Different types of rain forests exist. These are the Equatorial rain forest (forests found in the
equatorial zone 10 degrees either side of the equator ), Subtropical rain forest (forests that
extends beyond the Tropics), Monsoon rain forest (forests that experience pronounced changes
in season, a cycle of wet and dry seasons.), Montane rain forest (forests that can establish itself
on tropical mountains) and Mangrove rain forest (not a rain forest, but it fringes the rain forests
at their coastal limits.
Tropical soils are generally diverse, ranging from volcanics to almost pure quartz sands,
although perhaps one-half of the total rain forest area is composed of reddish latosols (soils from
which the nutrients have been stripped). Warm climates and copious precipitation in the humid
Tropics leads to strong weathering of the soils. Approx four inches of rain falls monthly, where the
mean monthly temperature exceeds 75F and frost never occurs.
The rain forest literally feeds on itself. Most of the nutrients the plants need are supplied by the
branch and leaf litter that covers the forest floor and that-thanks to the constant heat and humidity
- is rapidly decompposed by termites, fungi, and other organisms. Nothing is wasted; everything
is recycled. Through transpiration and evaporation from the forest canopy, the rain forest even
recycles up to 75% of the rainfall it receives. Later, the clouds formed by this process water the
forest again.
[FACTS]Amazon is the world’s largest river basin. 20% of all river water flows here. About
60% of the Amazon basin, nearly two million square miles, lies within Brazil. Annual
deforestation in Brazil is nearly 8000 square miles. Tropical forests happen to occur in
economically depressed, developing countries of the Third World.