RAIN FOREST PATCH

Foliage is often sparse on tree trunks, but spreads wide as the trees reach the sunny upper layer, where they photosynthesize the sunвЂ™s rays. Here, trees as tall as 60 meters (200 feet) dominate the skyline. Emergent LayerThe top layer of the rainforest is the emergent layer. While each layer is distinct, they exist in an interdependent system: processes and species in one layer influence those in another. Each layer has unique characteristics based on differing levels of water, sunlight, and air circulation. Rainforest StructureВ Most rainforests are structured in four layers: emergent, canopy, understory, and forest floor. Citizens, governments, intergovernmental organizations, and conservation groups are working together to protect these invaluable but fragile ecosystems.

Unsustainable industrial and agricultural development, however, has severely degraded the health of the worldвЂ™s rainforests. Rainforests help regulate our climate and provide us with everyday products. RainforestsвЂ™ rich biodiversity is incredibly important to our well-being and the well-being of our planet. Even the cool evergreen forests of North AmericaвЂ™s Pacific Northwest and Northern Europe are a type of rainforest. The tropical islands of Southeast Asia and parts of Australia support dense rainforest habitats. The largest rainforests on Earth surround the Amazon River in South America and the Congo River in Africa. Rainforests thrive on every continent except Antarctica.

RAIN FOREST PATCH

This makes rainforests astoundingly dense with flora and fauna a 10-square-kilometer (4-square-mile) patch can contain as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the worldвЂ™s plant and animal species-even though they cover just 6% of EarthвЂ™s surface. Rain forests are EarthвЂ™s oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. A rainforest is an area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall.