Where is rainforest found

In some rainforests it rains more than an inch every day! Rainforests help to stabilize the climate of the world not only by making rain but also by absorbing carbon dioxide. Vampire bats and anacondas live in the rainforests of South America.

Lots of smaller animals live in rainforests too, including dragonflies, tree frogs , and at least hundreds of species of ants. All rights reserved. Personality Quizzes. Funny Fill-In. Amazing Animals. Weird But True! Party Animals. Try This! Explore More. Poison dart frogs live in the rainforests of Central and South America. Racing for Light. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Famous Rainforests.

Not Just Trees. On the dark forest floor, few plants are able to grow and decaying matter from the upper layers is prevalent, feeding the roots of the trees. Rainforests are often partly self-watering. Plants release water into the atmosphere through a process called transpiration. The moisture helps create the thick cloud cover that hangs over most rainforests.

Even when it's not raining, these clouds keep the rainforest humid and warm. Deforestation is endangering rainforests worldwide, driven by logging, mining, agriculture, and ranching.

About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise. Tropical rainforest now covers about six percent of Earth's land surface. Two countries accounted for 46 percent of the primary meaning old-growth, undisturbed tropical rainforest loss in Brazil, which is home to more than half the Amazon, and Indonesia, where forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil , which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltines.

In many cases, such as logged areas, the soil damage makes it difficult for rainforests to regenerate, and the biodiversity found in them is irreplaceable. When we lose rainforests, we lose an important natural resource. Rainforests produce, store, and filter water, protecting against soil erosion, floods, and drought. Many of the plants found in rainforests are being used to make medicine , including anti-cancer drugs, along with beauty products and foods.

And Brazil nut trees refuse to grow anywhere but in undisturbed sections of the Amazon rainforest. There, the trees are pollinated by bees that also visit orchids, and their seeds are spread by agoutis , small tree mammals. Rainforests are also home to endangered or protected animals such as the Sumatran rhino , orangutans , and jaguars. Forest trees also absorb carbon, an important function needed as human-caused greenhouse gas emissions stoke climate change.

Rainforest loss is a double-whammy for the climate: It contributes emissions while removing a future potential source of carbon storage. Human activity has caused tropical rainforests to emit more carbon dioxide than they absorb at this point, according to one study. Organizations and governments around the world are engaged in trying to protect rainforests. In Indonesia, notes Global Forest Watch , primary forest loss in dropped to its lowest rate since after the government enacted policies to protect certain areas.

Conservation groups, activists, and indigenous communities also play an important role. National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws , while other groups, including the Rainforest Action Network and Conservation International , are working to monitor forests and create economies that thrive by protecting these ecosystems rather than destroying them, such as local tourism and sustainable products.

The Amazon jungle is the world's largest tropical rainforest. The forest covers the basin of the Amazon, the world's second longest river. The Amazon is home to the greatest variety of plants and animals on Earth.

Central Africa holds the world's second largest rainforest. To the south east, the large island of Madagascar was once intensively forested, but now much of it is gone. The rainforests of Asia stretch from India and Burma in the west to Malaysia and the islands of Java and Borneo in the east.