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The Amazing Amazon
You would not think that a region that covers only 6% of the world's landmass could have much of an impact on our planet, but you might want to think again. The Amazon Rainforest in South America covers an area about half the size of the United States, but contains HALF of all plant and animal species found on the planet.
Tropical rainforests exist around the world along a belt called the Tropics (around 23.5° N and 23.5° S latitude). The tropics are bisected by the equator, which is always aligned with the sun, making this region a warm place (about 85-90°F) to be all year round with little change in seasonal temperatures. The heat of the tropics also make it a very wet place as hot air quickly rises drawing in cooler air, which condenses and turns to rain. If you visit the rainforest expect to get wet because on an average day it rains at least once and over a year this region can expect 100 inches of rain or more.
This hot, steamy environment may not be an ideal place to start a hockey team but it is perfect for the incredible number of plants and animals that call the rainforest 'home'. Living within the dense forest can be found 2.5 million types of insects, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptile species. This rich biodiversity can be found nowhere else on earth.
The Amazon contains tens of thousands of plants, 40,000 at last count; but new plants are being cataloged by botanists every year. These plants and the animals that keep them going serve a vital purpose for the planet; they help us breathe. All plants, and the rainforest in particular, are part of the carbon-oxygen cycle. The cycle works like this, humans and animals take in oxygen and expel Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and plants do the opposite. This Carbon, Oxygen cycle is essential for maintaining life on the planet. We cannot exist without the other, and for this reason plants are often nicknamed "The Lungs of the Planet".
Plants are also an important factor in keeping temperatures in check. Lately, we have been hearing a lot about global warming and regardless of the causes, science tells us that it is happening. The summer of 2011, was the warmest year on record for many countries around the globe. Many scientists point to human activities such as car emissions and factories that release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere as waste. While CO2 is necessary for life, too much traps in heat and warms the planet to dangerous levels. Plants, especially the rainforest, are an important ally in keeping things cool because they can absorb the excess CO2 .
The rainforest is made up of many layers of vegetation. Once you enter the rainforest, out of the 40,000 plants found there some of the most unique are bromeliads with their huge, bright flowers that can grow just about anywhere. Some bromeliad species can grow on rocks and on the sides of trees because these flowers get their nutrients from the air rather than the soil.
Once you enter the rainforest you will notice that even when the sun is intensely beating down, the forest itself is a pretty dark place. That's because it is made up of many layers of vegetation. At the top are the mammoth trees such as Kapok tree, which can grow up to 200 feet tall. These trees are known as the Emergent Layer because they are the only things when viewed from the air that standout from the carpet of green. The next layer is made up of trees that range in size between 80-200 feet which forms the Canopy that blocks out most of the light from reaching the lower levels. The Canopy layer is thick with snakes, toucans, howler monkeys and other animal life that can find fruits that grow in abundance.
Below the Canopy is the Understory which receives only filtered sunlight. Most plants rarely grow more than 12 feet high and have adapted to their environment by growing huge leaves to capture what little sunlight penetrates the Canopy.
The Understory is home to jaguars, snakes, red eye tree frogs, and leopards. The Forest Floor is the layer that you would be trekking through when you entered the forest. Little light reaches the Forest Floor and therefore not much vegetation can be found here. Most of the 40,000 plants found in the rainforest have adapted to this unique environment in some pretty amazing ways. One example of this adaptation are bromeliads with their huge, bright flowers that can grow just about anywhere. Some bromeliad species can grow on rocks and on the sides of trees because these flowers get their nutrients from the air rather than the soil.
Until the 1960s, travelling through the Amazon was only the stuff of legendary adventurers. Even as late as the 1920s, humans had crossed the Polar Regions, flown over the oceans, and climbed most of the world's highest peak, yet the Amazon had largely been unmapped and unexplored. This is because its thick vegetation made travel almost impossible. To cross the forest you had to create your own path with a machete through hot, steamy jungles filled with poisonous snake and deadly predators. The biggest risk for these explorers was not an attack by a piranha, jaguar, or anaconda but from the mosquitoes that carried the deadly virus that causes malaria and yellow fever.
The best way to navigate through the jungle was by canoe or boat down the Amazon River. The Amazon River is second only to the Nile River in Africa. The river begins as mountain springs high up in the Andes and makes its way down into the Amazon Basin. From there it merges with other springs as it cuts a 4,391 mile long path through the rainforest until it spills out into the Atlantic Ocean. In some places the river is so wide that you cannot see to the other side. In others it narrows and turns into raging rapids.
The Amerindians and European explorers had long used the river as a highway through the forest. This highway was (and still is) filled with many dangers from piranhas, to water snakes, to a type of crocodile called a Caiman.
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