72 Amazing Facts About Jungles That You Might Not Know

Jungles are the most ecologically diverse habitat on Earth.

Jungles have played an essential part in preserving the planet as it is and being home to incredible flora and fauna. Jungles have been a blessing to humanity.

Jungles are all about trees and vegetation. The forests, tropical forests, rain forests, wilderness, wild, bush, and so on are practically synonyms to the word jungle.

The continuous vegetating process helps the jungle area to flourish. They also help a lot in the agricultural process, and it helps in bringing out the rain needed for vegetation growth. People have been blessed with food and water every day and fresh air to breathe due to the involvement of Jungles.

They contribute. Jungles can filter out the impurities in the air too.

Jungle means something in the wild and dangerous. The word jungle has different origins. The jungle is known to be the heart of the Earth.

The most famous writer Rudyard Kipling explained the Indian jungles well in the famous book called 'The Jungle Book.' Jungles are all about various species, plants, and amazing biodiversity zones. Today, jungles are being cut down due to industrialization, which, in turn, is causing massive havoc in the rest of the world as well.

The weather in the forests is always hot and humid. One can expect rains too. Let us learn more about the jungle adventure.

Wildlife

The wildlife which is widely talked about has its habitat in the jungle area. Let us learn more about the idea of wildlife.

Wildlife refers to jungle animals, whether alive or dead, and you can find the majority of them in jungles.

Just like the jungles helps out in carrying out different processes on Earth, wildlife takes a role in it.

Wildlife is a part of the ecosystem, and it provides balance and stability to nature's processes.

The wildlife has been of great use for human beings today. But the overexploitation of the wildlife to satisfy human greed has led to the extinction of different wildlife species. This has also disrupted the natural processes.

There are many organizations set up which have taken several steps to conserve wildlife.

The goal of wildlife conservation is to ensure the survival of these species and educate human beings about the same.

Organizations like the national wildlife federation, worldwide fund, Panthera, the wildlife conservation society, and so on have been actively participating in the process of wildlife conservation.

The wildlife species highly feed on the products of the jungle. Hence, one can say that the wildlife and jungle are all related.

There are many wildlife parks and safaris that have been created for human beings to see some of the most amazing creatures on Earth.

These travels and wildlife trips should contribute to how humans understand the ecology and contribute to the wildlife's wellbeing.

Wildlife habitats are areas distributed horizontally and vertically across the landscape with all basic requirements for the habitat.

Humans today need to be very active in keeping wildlife healthy and safe, and you can start that by joining wildlife conservation associations.

It is high time to understand that humans are not the superior ones on Earth.

Importance

Talking about jungles and wildlife has led to us emphasizing the fact that wildlife is important, and it breaks a huge ecological cycle when humans try to take over their homes in the name of industrialization.

The jungles have been the sole regulators of the climate on Earth.

It is only because of the trees and other factors which are present in the jungle area that keeps and maintains the Earth's atmosphere intact.

Jungles are pure and amazing places that provide the best naturally filtered air to breathe. Hence, jungles are a life savior as it helps in maintaining the natural oxygen atmosphere cycles on Earth.

Jungles help in clearing out the pollution, too, and they constantly provide oxygen to Earth. Without these, life would have become impossible on Earth.

The greenhouse effects that people see today would have destroyed all our lives if not for the jungle helping to lower their harmful effects.

Jungles also have high medicinal values, which help human beings in their time of need.

Threats To Jungles

The growing development of the world has increased the threats to the jungle.

Urbanization and industrialization are the major threats to the jungle as the development of these have caused logging to grow over the years.

Overexploitation of the forest goods and also the invasion of the alien species in an environment also threaten the jungle.

To set up the huge towers, growing cities, making roads, and what not, humans have been continuously deteriorating the natural beauty and resources, of course.

Jungles are the lungs of the Earth. Mining, agricultural activities, bio-piracy, logging, damming, ranching, poaching, and so on have posed significant threats to the jungle.

The developmental hydroelectric projects and many developmental attitudes have made the wildlife lose its natural habitat.

Species richness and species diversity have also been facing issues in the jungle.

Fun Facts About Jungles

Jungles are characterized by high humidity, lack of trees, and more than half their biomass being produced by vascular epiphytes.

Many people think the jungle environment is hot and humid all year round, but in reality, this is not the case.

Forests and jungles are both types of dense greenery, and they can be tropical.

In general, forests are open spaces, meaning that light from the sun gets through to the ground level of the forest.

On the other hand, Jungles are very dense, with little light getting to the ground or plants living in them.

A rainforest continues to house all animals and maintains a tropical climate all year round. This means that it rains often, but the temperature never gets very low.

Jungles are more than just being the oxygen providers. About half of the total animals and plants which are present on Earth live in the jungle.

Most of the jungles are known to be present around the equatorial region. Hence, you can say that jungles are naturally present in warm regions.

Jungles are the primary source of rainfall too. Many people would think of the jungle as an ecosystem. But it is not true.

It is surprising that a jungle is never counted as a part of the ecosystem; instead, rainforests as a whole can be counted as a part of the ecosystem.

The word jungle has several meanings. One can take the jungle as a metaphoric term that would have the meaning of being something unruly or without laws.

There are many incredible movies and books based on the stories of the jungles.

The last but not the least interesting fact about the jungles is that it is never freezing or winters in a jungle.

While scientists estimate 50 million animal species present in the rainforest areas, most animals are becoming extinct due to the lack of balance in the environment and ecosystems.

Let us take the jungle book of Australia, one of the popular regions in the world for being home to several animal species.

Australia is currently facing the extinction of native species in all categories, starting from amphibians to reptiles, insects and the same is the case with flora and fauna.

Likewise, the popular jungle Amazon Rainforest is home to vast biodiversity, three million species, and 2500 tree species, creating a vibrant forest.

The latter contributes to one-third of all tropical trees of the world. But with an increase in human activity around the forest, biodiversity is at risk.

The Amazon as a whole, including the Amazon Basin, is one of the most biodiverse places in the world, providing many benefits to humans and animals.

This rainforest is responsible for 75% of its own rainfall, feeding the rivers nearby.

The rainfall in the amazon basin affects South America and the regions in the Central and Western United States.

When you visit the Amazon forest areas, make sure you do not disturb the flora and fauna of the forest.

Logging has already caused the forest to be more susceptible to natural elements like sunlight and wind, so make sure you do not disturb the ecology in any way when you visit the forest.

Speaking of rivers, the forest areas along the coast is quite popular along the borders of Brazil.

One popular South American forest is the Atlantic Forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil.

Montane forests have high altitudes, and it is a wet forest that covers the mountains and plateaus of South Brazil, making it a must-visit place.

Similarly, the Montane Jungle Africa with moderate to high altitude houses a chain of isolated mountains.

Another interesting name you should know is Equatorial New Guinea because 58% of the area there is a forest region.

Formerly known as Spanish Guinea, New Guinea has several ecoregions, ranking 30 in the forest landscape integrity index of the world.

The Central African Mangrove Forest is quite popular to visit when you take a trip to New Guinea.

Did you know?

Tropical rainforests are found in the Amazon River basin of North and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Oceania.

Tropical rainforests are important to humans because of all the resources humans can find there. For example, rubber, wood for building houses, and even medicines for many diseases come from tropical rainforests.

The leading cause of tropical rainforest deforestation is logging. Another huge cause of deforestation is the burning of the rainforest for land use and growing crops.

The major threats to tropical rainforests are habitat loss, climate change, and pollution.

Another threat would be species extinction, but as long as humans continue to live and breathe in this world, we will continue to destroy our planet and its plants and animals.

The major areas of the jungle are located in places like South America, Africa, and Indonesia.

The Amazon Rainforest is in South America. The Amazon River and its tributaries (rivers that flow into it) run through the jungle. This river has the most significant volume of water ever measured at around 1,100,000 km3 (326,400 mi3).

In Africa, there are even more extensive areas of jungles. Tropical jungles are located on every continent of the world. These jungles are located in regions that have warm and wet climates.

There are many types of plants that live in tropical jungles, but many kinds of trees grow in tropical rainforest areas.

Some of the more common plants only found in tropical rainforest areas are Cecropia (Guapira Guapey) trees, which have a flower that smells like rotting meat.

Rubber trees are also found in the rainforests of Africa and South America.

Other plants can be used to produce food and materials that humans need.

You can find several tropical rainforest areas with a high altitude, loved by hiking enthusiasts.

Tropical forests are the second most diverse region, after coral reefs.

There are hundreds of thousands of species living in rainforests. 4/5ths of the world's plants and animals live in tropical rainforests. Rainforests may be the most biologically diverse place in the world.

Scientists estimate that out of a billion species living on Earth may reside within tropical areas.

Over millions of years, volcanic activity due to the constant shifting of the Earth changed the face and climate of several continents, forming unique ecosystems.

For example, the world was once covered in glaciers, one of which was the Andes Mountains.

Nature helps human life sustain on Earth. Hence, humans must realize the importance of nature, appreciate nature for everything it has given to humans, and be thankful for it.

We need to consider the land being home to us and the entire environment. From the water we consume to the sunlight, we share the resources of this planet with all the other species.

We need to start contributing to the wellbeing of the forests, and this action starts with simple activities. We could volunteer in wildlife or nature conservation organizations, impart knowledge, reduce plastic usage, use biodegradable products, use fewer resources and perform activities like these to contribute positively to the environment.