Importance Of Tropical Rainforest

Tropical rainforest covers only a relatively small proportion of our planet, and yet it is considered to be one of the most significant ecosystems, and its loss through deforestation and burning is considered to be of global importance. Explain why.

Introduction

Tropical rainforests are highly important to the global ecosystem and human existence in the world. Occupying only 6% of the earth’s land areas, tropical rainforests sustain 10-50 million species, which is over half of the world’s biodiversity, far higher than biodiversity in sub-tropical, temperate, and boreal ecosystems (IUCN, 2006). They occur between the latitudes 23.5° N and 23.5° S of the equator (Mongabay, 2014). The largest tropical rainforest area is located in America continent

Genetic diversity is crucial for the resilience of all earth’s inhabitants to catastrophic environmental events, such as meteor impacts or massive volcanism (NASA, 2007). Every people in the world depends on the available resources in the tropical rainforest, directly or indirectly. Medicines, foods, and ecosystem services are some of many valuable services that human can take for granted from tropical rainforests. Nevertheless, they support the livelihoods of the world’s population as well as the source of many internationally traded commodities such as timber and traditional medicines. However, human activities through deforestation and burning the forest, has caused the tropical rainforests ecosystem more vulnerable to degradation, which disturb the balance on earth’s global ecosystem. It is critical to understand the importance of tropical rainforest on earth as it is fundamental to determine their future management and

Vegetation influence the physical appearance and functioning of the land surface in terms of its radiative properties and hydrological function (Kleidon et. al., 2000). In the presence of vegetation, more solar radiation is absorbed due to the lower albedo and more soil water is available for transpiration due to increased access to soil water. They help maintain the ratio of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by taking up CO2 and using sunlight energy to convert it into O2 and food, which is essential for life. Nevertheless, CO2, one of greenhouses gas that helps insulate the world, also able to cause the global temperatures increase if accumulated too much in the atmosphere for a long time. By uptake CO2, tropical rainforests also help to maintain the global temperature, which has a huge effect on the world’s ecosystem (Fearnside,