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In 1980, the estimated amount of rain forests in the world was 40,000
square miles. ... It is too bad,
because the rain forest is one of the most beautiful places on earth. ... All rain forests are
located on earths "green belt", that is, the area roughly around the equator
that covers all the area from Mexico and the northern area of South America, to
Africa, to India, streching out to Indonesia, the northern tip of Australia and
all the way to New Guinea. ... In a rain forest, it is very wet and it rains every
day or every other day very heavily. ... There are some general layers to the rain forest. ... They take the most light, heat, rain and the most punishment from the
winds. ... Beneath this is the
second layer of trees, whose crowns form a forest canopy. Rain filters
through this canopy, and the top sides of the crowns hold a large amount of
ferns and other small plants whose roots never touch soil. ... The dim forest floor teems with life. ... These are the layers that make up the rain forests complex
ecology. In the rest of the essay I will describe some of the life forms found
in the rain forest, and ways they affect the environment. In the rain forest,
plants develop poisonous alkaloids to protect against insects, and insects
develop complex digestive chemistry to overcome these poisons. ... The rain forest root systems are so
efficient that almost all of the nutrients in decaying plants are recycled
into new ones.
Approximate Word count = 1254
Approximate Pages = 5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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