Tropical Rain Forest
Biome Story Map
Tropical rain forests are located in along the equator, specifically in Latin America, Brazil, West Africa, South-east Asia, and some Pacific Islands.
This image is showing where in the world these tropical rain forests are located, being represented by the deeper blue.
Land Cover- The entirety of the rain forest is covered in vegetation such as vines, palm trees, orchids, ferns etc. They are also worldly known for their canopies, there are 3 layers. The top layer is the highest layer that gets the most sun and can grow above 75 metres. The second layer/middle layer is mostly trees and plants, some of which we use as houseplants because of the small amount of sunlight they need. The bottom layer is mostly wet leaves and it holds most the moisture in the rain forest to allow for organisms to grow.
Climate- The amount of precipitation tropical rain forests get is from 60 -160 inches over the span of a year. As for the weather, it is very hot and humid because it needs to be able to house all the vegetation and allow for microorganisms to grow.
How will climate change the Tropical Rain Forests?
If the temperatures keep getting higher there will be more chance of having intense droughts, which can lead forest fires. Once the forest burns once, it is more likely to burn again which can lead to degradation of these forests. Considering 1.2 billion people rely on food resources from tropical rain forests if they degrade, there will also be a shortage of food for a large portion of the world. As a result of less food, there will be a decrease of already threatened species. Rain forests house a total of 30 million species who rely heavily on the resources located in the forest, if the forest resides then those species resources will be no longer.
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