AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Rainforests are Earth’s oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species-even though they cover just six percent of Earth’s surface.

Detailed explanation-2: -Rainforests are home to half of all the living animal and plant species on the planet. Two-thirds of all flowering plants can be found in rainforests. A single hectare of rainforest may contain 42, 000 different species of insect, up to 807 trees of 313 species and 1, 500 species of higher plants.

Detailed explanation-3: -Since there is a lot of sunlight, there is a lot of energy in the rainforest. This energy is stored in plant vegetation, which is eaten by animals. The abundance of energy supports an abundance of plant and animal species.

Detailed explanation-4: -About 80% of the world’s documented species can be found in tropical rainforests, even though they cover only about 6% of the Earth’s land surface-less than half the area they covered not so very long ago.

Detailed explanation-5: -Our analyses revealed that tropical forests are home to 62% of global terrestrial vertebrates (n = 21, 092 species), despite covering only 18% of Earth’s total land area.