Hidden Secrets Of The Amazon Rainforest

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Hidden Secrets Of The Amazon Rainforest

By Joe Burgett - September 3, 2019

There Are A Lot Of Trees In The Amazon Rainforest

We all assume there are a ton of trees in the Amazon Rainforest, which is not without merit. They do have quite a lot, even with the forest fires that have happened over the years. Yet one of the secrets of the Amazon Rainforest is that they also have 16,000 different species of tree. To understand how much this is, we only know of 60,000 tree species worldwide. That’s more than 25% of the world’s tree species population!

Moreover, the nations with the most trees on the planet are Brazil, Columbia, and Indonesia. Of course, two of those nations happen to be home to a portion of the Amazon Rainforest. Each contains roughly 5,000 different tree species, making Brazil and Columbia account for at least 10,000 of the 16,000 tree species in the Amazon. On top of that, in spite of all the issues the tree population has had, there are still around 390 BILLION individual trees present there!

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The Major Annual Tree Loss

Absent any major forest fire in history, the Amazon loses quite a lot of trees on an average annual basis. While we know there are just under 400 billion individual trees, the loss of the tree population in any way can be bad if it gets out of control. Contrary to popular belief, you do need some trees to die off and it is even smart to do some controlled burning to remove problematic issues with new tree growth. It can even prevent major widespread damage if a fire randomly occurs.

The issue for the Amazon Rainforest is that they are far too large to do a lot of controlled burns. While some of the tribes present are known for doing it here and there, they are nowhere near as widespread. Thus, a secret of the Amazon Rainforest that is, well, no longer a major secret is its annual tree loss. As of now, the annual average is 3.5 million. Yet they have also had years far higher, such as Summer 2018 to Summer 2019 when they lost 3,800 square miles of total forest.

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The Major Bird Population

The ecosystem of the Amazon Rainforest is quite impressive. The countries with the highest bird populations based on total different species are, in order: Columbia, Peru, and Brazil. Of course, each country is also home to a portion of the Amazon Rainforest. One of the secrets of the Amazon Rainforest that shouldn’t really be one is truly this impressive bird population. At one point, we only assumed they had about 1,300 different bird species.

Yet other than Indonesia, the top 7 bird species homes are ALL in the Amazon. Counting Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela, the total bird species amount that call the Amazon Rainforest home is a stunning 10,003! Of course, 633 of these bird species happen to be threatened species of some type. Keep in mind, these are all the bird types we know of that are present here. It is nearly impossible to explore the entirety of this Rainforest, so there very well could be far more species of bird!

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The Amazon Rainforest Relies On Africa’s Sahara Desert To Survive

While it might seem odd, it is actually quite true that South America’s Amazon Rainforest relies at least partly on Africa’s Sahara Desert to survive. The reason is due to the Rainforest needing a consistent and reliable supply of fresh dust & phosphorous in its topsoil. This is not exactly present and naturally growing in the Amazon, and due to the massive amount of rain, it would only be washed away.

That is why the Sahara Desert is so useful, as it actually supplies this dust for the Amazon Rainforest. For many years, we knew that phosphorous was in the topsoil but how it got there was a mystery. That was until satellites picked up an advanced dust cloud modeling technique. Researchers concluded that particles were picked up in the desert and blown over the Atlantic Ocean before reaching the Amazon. It is a secret of the Amazon Rainforest that few thought possible until it was proven.

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The Amazon’s Incredible Plant Population

The Amazon Rainforest is often called the most biodiverse place on the planet. It’s not hard to see why, as there is plenty of water. Plus, there is a place in the shade for plants that need it and even sun in spots for plants that need more of that. It’s really the place that gives plants every tool they need to succeed. It is not shocking to find that its conditions give it the chance to produce some amazing plants too. Yet the secret of the Amazon Rainforest is the major amount of plant species.

We’ve drawn attention to the giant planets, as they seem to get the most press and popularity among tourists. We cannot blame anyone for loving them. However, we’ve so far been able to find at least 40,000 different plant species in the Amazon Rainforest. Brazil is said to be the most biodiverse nation with more different plant species than any other nation. Of course, its connection to the Amazon Rainforest certainly helps. In total, the Amazon has 67.5% of the world’s total vascular plants!

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Insects As Far As The Eye Can See

While we’ve already referenced the biodiverse nature of the Amazon Rainforest. However, it should go without saying that when there is one large population of animal species, there is sure to be another. An ecosystem cannot survive or thrive on its own, as it needs a proper food chain to work. That is why there can be a ton of mammals and birds here, as well as a lot of plants too. Yet all at some point rely on one species type, the insects.

At one point, the Amazon Rainforest was said to have 70,000 different species of insect. However, one secret of the Amazon Rainforest that people should know is that this number does not tell the full story. We’re now aware of roughly 2.5 million species of insect found here. Heck, scientists once found 700 different species of beetle on just ONE tree!! A lot of the time, insects too similar to others are looped in together. Therefore, some scientists do that in this case, bringing the number down.

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The “Lungs of the Earth” Is Not Exactly A Bad Nickname, But…

While the Amazon Rainforest is generally called the “lungs of the Earth,” it’s not entirely accurate. Yet it’s not too crazy either, as it is perhaps the greatest land area that helps us. When it comes to Carbon Dioxide absorption, the world’s oceans soak up around 25% of our annual emission total. This is taking into account all of the damage we have done to the planet due to our fossil fuel usage. However, while the Earth’s oceans might soak up a lot, the Amazon does too.

Sadly, people often get the total number of this wrong. One of the secrets of the Amazon Rainforest is that it soaks up 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually or about 5% of our annual total emission rate. However, another one of the major secrets of the Amazon Rainforest is that it does not produce 20% of the world’s oxygen. Even the most generous climatologists claim the Amazon produces around 10 to 15% of our oxygen at best.

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