What's the difference between a forest and a tropical
rainforest?
What is a tropical
rainforest? How is it different from what we think of as a
regular forest?
First of all, a regular forest usually consists of one dominant
species of tree - the evergreen forests of colder climates, or
the redwood forest of California, for example. A tropical
rainforest has many species of trees and plants, and trees of
the same species very seldom grow close together. Scientists
have counted as many as 300 different species growing in one 2
1/2 acre (one hectare) in a South American rainforest.
While forests are found in all climates and all parts of the
world, tropical rainforests are found only in hot, humid
climates. They cover less than six percent of the Earth's land
surface. Most are found in areas near the equator such as
Central America, South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. A
rainforest often gets more than 100 inches of rain a year, the
average humidity is between 77 and 88 percent, and the
temperature is usually between 93