Introduction

Tropical Rainforest, also spelled tropical rain forest, luxuriant forest is found in wet tropical uplands and lowlands around the Equator. Tropical rainforests, which worldwide make up one of Earth’s largest biomes (major life zones), are dominated by broad-leaved trees that form a dense upper canopy (layer of foliage) and contain a diverse array of vegetation and other life. Contrary to common thinking, not all tropical rainforests occur in places with high, constant rainfall; for example, in the so-called “dry rainforests” of northeastern Australia, the climate is punctuated by a dry season, which reduces the annual precipitation.

Salient Features Of The Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem

Tropical rainforests today represent a treasure trove of biological heritage, and they also serve as sinks for more than 50 percent of all atmospheric carbon dioxide absorbed by plants annually. They not only retain many primitive plant and animal species but also are communities that exhibit unparalleled biodiversity and a great variety of ecological interactions. The tropical rainforest of Africa was the habitat in which the ancestors of humans evolved, and it is where the nearest surviving human relatives—chimpanzees and gorillas—live still. Tropical rainforests supplied a rich variety of food and other resources to indigenous peoples, who, for the most part, exploited this bounty without degrading the vegetation or reducing its range to any significant degree.

Threats To Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem

Not until the past century, however, has widespread destruction of tropical forests occurred. Regrettably, tropical rainforests and tropical deciduous forests are now being destroyed at a rapid rate in order to provide resources such as timber and to create land that can be used for other purposes, such as cattle grazing. Today tropical forests, more than any other ecosystem, are experiencing habitat alteration and species extinction on a greater scale and at a more rapid pace than at any other time in the history.

 

Keywords: Tropical forests, Tropical Rainforests, Types of Tropical Rainforests, Wardah Razzaq

 

About the Author: Wardah Razzaq is an Environmentalist, a Certified Climate Reality Leader and Mentor, Green Blogger, Environmental and Climate Change Activist, Environmental and Climate Writer/Author, Researcher, and an International Mentor at the New York Academy of Sciences. Her ambition is to raise awareness among the masses regarding various environmental issues and about their multifarious impacts and solutions via my piece of writings.