The Amazon rain forest is the largest rainforest in the world, spanning over 9 countries; Brazil (50%), Peru (13%), Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It is home to 30% of the world’s animals and over 40,000 plant species, with more than 3,000 of them being fruit plants. Its habitats include montane, palm, bamboo, lowlands and floodplain forests, grasslands and swamps. The average annual precipitation in the Amazon is 9 feet. (Some extremely moist areas can get up to 35 feet a year) On average it rains 90 days annually. About average temperature is normally between 72-93 degrees Fahrenheit. The Amazon produces more than 20% of earth’s oxygen, thus giving it the nickname the “lungs of the planet”. The native population ranges in between 250,000-350,000. And with an extremely diverse community of people, plants and animals the amazon had an incredibly dense growth.
The Amazon is vertically divided into 4 layers, each owning a unique ecosystem. At the very bottom the forest floor is home to fungi, decomposition and the larger ground animals. With less than 2% of sunlight, it’s the darkest area in the entire rainforest. Just above the forest floor you have the understory which ranges in between the forest floor and 75 feet. Only capturing 2-15% of sunlight, the leaves in the understory are much larger, making it easier for plants to photosynthesize. Beyond the understory is the canopy, in between 75-125 feet, the main part of the Amazon. Anywhere between 70-90% of the rainforest exists here. On top of everything there is the overstory or emergent layer (uppermost layer), anything 125 feet and above.
The Amazon is vertically divided into 4 layers, each owning a unique ecosystem. At the very bottom the forest floor is home to fungi, decomposition and the larger ground animals. With less than 2% of sunlight, it’s the darkest area in the entire rainforest. Just above the forest floor you have the understory which ranges in between the forest floor and 75 feet. Only capturing 2-15% of sunlight, the leaves in the understory are much larger, making it easier for plants to photosynthesize. Beyond the understory is the canopy, in between 75-125 feet, the main part of the Amazon. Anywhere between 70-90% of the rainforest exists here. On top of everything there is the overstory or emergent layer (uppermost layer), anything 125 feet and above.