1. Ecosystems: Rainforests of the World A presentation by: Carol Cleveland NSF NMGK-12 Fellow 2000-2001

2. 2 Kinds of Rain Forests TropicalCoastal Temperate

3. What is a Rain Forest? 3 Main Layers of the Forest (Emergent) Canopy Understory Forest Floor Over 100 inches of rain in a year (we get about 60 inches)

4. Where do you find rainforests?

5. Tropical rainforests are mostly around the equator. 50% are in South America.

6. Tropical Rainforests Near equator Warm Temperature (70- 80 o F) Rainy - 2 inches/hour sometimes Up to 400 inches rain in a year Many species of plants and animals In danger from people

7. Tropical Rainforest Animals

9. Tropical Rainforest Plants

10. Coastal Temperate Rainforests Scattered around the world Mostly on Pacific West coast of North America

11. Coastal Temperate Rainforests Alaska to Oregon 35 to 80 o F - not extremes Rain - 140-167 inches per year Trees can grow to 300 feet high and 23 feet in diameter

12. Coastal Temperate Rainforest Animals

13. Coastal Temperate Rainforest Plants

14. Why shouldn’t we cut down rainforests? Rainforests - very high diversity of animal and plant life (lots of different kinds) Very difficult to replace - not many nutrients in the soil so once the plants are gone it is hard to grow any plants in that area Add oxygen to the atmosphere (40%) but also use much oxygen by decay