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Tropical rainforests are located around and near the equator, therefore having what is called an equatorial climate characterized by three major climatic parameters: temperature, rainfall, and dry season intensity. [21] Other parameters that affect tropical rainforests are carbon dioxide concentrations, solar radiation, and nitrogen availability.
There may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. [2]
Rainforests are home to half of all the living animal and plant species on the planet and roughly two-thirds of all flowering plants can be found in rainforests. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] The most representative are the Borneo rainforest, one of the oldest rainforests in the world, the Brazilian and Venezuelan Amazon Rainforest , as well as the eastern Costa ...
About half of the world's tropical rainforests are in the South American countries of Brazil and Peru. Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earth's land surface. Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rainforests.
A notorious example is the South American water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), which spread widely through subtropical and tropical regions and is considered a serious plant pest in wetlands. [70] In general, invasive plants spread mostly in already disturbed, secondary vegetation, and the remaining primary forests of the east appear little ...
The unique ecosystem found in the intricate mesh of mangrove roots offers a quiet marine habitat for young organisms. [30] In areas where roots are permanently submerged, the organisms they host include algae , barnacles , oysters , sponges , and bryozoa , which all require a hard surface for anchoring while they filter-feed.
The Wet Tropics rainforests are a biodiversity hotspot and recognised internationally for their ancient ancestry and many unique plants and animals. The area covers 0.1% of the Australian landmass but contains 50 per cent of all the nation's species. [5] Many plant and animal species in the Wet Tropics are found nowhere else in the world.
Kakamega Forest is a tropical rainforest situated in the Kakamega, Vihiga, and Nandi counties of Kenya, northwest of the capital Nairobi, and near the border with Uganda. It is Kenya 's only tropical rainforest and is said to be Kenya's last remnant of the ancient Guineo-Congolian rainforest that once spanned the continent.