atreideslioness: (Unguarded)
Ghanima Atreides ([personal profile] atreideslioness) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2019-10-07 12:18 pm

Keeping Your Advantage: Terrain & You, Monday, Period 1

"Good morning," Ghanima said as everyone arrived in the Danger Shop. "Today, we are going somewhere slightly warmer than last week."

"Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm. The monsoon trough, alternately known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating Earth's tropical rain forests. 40 to 75% of all species on the world's habitats are indigenous to the rainforests. It has been estimated that many millions of species of plants, insects, and microorganisms are still undiscovered. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth", and the "world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests are also responsible for 28% of the world's oxygen turn over, often misunderstood as oxygen production, processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and storing it as carbon through biosequestration."

"A tropical rainforest is a biome found within 10 degrees north or south of the equator. They are common in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico and on many of the Pacific Islands. Minimum normal annual rainfall between 1,750 millimetres and 2,000 millimetres occurs in this climate region. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C during all months of the year."

"The rainforests are home to more species or populations than all other biomes added together. 80% of the world's biodiversity are found in tropical rainforests. The leafy tops of tall trees - extending from 50 to 85 meters above the forest floor - forms an understory. Organic matter that falls to the forest floor quickly decomposes, and the nutrients are recycled."

"Tall, broad-leaved evergreen trees are the dominant plants, forming a leafy canopy over the forest floor. Taller trees, called emergents, may rise above the canopy. The upper portion of the canopy often supports a rich flora of epiphytes, including orchids, bromeliads, mosses, and lichens, who live attached to the branches of trees. The undergrowth or understory in a rain forest is often restricted by the lack of sunlight at ground level, and generally consists of shade-tolerant shrubs, herbs, ferns, small trees, and large woody vines which climb into the trees to capture sunlight. The relatively sparse under story vegetation makes it possible for people and other animals to walk through the forest. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs, and small trees called a jungle."

"Today you have two options. You can wander around the ground level, looking for medicinals and various creatures and plants, or you can climb the trees"