All living things experience a growth cycle. Some are incredibly short while other organisms live for hundreds of years. The inhabitants of the rainforest are no different. Trees die regularly, whether from sickness, age or natural disaster. Some rainforests experience cyclones and hurricanes, others suffer landslide. These disasters create gaps in the canopy that are filled by pioneer species, such as balsa. Pioneer species grow quickly and are adapted to more sunlight that most rainforest species. The plant life of the rainforest is in a constant state of flux with some species just beginning, some dying and others decaying on the forest floor to provide nutrients for other plants.
Deforestation affects all types of forests, although rainforests have been far more affected by the process. Regardless of whether the deforestation is for timber, agriculture or to make room for cattle ranches, trees and plants are killed and animals loose their habitat. This results in erosion for the remaining forest. Another major danger of deforestation is increased global warming. Rainforests serve as carbon reserves because large quantities of carbon are stored both above and below ground. When the rainforest is destroyed, this carbon is released in the form of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.
Decomposition, the breaking down of organic materials, is a naturally occurring and beneficial dynamic in the rainforest. Dead animals and plants, along with other plant matter, accumulate on the forest floor and are decomposed by termites, earthworms and fungi. The decomposition of this decaying material creates nitrogen that living plants can use for food.
Like all other biomes on earth, the earth beneath the rainforest is home to diamonds, gold, copper, minerals and other precious metals and gemstones. Mining for these materials in the rainforest is a leading cause of deforestation, which has its own list of detrimental effects. In addition, mining releases pollutants into the environment, which affects the health of the plants and animals still living in the rainforest, as well as to the people who live along its borders. Mining for minerals also depletes the soil of these substances that are often necessary for plant survival.
