rainforest ecosystems
Tropical biodiversity zones
Rainforest ecosystems are the complex webs of life found in tropical and temperate forests with high rainfall and dense vegetation.
The term emphasizes the interconnected relationships between species—trees, plants, insects, animals, fungi, and microorganisms—rather than just the forest itself.
Rainforest ecosystems contain extraordinary biodiversity and play crucial roles in global climate regulation: The Amazon rainforest ecosystem stores vast amounts of carbon.
Conservation efforts focus on preserving these ecosystems intact, since removing one element can destabilize the whole.
- epiphytesPlants growing on others
- strangler figsTrees engulfing host plants
- canopyOverhead protective covering
- bromeliadsTropical plants, often epiphytic
- understoryForest's lower vegetation tier
leaf litter · biodiversity loss · deforestation · slash and burn · ecotourism · jaguars · howler monkeys · tree frogs · endemic species · symbiosis · trees · tropical hardwoods · old growth · humidity · biodiversity hotspots · cloud forests · carbon sequestration · rainfall
rainforest ecosystemsdesert ecosystems
Biological communities in arid regions
Sahara Desert · deserts · Death Valley · drylands · scrublands