Jump Links: ________Physical Features----------------Climate------------------Plants----------------------People

Climate & Physical Features

The tropical rain forest is a region where rain falls often throughout the year. They are very wet places; they usually receive an average of 50-250 inches of rain a year. The temperature rarely gets any higher then 93°F or drops below 68°F. The humidity is usually between 77-88%. The African rainforest lies near the equator. The rain forests exist in Central and Western Africa , covering 20% of the continent.

 

Plants

A tropical rain forest has more kinds of trees than any other area in the world. About 1/4 of all the medicines we use come from rainforest plants. There are four very distinct layers of trees in a tropical rain forest. These layers have been identified as the emergent , upper canopy, understory, and forest floor.

EMERGENTS : Giant trees that are much higher than the average canopy height. It houses many birds and insects.

CANOPY : The upper parts of the trees. This leafy environment is full of life in a tropical rainforest and includes: insects, birds, reptiles (snakes, frogs, and lizards), monkeys, and more.

UNDERSTORY or UNDER CANOPY : A dark, cool environment under the leaves but over the ground.

FOREST FLOOR or SHRUB LAYER : Teeming with animal life, especially insects. The largest animals in the rainforest, like gorillas and leopards, generally live here.

There are many different types of animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, madrills, shrews, okapi, pygmy hippopotamus (small), monkeys, bush babies, pygmy hippo, duiker, African Gray Parrot and millions of other animals.

 
 

People

 Today the African rainforest is home to some of the most celebrated tribal people, the so-called "Pygmies" of the Iturbi forest in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The tallest of these people, known as the Mbuti, rarely exceed five feet (1.5 m). African forest people tend to be noticeably smaller than those from the savannas, the Pygmies being the most extreme example. Their small stature undoubtedly enables them to move about the forest more efficiently than taller peoples. Additionally, their smaller body mass allows pygmies to dissipate their body heat better. These peoples live in bands that range in size from 15-70 people depending largely on outside factors—hunting, trading, disease, and forest area. These groups tend to be nomadic, moving to new parts of the forest several times during the year and carrying all their possessions on their backs. Their nomadic lifestyle is less damaging to the rainforest environment because it allows the group to move without over-exploiting (over using or consuming) the local game and forest resources.