Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Rain forest 
Name: Virginia Reid
Status: Other
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Will the rain forests recover?


Replies:
Yes, the rain forest will grow back if given a chance. It takes a plot the size of a football field about 50 years to completely recover to "original" condition. Since that is a long time, we have to plan more carefully how quickly we cut the forest, to make sure that there is enough "seed-stock" left to regenerate. If you do not believe the forest can recover, then you should take a look at the pictures of Maya ruins in Mexico and Guatemala. There were large cities in the forest, and after being abandoned for over 500 years, the forest grew back so thickly that many of the giant pyramids are completely covered up.

Don Libby


Click here to return to the Environmental Science

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory