TROPICAL RAIN FOREST

A dense forest occupying a tropical region with high temperatures throughout the year and a maximum annual rainfall of in excess of 200 inches. Plants are typically Evergreen, retaining their leaves throughout the year. Tropical rain forests represent the richest natural terrestrial environment in terms of the amount of Biomass and the number of species present. These forests occupy the equatorial regions of South and Central America, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. Such forests include up to five times the number of species of trees as found in temperate regions and an unrivaled number of species of associated plants and animals. Paradoxically, the soil of the typical rain forest is very thin and low in plant nutrients. The temperatures usually remain between 70°F and 95°F the year round, and the rainfall typically varies between 50 and 200 inches per year. The destruction and disturbance of tropical rain forests are of environmental concern because of the loss of many species (some yet to be described), the conversion of the land to a semidesert condition, disruption of the climatic patterns of the region, and a worsening of the global balance in carbon dioxide production and utilization, among other factors. Also see Biome.