Many of the things that we use and eat every day come from the rainforest. New animals and plants that could be useful in the future are being discovered all the time.
All of these things come from rainforest plants.
Many of the foods that we eat come from the rainforest. Banana, coffee and avocado plants first grew wild in rainforests and are now grown in large plantations. Some foods, such as Brazil nuts are still collected from trees growing in the rainforest.
The rainforest floor is covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves called leaf litter. Millions of insects, tiny creatures and fungi help to break down the leaves. Anything that falls to the forest floor is not there for long!
Everything that falls to the ground is recycled.
The hot, wet conditions in the rainforest are perfect for rotting, or decomposing. Insects and fungi help to break down dead plants and animals into simple nutrients. These are quickly absorbed by the shallow roots of trees and plants. Rainforests are so good at recycling that 99 percent of nutrients never leave the cycle!
The forest floor is the darkest and warmest part of the rainforest. Very little sunlight reaches the ground so few plants grow here. The forest floor is home to many insects and the animals that like to eat them, such as lizards!
This huge rainforest spider is as big as a dinner plate.
The Goliath bird-eating spider is the largest spider in the world. It lives on the rainforest floor and hides in burrows or under logs during the day. At night, it comes out to hunt for lizards, frogs, insects and small birds, which it bites with its poisonous fangs.
Leafy bushes and small trees make up the understory. It is dark, hot and very still here. The canopy roof blocks out most of the sunlight and wind from above. Many insects, frogs and snakes live in this layer.
This is a chameleon. It can change its skin colour.
Chameleons camouflage themselves by changing colour to match their surroundings. They use their long, sticky tongue to catch insects. They can also swivel their eyes so that each eye looks in a different direction at the same time.
One-fifth of all the birds in the world live in tropical rainforests. They can be found, along with many other flying creatures, throughout the rainforest. They feed on insects, seeds, fruit, nectar or other animals.
This bird lives in the treetops as part of a noisy group.
Brightly coloured macaws have short wings to help them fly through the crowded canopy. They have a powerful beak which they use as a tool to crack open nuts and fruits. Macaws also use their beak to hold on to the canopy branches as they move around.
This rainforest butterfly is the biggest in the world.
Bird wing butterflies are poisonous and their brightly coloured wings warn other animals not to eat them. The poison in their bodies comes from a plant that they eat when they are caterpillars.
This bat feeds on fruit and nectar from flowers.
During the day, bats gather in large groups to sleep. They hang upside down from trees and sleep with their wings folded across their body. At night, they fly through the forest in search of fruit, insects and nectar to eat. Bats are important to rainforest plants and trees because they pollinate flowers. They also help to spread seeds in their droppings.
Plants and animals crowd the treetops. Some plants don’t need soil for their roots and many animals never touch the forest floor. The canopy provides all the sunlight, water, food and shelter they need.
This three-toed sloth lives high up in the trees.
Sloths are one of the slowest-moving creatures on Earth. They hang on to trees with hooked claws and spend most of their time asleep. Small plants called algae grow in their fur, turning it a greenish colour. This helps to camouflage sloths from their predators.
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