This site describes rainforests from the Amazon to southeast Asia and their animals and plants, including endangered animals. It describes the different rainforest layers like the emergent layer and canopy. Full maps of all rainforest regions are included, showing current rainforest areas and the areas that have been deforested over the past 100 years. RainforestExplorer contains information about African rainforests, the Amazon rainforest and Southeast Asian rainforests among others. It details rainforest animals like monkeys, sloths, and butterflies.
Rainforests occur in both temperate and tropical regions.
Most of the world's rainforests fall either side of the Equator between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. Forests close to the Equator which receive year round drenchings are known as evergreen equatorial rainforests. Tropical rainforests were first defined in the German language. The further a rainforest is from the equator the greater are the changes in temperature and rainfall. Seasonal changes give rise to semi-deciduous rainforests in which most, and sometimes all of the trees lose their leaves during a dry season.