Group items tagged

The Amazon Rainforest By Alec The Amazon rainforest has many different plants that can be used as herbal medicines. Some of the most important medicines come from the Amazon. They have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years. These plants can be deadly if taken in large doses, but in small doses they can be very helpful. They can be used to cure headaches, skin irritation, high blood pressures, and many other diseases. Here are some of them. White Trillium The white trillium has three petals, three sepals, and three leaves. If the leaves are chewed, it can help cure snake bites. If the plant’s petals are chewed, they can help ease childbirth, and the sepals if chewed are used to help cure fevers. Cinchona Tree (Cinchona officinalis) The bark of this tree is used to make Quinine, a medicine that helps treat Malaria, a serious disease. A number of various other chemicals can also be made from Cinchona, and these chemicals include cinchonine, cinchonidine and quinidine. However, quinine has been replaced by other drugs such as chloroquine and mefloquine, and now quinine is rarely used to treat malaria. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) The leaves of this plant contain digitalis, a substance used to treat heart problems. When taken in large doses it can produce palpitations and dizziness, but when taken in smaller doses it can help the heart beat more slowly. This medicine had many effects, and sometimes it cured in miraculous ways, but it mostly produced violent reactions, occasionally killing because it was taken in very large doses. The foxglove tea is used as a morning tea to aid in birth control. Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) The opium poppy is used to make Morphine and Codeine, two drugs that are used as painkillers. The opium gum may be crudely refined and smoked, or converted to morphine and heroin.

Tropical rainforests are home to a huge number of different plants and animals. All tropical rainforests are endangered.

Tropical rainforests are home to a huge number of different plants and animals. All tropical rainforests are endangered.

Ecotourism (also known as ecological tourism) is travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low impact and (often) small scale.

Deserts take up about one third (33 percent) of the Earth's land surface.

Deserts are often composed of sand and rocky surfaces.

In hot deserts the temperature in the daytime can reach 45 °C/113 °F or higher in the summer, and dip to 0 °C/32°F or lower in the winter.

Tropical rainforests have long been home to indigenous peoples who have shaped civilizations and cultures based on the environment in which they live. Great civilizations like the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs developed complex societies and made great contributions to science. Living from nature and lacking the technology to dominate their environment, native peoples have learned to watch their surroundings and understand the intricacies of the rainforest. Over generations these people have learned the importance of living within their environment and have come to rely on the countless renewable benefits that forests can provide.

This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioral and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range

The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include habitat loss and fragmentation. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still regularly killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America.

The jaguar prefers large prey and will take deer, capybara, tapirs, peccaries, dogs, foxes, and sometimes even anacondas and caiman. However, the cat will eat any small species that can be caught, including frogs, mice, birds, fish, sloths, monkeys, and turtles;

The rainforest is home to more than half of the world's animals. Colorful and unusual animals dwell in all four layers of the forest. All types of creatures are represented, from tiny insects to large mammals.

birds live in the canopy (upper leaves of the trees) and in the emergents (the tops of the tallest trees). Large animals (like jaguars) generally live on the forest floor, but others (like howler monkeys and sloths) are arboreal (living in trees). Insects are found almost everywhere.

Some animals try to convince predators that they are bigger and more fierce than they really are. For example, the larva of the lobster moth (Stauropus fagi), whose larva looks like a scorpion, but is in fact completely defenseless. Many butterflies have large "eye" designs on their wings. This makes them look like the head of a very large animal instead of a harmless butterfly, and scares many predators away.

Animals Armadillo Lizard Banded Gila Monster Bobcat Cactus Wren Coyote Desert Bighorn Sheep Desert Kangaroo Rat Desert Tortoise Javelina Cactus Ferruginoug Pygmy Owl Sonoran Desert Toad Sonoran Pronghorn Antelope Thorny Devil Climate Return to Desert

What is a Biome?     A biome is a large area with similar flora, fauna, and microorganisms.  Most of us are familiar with the tropical rainforests, tundra in the arctic regions, and the evergreen trees in the coniferous forests. Each of these large communities contain species that are adapted to its varying conditions of water, heat, and soil.  For instance, polar bears thrive in the arctic while cactus plants have a thick skin to help preserve water in the hot desert.  To learn more about each of the major biomes, click on the appropriate heading to the right.  What is an Ecosystem?     Most of us are confused when it comes to the words ecosystem and biome.  What's the difference?  There is a slight difference between the two words.  An ecosystem is much smaller than a biome.  Conversely, a biome can be thought of many similar ecosystems throughout the world grouped together.  An ecosystem can be as large as the Sahara Desert, or as small as a puddle or vernal pool.     Ecosystems are dynamic interactions between plants, animals, and microorganisms and their environment working together as a functional unit.  Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in balance.  No community can carry more organisms than its food, water, and shelter can accomodate.  Food and territory are often balanced by natural phenomena such as fire, disease, and the number of predators.  Each organism has its own niche, or role, to play.

A cold desert is a desert that has snow in the winter instead of just dropping a few degrees in temperature like they would in a Hot and Dry Desert. It never gets warm enough for plants to grow. Just maybe a few grasses and mosses. The animals in Cold Deserts also have to burrow but in this case to keep warm, not cool. That is why you might find some of the same animals here as you would in the Hot and D

A cold desert is a desert that has snow in the winter instead of just dropping a few degrees in temperature like they would in a Hot and Dry Desert. It never gets warm enough for plants to grow. Just maybe a few grasses and mosses. The animals in Cold Deserts also have to burrow but in this case to keep warm, not cool. That is why you might find some of the same animals here as you would in the Hot and D

A cold desert is a desert that has snow in the winter instead of just dropping a few degrees in temperature like they would in a Hot and Dry Desert. It never gets warm enough for plants to grow. Just maybe a few grasses and mosses. The animals in Cold Deserts also have to burrow but in this case to keep warm, not cool. That is why you might find some of the same animals here as you would in the Hot and D ry

In most tropical rainforests, it rains every day.

Rainforests need lots of water and most of it comes pouring down as rain - at least 200 cm per year.

More than 1,000 rainforest cultures still exist, but nearly all of them face a grim future due to the development plans of the ruling elites in their countries and international development agencies. Their lands are being taken, their basic rights disregarded, and often even their very existence is being ignored.

What is a Rainforest?

Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.

ropical rainforests are found in a belt around the equator of the Earth. There are tropical rainforests across South America, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia (and nearby islands).

lanet Earth is part of a vast space neighborhood called the solar system. Our solar system is an amazing place. It’s ev

Tropical rainforests are warm, wet forests with many tall trees. In most tropical rainforests, it rains every day. Tropical rainforests grow in a narrow zone near the equator. They are found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and South and Central America. The largest rainforest in the world is the Amazon rainforest in South America. Tropical rainforests are home to a huge number of different plants and animals. All tropical rainforests are endangered.