Sun-Dappled Rainforest
I composed this image of a Canadian rainforest while visiting British Columbia Canada's Sunshine Coast.
Rainforests cover less than 10 per cent of the world’s land surface, but the impact of this ecosystem is great: rainforests can be some of the most productive areas on Earth. To be productive, these areas need a high rate of transformation of nutrients and energy in growth. Plants absorb carbon in the atmosphere as well as sunlight, thereby producing sugars within their leaves, a process called photosynthesis. This process releases oxygen back into the air as it removes a lot of carbon dioxide, a green house gas, from the atmosphere. The vegetation in rainforests is responsible for nearly one-third of the world’s oxygen production. Furthermore, between 40 and 75 per cent of the world’s biotic (or living) species live in the world’s rainforests making these areas rich in biodiversity.
Canadian rainforests are part of a narrow band along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, from Alaska to northern California. The conditions needed to maintain this last rainforest are mostly created by the presence of the Pacific Ocean, making this a coastal temperate rainforest. Approximately 74 000 km2 of this coastal forest lies in Canada, which is 1.8% of Canada’s total forest area. This means that almost half of North America’s coastal rainforest, and close to 25 per cent of the world’s temperate rainforests, can be found in British Columbia!
Sun-Dappled Rainforest
I composed this image of a Canadian rainforest while visiting British Columbia Canada's Sunshine Coast.
Rainforests cover less than 10 per cent of the world’s land surface, but the impact of this ecosystem is great: rainforests can be some of the most productive areas on Earth. To be productive, these areas need a high rate of transformation of nutrients and energy in growth. Plants absorb carbon in the atmosphere as well as sunlight, thereby producing sugars within their leaves, a process called photosynthesis. This process releases oxygen back into the air as it removes a lot of carbon dioxide, a green house gas, from the atmosphere. The vegetation in rainforests is responsible for nearly one-third of the world’s oxygen production. Furthermore, between 40 and 75 per cent of the world’s biotic (or living) species live in the world’s rainforests making these areas rich in biodiversity.
Canadian rainforests are part of a narrow band along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, from Alaska to northern California. The conditions needed to maintain this last rainforest are mostly created by the presence of the Pacific Ocean, making this a coastal temperate rainforest. Approximately 74 000 km2 of this coastal forest lies in Canada, which is 1.8% of Canada’s total forest area. This means that almost half of North America’s coastal rainforest, and close to 25 per cent of the world’s temperate rainforests, can be found in British Columbia!