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A Rain Forest in New York City?
Where can you find a piece of the rain forest in the middle of New York City? At the American Museum of Natural History, that's where! Twenty Museum workers—artists, scientists, video makers, photographers—were specially selected to travel thousands of miles across oceans and deserts, to visit the Dzanga-Sangha rain forest in the Central African Republic. Their goal was to study the ecosystem and to bring back a little part of the Dzanga-Sangha rain forest. Because there are no phones or mail delivery in the rain forest, everyone had to be prepared to say goodbye to their families for six whole weeks! But it was worth it. By the end of the expedition, the team collected almost 10,000 pounds of specimens—everything from tree vines to leaf litter! The specimens were shipped all the way back to the United States, where they were used to help recreate a section of the Dzanga-Sangha rain forest.
Pronunciation: ZDONG-guh SONG-guh
Size: 1.73 square miles (about 1,107 acres)
Location: northern edge of the Congo Basin in the Central African Republic
Characteristics: home to chimps, gorillas, antelopes, elephants, thousands of bird species, millions of insect species, and many other animal species found nowhere else in the world
Significance: threatened by hunting and mining
The longest earthworm ever found in this forest was:
about 2 inches
about 1 foot
more than 3 feet
Correct!
Rain forest earthworms can grow more than 3 feet long! Earthworms are important residents of the rain forest because they help recycle nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, all of which are ingredients that help plants grow.
Only a few species of plants and animals can survive the harsh conditions of the rain forest.
Fiction
The world's tropical rain forests are actually home to about half (50 percent) of all known plant and animal species.
Most of the plant and animal species that live in the Dzanga-Sangha have yet to be discovered by scientists.
Fact
Although scientists have identified thousands of plants and animals that live here, there are probably millions more yet to be discovered.
The Dzanga-Sangha is a special place. You never know what surprises await you—meeting rare gorillas, elephants, butterflies, or birds.
Joel Cracraft