What Are the Consequences of Deforestation?
Rainforests
The rainforest is under threat from destruction but why is it being destroyed?
An area the size of a football pitch is being destroyed every second.
Structure of the Rainforest
The rainforest is made up of 4 layers:
Emergent Layer- The tallest trees are in this layer they can be 200 feet above the forest floor. These trees can also have trunks that are 16 feet round. Animals found here include eagles, bats, monkeys and butterflies.
Canopy Layer- This layer forms a type of roof above the rest of the layers. There are many trees in this layer, many more than the emergent layer. With all the trees it is like a maze of branches and leaves. Many animals live there as there is plenty of food. These animals include treefrogs and snakes.
Understory Layer- Little sunshine reaches this area so the plants have to grow larger leaves to reach the sunlight. Many animals live there including jaguars and leopards. There are also a large amounts of insects that live here.
Forest Floor- It’s very dark down here. Almost no plants grow in this area, as a result. Since hardly any sun reaches the forest floor things begin to rot quickly. A leaf that might take one year to decompose in a normal climate will disappear in 6 weeks. Giant anteaters live in this layer.
Resources from the Rainforest
Lots of our everyday resources come from the rainforest. Food and medicine are some of the products that come from the rainforest.
Food- Although we have sampled only a tiny fraction of the potential foods that the rainforests offer, they already have a big influence on our diet. An huge number of fruits (bananas), vegetables (peppers), nuts (cashews), drinks (coffee), oils (palm), flavourings (cocoa, vanilla, sugar, spices) and other foods (beans, fish) originated in and around the rainforest.
Medicine- Many of the Western medicines that we use today are obtained from plants. Rainforests have given us chemicals to treat or cure diabetes, muscle tension, malaria,
The rainforest is under threat from destruction but why is it being destroyed?
An area the size of a football pitch is being destroyed every second.
Structure of the Rainforest
The rainforest is made up of 4 layers:
Emergent Layer- The tallest trees are in this layer they can be 200 feet above the forest floor. These trees can also have trunks that are 16 feet round. Animals found here include eagles, bats, monkeys and butterflies.
Canopy Layer- This layer forms a type of roof above the rest of the layers. There are many trees in this layer, many more than the emergent layer. With all the trees it is like a maze of branches and leaves. Many animals live there as there is plenty of food. These animals include treefrogs and snakes.
Understory Layer- Little sunshine reaches this area so the plants have to grow larger leaves to reach the sunlight. Many animals live there including jaguars and leopards. There are also a large amounts of insects that live here.
Forest Floor- It’s very dark down here. Almost no plants grow in this area, as a result. Since hardly any sun reaches the forest floor things begin to rot quickly. A leaf that might take one year to decompose in a normal climate will disappear in 6 weeks. Giant anteaters live in this layer.
Resources from the Rainforest
Lots of our everyday resources come from the rainforest. Food and medicine are some of the products that come from the rainforest.
Food- Although we have sampled only a tiny fraction of the potential foods that the rainforests offer, they already have a big influence on our diet. An huge number of fruits (bananas), vegetables (peppers), nuts (cashews), drinks (coffee), oils (palm), flavourings (cocoa, vanilla, sugar, spices) and other foods (beans, fish) originated in and around the rainforest.
Medicine- Many of the Western medicines that we use today are obtained from plants. Rainforests have given us chemicals to treat or cure diabetes, muscle tension, malaria,