=Xu |first10=Rongrong |last11=Guo |first11=Zhilin |date=28 February 2022 |title=Doubling of annual forest carbon loss over the tropics during the early twenty-first century |journal=Nature Sustainability |volume=5 |issue=5 |language=en |pages=444–451 |doi=10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3 |s2cid=247160560 |issn=2398-9629|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022NatSu...5..444F |hdl=2346/92751 |hdl-access=free }}[https://www.foxnews.com/story/brazil-amazon-forest-destruction-rate-has-tripled Brazil: Amazon Forest Destruction Rate Has Tripled], FoxNews.com, 29 September 2008{{cite web |url=http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0602-png.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608214139/http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0602-png.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 June 2008 |title=Papua New Guinea's rainforests disappearing faster than thought |publisher=News.mongabay.com |access-date=26 August 2012 }} Almost 90% of West Africa's rainforest has been destroyed.{{cite web|url=http://www.csupomona.edu/~admckettrick/projects/ag101_project/html/size.html |title=Rainforests & Agriculture |publisher=Csupomona.edu |access-date=26 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930064512/http://www.csupomona.edu/~admckettrick/projects/ag101_project/html/size.html |archive-date=30 September 2012 }} Since the arrival of humans, Madagascar has lost two thirds of its original rainforest.{{cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12617173.000-science-satellite-monitors-madagascars-shrinkingrainforest-.html |title=Science: Satellite monitors Madagascar's shrinking rainforest, 19 May 1990, New Scientist |publisher=Newscientist.com |date=19 May 1990 |access-date=26 August 2012}} At present rates, tropical rainforests in Indonesia would be logged out in 10 years and Papua New Guinea in 13 to 16 years.[http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=5728 China is black hole of Asia's deforestation], AsiaNews.it, 24 March 2008 According to Rainforest Rescue, an important reason for the increasing deforestation rate, especially in Indonesia, is the expansion of oil palm plantations to meet growing demand for cheap vegetable fats and biofuels. In Indonesia, palm oil is already cultivated on nine million hectares and, together with Malaysia, the island nation produces about 85 percent of the world's palm oil.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil|title=Palm oil – deforestation for everyday products – Rainforest Rescue|website=www.rainforest-rescue.org}}{{unreliable source?|date=November 2012}}

Several countries,[https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2008-01-24-brazil-amazon_N.htm Amazon deforestation rises sharply in 2007], Usatoday.com, 24 January 2008 notably Brazil, have declared their deforestation a national emergency.{{cite news | first=John | last=Vidal | title=Rainforest loss shocks Brazil | newspaper=guardian.co.uk | date=20 May 2005 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/may/20/brazil.environment | access-date=7 July 2010 | location=London}} Amazon deforestation jumped by 69% in 2008 compared to 2007's twelve

months, according to official government data.{{cite news |title=Brazil admits Amazon deforestation on the rise |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26472726 |work=NBC News |agency=The Associated Press |date=30 August 2008 }}

However, a 30 January 2009 New York Times article stated, "By one estimate, for every acre of rainforest cut down each year, more than 50 acres of new forest are growing in the tropics." The new forest includes secondary forest on former farmland and so-called degraded forest.{{cite news |last1=Rosenthal |first1=Elisabeth |title=New Jungles Prompt a Debate on Rain Forests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/science/earth/30forest.html |work=The New York Times |date=30 January 2009 }}

{{Portal|Environment|Ecology}}

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• Cloud forest
• Ecology
• Inland rainforest
• Intact forest landscape
• Jungle
• Stratification (vegetation)

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{{Reflist}}

File:Revelstoke from Mount Revelstoke.jpg, British Columbia, Canada]]

• Butler, R. A. (2005) A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face. Published online: [http://rainforests.mongabay.com Rainforests.mongabay.com]
• Richards, P. W. (1996). The tropical rain forest. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|0-521-42194-2}}
• Whitmore, T. C. (1998) An introduction to tropical rain forests. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-850147-1}}

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{{Commons}}

{{Wiktionary}}

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• [http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/Animals.shtml Animals in a rainforest]
• [http://www.ran.org Rainforest Action Network]
• [http://www.eia-international.org/campaigns/forests/ EIA forest reports]: Investigations into illegal logging.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160226181045/http://eia-global.org/forests_for_the_world/ EIA in the USA] Reports and info.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101106114435/http://www.rainforestcoalition.org/eng/ The Coalition for Rainforest Nations]
• [https://www.un.org/esa/forests United Nations Forum on Forests]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151218031752/http://www.davekimble.org.au/rainforest/catalog.htm Dave Kimble's Rainforest Photo Catalog (Wet Tropics, Australia)]
• [http://wikis.wheatonma.edu/rainforest Rainforest Plants]
• [http://kids.mongabay.com/ Tropical rainforest for children]
• [http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/what.html What is a rainforest]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100115134618/http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/rainforest-profile National Geographic: Rain forest]
• [http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm Tropical rainforests]

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{{Forestry}}

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Category:Biodiversity

Category:Forest ecology