Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Preserving Our Rainforest

One of the most beautiful creation that God did created is the rainforest. It contains more species o plants and animals than any other habitat on earth.
The great rainforests are the forest of South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. The tropical climate here is always warm and wet, with no winter, and plants grow all the year round. 
As a result, trees grow thickly, ferns, vines and other plants.
These help support an extraordinary rich variety of the life of animals, particularly birds and insects.

Photo credit: Google
The rainforest is a place where plants grow rapidly and to reach the sunlight trees grow very tall. There are three distinct layers of rainforest. The forest floor, the understorey and the canopy.

The main canopy is usually between 30 to 50 meters above ground, where the slander trunks break into cluster of branches. The tallest trees reach even higher, to around 60 meters. The canopy shades the understorey from the sunlight, and here it is much darker.

The understorey consists of tree trunks covered with lianas (climbing plants) and laced together by creepers.

The forest floor is surprisingly free of clutter. Leaves, fruits, animal droppings and bodies of dead forest animals decomposed quickly when they fall into the ground. Their chemicals are absorbed as nutrients by plants roots and used to make new growth.

Photo credit: Google
Sad to say that trees of rainforest are being used as timber, and large areas of rainforest have been destroyed by logging. Vast areas of rainforest were being cleared to make way for plantations of other products. Often this is done by cutting trees and burning shrubs. When trees are cleared from the hillside, the soil maybe left exposed and when heavy rain falls, thus resulting soil erosion.

Photo credit: Google
We need the rainforest. They act as the earth's lungs by giving off oxygen into the atmosphere. Plants are also used as medicine. Let's help preserve our rainforest by cooperating with the government law of protecting our rainforest.


Source: King Fisher Science Encyclopedia

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