The Amazon is in South America. It’s the world’s largest tropical rainforest and covers 1.4 billion acres. It spans nine different countries and has 40,000 different plant species. It’s home to 2 and a half million different insect species and produces 20% of the world’s oxygen.
It’s a stunning rainforest with so many unique plants, animals, insects, and rare species. Scientists are discovering and learning about new species all the time.
It’s over 2.72 million square miles with acres of forest and is located in South America. It goes across many different countries such as:
The Amazon Rainforest is the home to many types of plants, animals, and insects.
As a matter of fact, most of the animal species that are known in the world make up around 2,000 species that live in the Amazon Rainforest.
Some of these include:
These different animal species include over 400 mammal species, over 300 reptile species, and over 400 amphibian species.
Some of the deadliest animals live in the Amazon Rainforest.
These include
One of the most dangerous animals in the Amazon Rainforest is the Pirarucu.
This is a fish that eats meat and it can grow as big as 10-feet long.
Over 1,3000 different kinds of bird species live in the Amazon.
Some of these include:
There are over two million kinds of insects that live in the Amazon Rainforest.
Some of these include:
There are also 40,000 different species of plants that are located in the Amazon Rainforest.
Some of these include:
It’s also home to many different ferns and mosses.
These types of vegetation grow close to the ground and since the rainforest has a harsh climate, these types of plants are able to survive.
Some of them give off toxins when animals come close so that they can protect themselves from being eaten.
There are so many tall trees and plants that the ground of the Amazon Forest is very dark.
The tops of these tall trees are called the canopy. Since the trees and plants are so thick, it can even take more than ten minutes for the rain to hit the ground of the rainforest.
There are thought to be around 500 different Native tribes that live in the Amazon Rainforest.
Over 50 of the groups have never met people that live outside of their own tribe.
The interesting thing about the Amazon Rainforest Biome is that it is made up of so many different species because of the weather.
The weather of the Amazon Rainforest is basically a wetland and it is also known to have a damp climate.
The climate makes the trees a perfect area for animals and insects to live.
Since there is hardly any sunlight in the jungle area, there is more shelter for all of the different species of animals and bugs.
With there being so many different types of plants and tree species in the rainforest, the animals and insects do not have a hard time finding food and this is why there are so many animals and insects species that live there.
The birds live in the Amazon Rainforest because of the big trees and they are able to easily find places to build their nests and to live.
Because the Amazon Rainforest is so large, it helps to give the Earth a lot of the oxygen that we breathe.
Through photosynthesis, the trees and the plants of the rainforest take in the carbon dioxide and use the sun to create food called glucose.
The Ecosystem of plants and trees then releases oxygen that people and animals breathe to live.
The Amazon Rainforest is known to give over 20% of the oxygen to the world. As a matter of fact, the Amazon Rainforest is sometimes called “The Lungs of the Earth” because of how much oxygen it gives off.
The Amazon River runs through the Rainforest.
It is over 6,400 kilometers long and is the second-longest river in all of the world.
In the Amazon Rainforest, it rains around once every four days. This means that there can be over 10 meters of water in the rainforest over a year.
Because of all of the rain, the Amazon River can be over 480 kilometers wide. If the water was measured out in the rainforest, it could be enough water to take care of all of the people in New York City for over 9 years.
Since the Amazon Rainforest is so large, it is one of the world’s remaining forests and is around half of the Earth’s entire rainforest.
Over the last 100 years, the rainforest is being destroyed. The rainforest is being destroyed at 1.5 acres per second.
The Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed because it is being cut down by people. When this happens, it causes there to be animal, insect, and plant species that become extinct. Extinct means that the animal is no longer found on the Earth.
Many of the people that cut down the forest are doing it to have farms while others cut down the forest because they are making room for businesses to be put up. Loggers also help to destroy the rainforest because they cut down the trees and use the trees to make things.
Another cause of the loss of the Amazon Rainforest is because of droughts. In 2005 and in the year 2010, there were droughts that killed off many of the plants that were growing in the Amazon Rainforest.
If the Amazon Rainforest is destroyed, it would increase the amount of carbon dioxide that is in the Earth. This would cause danger to:
Since the trees help to store carbon and help to give us oxygen to breathe, having the Amazon Rainforest is very important to all living things.
The carbon that the trees help to store also helps to regulate the climate of the Earth. With no trees to do this, it could get either way too hot or way too cold to live.