Biomes - Why save the rainforests?
Why save the rainforests?
Many people are concerned about saving rainforests because these biomes contain a large number of unique plants. Several acres of rainforest in Borneo may contain 700 different species of trees. More than 50,000 plant species make their home in the rainforests of the Amazon Basin in South America. Up to eighty different species of plant life might grow on one tree. Tropical rainforests are found only in regions north of the equator on the Tropic of Cancer and south of the equator in the Tropic of Capricorn. Destroying the rainforests reduces the diversity of life on Earth.
If you have ever been in a steamy greenhouse, then you can imagine what a rainforest is like. Warm temperatures average 75°F (23°C) and humidity peaks at a dripping 90 percent for days at a time. This climate encourages an explosion of plant life that supports many different animals. Some scientists estimate that half the...
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