These forests cover only 6 percent of the Earth’s surface yet are home to about half of the worlds currently known species. The tropical rainforest is hot, humid and sunny. It is found in a band circling the globe on both sides of the equator.
Tropical rainforest climate is characterized by an annual average temperature above 18 degrees C. and an abundant rainfall, evenly distributed over the year, unlike the tropical monsoon forests which have a distinct rain and dry season.
The ecological cycle in the rainforest is very fast. Fungi and insects break down dead material so that nutrients quickly become available to the large trees and plants. This means that most of the nutrients in the rainforest are bound in trees and other plants and not in the ground as in the Swedish forest. The rainforest produces three times as much biomass (all biological material in a geographic area such as 1 square kilometer) as a Swedish forest.