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Desert biomes can be classified according to several characteristics. There are four major types of deserts: Hot and dry Semiarid Coastal Cold

Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth's surface and occur where rainfall is less than 50 cm/year.

The animals include small nocturnal (active at night) carnivores. The dominant animals are burrowers and kangaroo rats. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds. The animals stay inactive in protected hideaways during the hot day and come out to forage at dusk, dawn or at night, when the desert is cooler.

Many species of animal life can be found in the rain forest. Common characteristics found among mammals and birds (and reptiles and amphibians, too) include adaptations to a life in the trees, such as the prehensile tails of New World monkeys. Other characteristics are bright colors and sharp patterns, loud vocalizations, and diets heavy on fruits. Insects make up the largest single group of animals that live in tropical forests. They include brightly colored butterflies, mosquitoes, camouflaged stick insects, and huge colonies of ants. The Amazon river basin rainforest contains a wider variety of plant and animal life than any other biome in the world. The second largest population of plant and animal life can be found in scattered locations and islands of Southeast Asia. The lowest variety can be found in Africa. There may be 40 to 100 different species in 2.5 acres ( 1 hectare) of a tropical rain forest.   When early explorers first discovered the rainforests of Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, they They were amazed by the dense growth, trees with giant buttresses, vines and epiphytes . The tropical vegetation grew so dense that it was difficult to cut one's way through it. It was thought at the time that the soil of a rainforest must be very fertile, filled with nutrients, enabling it to support the immense trees and other vegetation they found. Today we know that the soil of the tropical rainforests is shallow, very poor in nutrients and almost without soluble minerals. Thousands of years of heavy rains have washed away the nutrients in the soil obtained from weathered rocks. The rainforest has a very short nutrient cycle. Nutrients generally stay in an ecosystem by being recycled and in a rainforest are mainly found in the living plants and the layers of decomposing leaf litter. Various species of decomposers like insects, bacteria, and fungi make quick work of turning dead plant and animal matter into nutrients. Plants take up these nutrients the moment they are released. A study in the Amazon rainforest found that 99% of nutrients are held in root mats. When a rainforest is burned or cut down the nutrients are removed from the ecosystem. The soil can only be used for a very short time before it becomes completely depleted of all nutrients.

Besides these four layers, a shrub/sapling layer receives about 3 % of the light that filters in through the canopies. These stunted trees are capable of a sudden growth surge when a gap in the canopy opens above them. The air beneath the lower canopy is almost always humid. The trees themselves give off water through the pores (stomata) of their leaves. This process, called transpiration, can account for as much as half of the precipitation in the rain forest. Rainforest plants have made many adaptations to their environment. With over 80 inches of rain per year, plants have made adaptations that helps them shed water off their leaves quickly so the branches don't get weighed down and break. Many plants have drip tips and grooved leaves, and some leaves have oily coatings to shed water. To absorb as much sunlight as possible on the dark understory, leaves are very large. Some trees have leaf stalks that turn with the movement of the sun so they always absorb the maximum amount of light. Leaves in the upper canopy are dark green, small and leathery to reduce water loss in the strong sunlight. Some trees will grow large leaves at the lower canopy level and small leaves in the upper canopy. Other plants grow in the upper canopy on larger trees to get sunlight. These are the epiphytes such as orchids and bromeliads. Many trees have buttress and stilt roots for extra support in the shallow, wet soil of the rainforests. Over 2,500 species of vines grow in the rainforest. Lianas start off as small shrubs that grow on the forest floor. To reach the sunlight in the upper canopy it sends out tendrils to grab sapling trees. The liana and the tree grow towards the canopy together. The vines grow from one tree to another and make up 40% of the canopy leaves. The rattan vine has spikes on the underside of its leaves that point backwards to grab onto sapling trees. Other "strangler" vines will use trees as support and grow thicker and thicker as they reach the canopy, strangling its host tree. They look like trees whose centers have been hollowed out. Dominant species do not exist in tropical rainforests. Lowland dipterocarp forest can consist of many different species of Dipterocarpaceae, but not all of the same species. Trees of the same species are very seldom found growing close together. This bio diversity and separation of the species prevents mass contamination and die-off from disease or insect infestation. Bio diversity also insures that there will be enough pollinators to take care of each species' needs. Animals depend on the staggered blooming and fruiting of rainforest plants to supply them with a year-round source of food.

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. Emergent trees are spaced wide apart, and are 100 to 240 feet tall with umbrella-shaped canopies that grow above the forest. Because emergent trees are exposed to drying winds, they tend to have small, pointed leaves. Some species lose their leaves during the brief dry season in monsoon rainforests. These giant trees have straight, smooth trunks with few branches. Their root system is very shallow, and to support their size they grow buttresses that can spread out to a distance of 30 feet. The upper canopy of 60 to 130 foot trees allows light to be easily available at the top of this layer, but greatly reduced any light below it. Most of the rainforest's animals live in the upper canopy. There is so much food available at this level that some animals never go down to the forest floor. The leaves have "drip spouts" that allows rain to run off. This keeps them dry and prevents mold and mildew from forming in the humid environment. The understory, or lower canopy, consists of 60 foot trees. This layer is made up of the trunks of canopy trees, shrubs, plants and small trees. There is little air movement. As a result the humidity is constantly high. This level is in constant shade. The forest floor is usually completely shaded, except where a canopy tree has fallen and created an opening. Most areas of the forest floor receive so little light that few bushes or herbs can grow there. As a result, a person can easily walk through most parts of a tropical rain forest. Less than 1 % of the light that strikes the top of the forest penetrates to the forest floor. The top soil is very thin and of poor quality. A lot of litter falls to the ground where it is quickly broken down by decomposers like termites, earthworms and fungi. The heat and humidity further help to break down the litter. This organic matter is then just as quickly absorbed by the trees' shallow roots

The identification, ongoing protection and presentatiosn of cultural values is paramount. This includes cultural sites and their traditional knowledge (sometimes referred to as intellectual and cultural property rights) such as food and medicine resources. They want to be able to hunt and gather their traditional foods and other resources, while managing impacts which have the potential to impair these activities through disturbance and habitat destruction. Other important aspirations relate to the future of Rainforest Aboriginal people's communities and their survival into the 21st century. Many Rainforest Aboriginal people want to get more involved in cultural tourism because it means they can present their culture and benefit economically. One of the most heart-felt aspirations Rainforest Aboriginal people have is to get secure title to their traditional lands to ensure the integrity and survival of their cultures.  

It is actually a member of the rodent family that belongs in the same species as the guinea pig, agouti, coyphillas and chinchillas and is considered the largest type of rodent throughout the world.

The Capybara are a very heavy set animal with a short head and sports a coat of reddish colored fur with lighter coloring underneath.

The "Football" War (La guerra del fútbol, in Spanish), also known as the Soccer War or 100-hours War, was a four-day war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. It was caused by political conflicts between Hondurans and Salvadorans, namely issues concerning immigration from El Salvador to Honduras. These existing tensions between the two countries coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second North American qualifying round for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. On 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran army launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States negotiated a cease-fire which took effect on 20 July, with the Salvadoran troops withdrawn in early August.

The "Football" War (La guerra del fútbol, in Spanish), also known as the Soccer War or 100-hours War, was a four-day war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. It was caused by political conflicts between Hondurans and Salvadorans, namely issues concerning immigration from El Salvador to Honduras. These existing tensions between the two countries coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second North American qualifying round for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. On 14 July 1969, the Salvadoran army launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States negotiated a cease-fire which took effect on 20 July, with the Salvadoran troops withdrawn in early August.

The largest of all the ecosystems, oceans are very large bodies of water that dominate the Earth's surface. Like ponds and lakes, the ocean regions are separated into separate zones: intertidal, pelagic, abyssal, and benthic. All four zones have a great diversity of species. Some say that the ocean contains the richest diversity of species even though it contains fewer species than there are on land.

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.

The four major types of biomes are aquatic, grasslands, forests, and desert. Aquatic biomes are probably the most important of all the biomes. Their medium, water, is a major natural resource. Aquatic biomes can be subdivided into freshwater, seawater and atmospheric biomes. Grasslands can be subdivided into savanna, temperate grasslands (prairie) and tundra. This classification corresponds to decreasing average temperatures. Forests receive more precipitation than other biomes and vary from boreal, to temperate, to rainforest. This classification corresponds to increasing temperatures. Deserts have the fewest species and the most extreme climate

The Sumatran rhinoceros is a small, hairy rhinoceros which survives in limited numbers in pockets of Indonesian and Malaysian rain forests. In the early 1900s it ranged over most of Southeast Asia from the Himalayas in Bhutan, eastern India through Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. Now they are only found in little forest pockets on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.

The smallest living rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros has a gray-brown leathery hide. Its deep folds around the neck, behind the front legs, and before the hind legs give the rhinoceros an armor-plated appearance. It has a short, stocky body and stumpy legs which are covered with coarse reddish-brown hair. Its body length is from 8 to 8.5 feet and stands 4.5 feet at the shoulders. A mature rhino weighs from 2200 to 4400 pounds.

The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only Asian rhinoceros with two horns. Both sexes of rhinos have horns, the front horn being larger, averaging 15 to 20 inches. The male's horns are usually bigger than the female's, whose second, smaller horn is often absent. The upper lip curves down and can move around to grasp objects.

Tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on earth. A four-square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1500 species of flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians, and 150 species of butterflies. More than 50% of the world's plant and animal species inhabit the 7% of the world that is covered in rainforest.

Some forests in Southeast Asia have been around for more than 100 million years, when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. During the Ice Ages, the last of which occurred about 10,000 years ago, the frozen areas of the North and South Poles spread over much of the earth, causing huge numbers of extinctions.

While there are many species of plants in a square-mile of tropical rainforest, there may only be one or two of each. In addition as most of the species are found nowhere else on Earth, by removing one plant or animal, the fragile ecosystem would be threatened, and the species may be forced into extinction.

When the siren started to wail I would put on my suit and shoes and make sure my younger brother did the same. Then I would pick up a torch and we would go downstairs ready to go into our air raid shelter. My mother would have already put my grandmother into the shelter and she would have made certain that at least two candles were alight. We had to enter our Anderson shelter (which was in the front garden) by a small doorway, go down four rungs of a small ladder, close the wooden door behind us and pull a blanket over the whole entrance. My father was away in the Royal Navy serving on board H.M.S. Exeter, so I felt I was the man of the house.

Elephants are the largest land animals. They can weigh over 6,000 kg, or more than the weight of four cars! The one feature that makes an elephant unmistakable is its long trunk. A trunk is an elephant's best tool for sucking up water, digging, grabbing, lifting, sniffing, and breathing. The trunk even has a fingerlike tip that can flick dirt from an elephant’s eye or pick up a single blade of grass. There are three species of elephants. Two species live in Africa and one lives in Asia. All three species are endangered.

Asian elephants have an arched body shape. They have triangular ears that do not reach their shoulders and two bumps on their foreheads. Their trunks have a single lip on the upper tip of the trunk. Male Asian elephants are 2-3.5 m tall. Their average weight is about 5,400 kg. Females average about 2.35 m tall and weigh about 2,700 kg. Often, only males have tusk

Elephants live in social groups called herds. Herds usually have about 10 to 20 members. Sometimes many herds will meet and form “super herds” of 100 or more elephants. Herds consist mainly of females that are related to each other. A typical herd might include mothers, daughters, aunts, and grandmothers, and a few young males. The oldest female is the herd’s matriarch. She leads the herd to water and finds food and a place to rest. There are also smaller bachelor herds that are made up of adult males.

All Grown Up Male orangutans are large apes. They are generally more than twice the size of females. Males may weigh around 90 kg. Females rarely reach 40 kg. ©G.Ellis/GLOBIO.org Around the age of

The Yanomamo (Yah-no-mah-muh) also called Yanomamo, Yanomami and Sanuma (which means ‘Human Being') are deep jungle indigenous Indians living in the Amazon basin in both Venezuela and Brazil. The Yanomamo are believed to be the most primitive, culturally intact people in existence in the world. In spite of that, they exist within the modern period by use of technology which is well-adapted to their environment.

They number approximately 12,000 people and are distributed in some 125 widely scattered villages in the upper Amazon basin of Brazil and in the South of Venezuela (South America). They live in small villages that are separated by many miles of unoccupied land. The villages can be as small as 40 to 50 people or as large as 300 people grouped by families in one large communal dwelling called a Shabono; this disc shaped structure with an open-air central plaza is an earthly version of their god's Abode. The villages are autonomous but constantly will interact with each other. The quote following read in the book Yanomamo Warfare is intended to give more details about number of Yanomamo "The Yanomamo are by far the most numerous and best described of the four major divisions of Yanomamo. Population estimates put their numbers at 6,00

0 around 1970 (Migliazza 1972:34), at...

Jaguar Jaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest felid species in the New World and the only member of the genus Panthera, the roaring cats, that occurs in the Americas. They are the third largest cat species, being outsized only by lions (P. leo) and tigers (P. trigris). Although not the largest felid, jaguars have the strongest jaw in relation to head size of any of the cats, a fact that should be remembered whenever planning to capture and immobilize these animals. The body weight of jaguars is 90 - 120 kg for males and 60 - 90 kg for females, with a large variation in body size. Jaguars live in a wide variety of tropical habitats, ranging from montane forest and wet savannah to tropical rain forest and deciduous tropical forest. The largest documented jaguars occur in wet savannahs while jaguars that live in more forested regions tend to be smaller in size

Physical appearance: Jaguars are the largest cat in the western hemisphere. In comparison with the leopard, the jaguar is generally larger and much stockier, with a broad heavy head, much shorter legs and tail (a good visual description might be a leopard on steroids). The background of the jaguar's coat is a tawny-yellow, like many of the Asiatic leopards, and lightened to whitish on the throat and belly. The jaguar is marked with small isolated spots on the head and neck with dark open ring structures, rosettes,on the sides and flank that generally contain one to four dark spots inside the rings. Interestingly, the rosettes of the leopard and the jaguar are almost identical with the exception of the jaguar having spots "inside" the rosettes where the leopard has none. Along the middle of the jaguar's back, a row of black spots may merge into a solid line. According to one Indian myth, the jaguar acquired its spotted coat by daubing mud on its body with its paws.