Smaller mammals such as mice and squirrels run for cover hiding in burrows and crevasses or up the trees to evade becoming a meal. Jaguars and the smaller cats like the beautiful spotted Ocelot, even though rarely seen, are at the top of the food chain as their muscular quickness, claws, strong jaws and sharp teeth make them some of the most successful predators of the Amazon. There one can see Tapirs, and Agoutis, and the wild boars called Peccaries who sometimes hunt in packs of 100 and can be the most dangerous to encounter on foot. The majority of the four-legged mammals survive by eating mostly what they find on the ground, including fruits, seeds, insects and each other. Oftentimes, seedlings and saplings of the larger canopy trees stay small and stunted for years until there becomes a gap in the canopy allowing light to penetrate the ground activating their growth. There, the vegetation consists of shade tolerant plant life such as ferns, mosses, fungi and small trees, shrubs and herbs. It is extremely humid with little light on the forest floor of the Amazon rainforest. Research has shown that the reduction of rainfall lessens the amount of moisture crossing the oceans, creating a rise in oceanic temperatures and the intensification of storms. Cutting down trees in forests affects rainfall and the local and global weather patterns. Studies have shown that declines in forest cover is equal to the reduction in the area’s water supply. Because tropical forests are moist and receive high levels of rainfall, they release vast amounts of moisture into the air daily.

The great amassing of trees in the tropics pulls in toxic levels of carbon from the atmosphere, holding it in the trees’ limbs, trunks, leaves and roots. Rainforests hold about 25% of all terrestrial (land) carbon and are the most important land ecosystems for mitigating climate change. Tropical rainforests receive around 100 inches (254 centimeters) of rainfall yearly, and contain tall broad-leaved evergreen trees that form a continuous canopy. A Tropical Rainforest is a hot, humid, and flourishing dense forest, usually found around the equator.

Rain forest