M aybe you have heard about tropical rainforest, but did you know that there is also a temperate rainforest?? Rainforests occur in both temperate and tropical regions but most of the world's rainforests fall either side of the Equator between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer.

  T he tropical rainforest got its name after the name 'tropische Regenwald' meaning 'tropical rainforest' was first defined in 1898 by A Schimper, a German botanist. Today, tropical rainforests are found in about 85 countries yet almost 90% of these forests are concentrated into mainly fifteen countries.Tropical rainforests are located near the equator, where temperatures are at least 24 to 30 degrees celsius all year round. The tropical rainforests which can be found in Latin and South

                                                  World Map (click to enlarge)

America, Africa, and in Southeast Asia, experience an annual rainfall of about 160 to 400 inches and they are evergreen with no seasonal changes. The average humidity in the rainforest is high, ranging from 77% to 88%.

  T he temperate rainforests on the other hand are quite different. They are much younger than the tropical rainforests with an average age of less than 10,000 years. Despite being more scarce than the tropical rainforests, the temperate rainforests enjoys a rich and good soil that is filled with nutrients unlike the soil in the tropical rainforests. Temperate rainforests are generally located near the coasts of oceans and seas as they usually depend on the moisture laden winds to bring about heavy rain to the forest. They are found along the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States, and are also found in New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, as well as Scotland and Norway. In such places, which experiences seasonal changes, some of the rainforests are not evergreen.

  S ome countries like Australia possesses both types of rainforests and although the continent is mostly desert, it is said to be the leader of the scientific understand of rainforests.

  O ne unique feature of the rainforest that makes it so important and special is that it contains a huge number and a vast diversity of plant and animal species. In fact, although all the rainforests when combined together, cover only about two per cent of the Earth’s surface; they contain about half the world’s species of plants and animals. A typical forest in the United States of America may contain about 5 to 12 different species of trees, while a typical rainforest may have more than 300 different species. Rainforests usually contain 10 times more tree species and 5 times more bird species than temperate forests. A good example is the Amazon forest in South America which is home to more than 1600 species of birds and about a million different kinds of insects.

  T he tropical rainforests also have the honour of being the Earth's oldest continuous ecosystem. Scientists have found fossils that indicate that the rainforests in South-East Asia have existed for about 70 to 100 million years.

T iny Panama has as many species of plants as all of Europe. Ecuador, which is about the size of Colorado, has twice as many species of birds as the United States and Canada combined!!!!

Courtesy of Save The Rainforest, Inc. Bruce Calhoun
(http://www.lascruces.com/~saverfn/panama.html)