Jungles are found in the rainy tropic climates where rainfall is heavy. Jungles occur mostly along the rivers and mountain slopes of rain forests. Thick tangles of vines and other plants cover the ground. Many kinds of trees grow in the jungle. It rains daily or almost every day, and it is always hot and humid. Jungles are found in Brazil along the Amazon River and in Central America along the coastal mountains in the east.
There are many different "layers" of life in the jungle. The plants and animals found on the jungle floor are not the same as those found in the tops of the jungle trees. On the dark, damp, and cool jungle floor grow tangled vines, huge ferns, and giant palms. similar to those which grew in prehistoric times. Very few flowers grow in the dim light. In the Amazon jungles anteaters and armadillos thrive on the brown, red, and black ants which seem to be every where. There are more ants than any other living thing in the jungle. Animals such as tapirs. peccaries, jaguars, and snakes live in the lower level of the jungle.
From about twenty-five to seventy-five feet up from the jungle floor, among the branches of the many different kinds of tropical trees, are plants and animals well-suited to tree life. Lizards, jungle turkeys tree-living anteaters, sloths, and kinkajous spend their entire lives up in the trees, eating the abundant insects and ants. Some sunlight shines through the branches of the trees, and the air is warm and humid. Butterflies may hover over gardens of flowers hanging in the air. Among these colorful air plants (epiphytes) are delicate orchids and bromeliads.
The top of the jungle, seventy-five to one-hundred feet up from the jungle floor. is hot and bright with sunlight. monkeys noisily play in the tops of the trees, and brilliantly colored tropical birds, such as parrots, macaws, and toucans, fly overhead.
Jungles are old. The South American jungle is over one hundred million years old. It and the other jungles remained when the rain forests in other parts of the world were destroyed by long periods of cold and dry weather, The jungle is like a museum. for in it may be found plants and animals similar to those which lived on Earth millions of years ago.
When the jungle and other parts of the rain forest are cleared for agriculture, the soils, as a rule, are not very fertile. The heavy rainfall seems to remove valuable food nutrients and the constant high temperatures prevent the accumulation of humus to enrich the soil. Natives, after using a cleared space for a few years, may abandon it and move on to another location which they clear. This shifthing pattern of jungle farming is called milpa agriculture.
