Experience Montana's beautiful landscape with these stunning photos.

click on the blue text not the pix.

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http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/photos/rainforest-tropical-wildlife.html?email=focus_20080624

Animals of the Rain Forest Slideshow

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http://www.nature.org/wherewework/photo/

Natural Light Slideshow- Beautiful

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With all the lushness and productivity that exist in tropical forests, it can be surprising to learn that tropical soils are actually very thin and poor in nutrients. The underlying “parent” rock weathers rapidly in the tropics’ high temperatures and heavy rains, and over time, most of the minerals have washed from the soil. Nearly all the nutrient content of a tropical forest is in the living plants and the decomposing litter on the forest floor.

Tropical forests contain more species than any other ecosystem, as well as a higher proportion of endemic (unique) species. As people clear large areas of tropical forests, entire species are vanishing, many of them unknown. (Graph adapted by Robert Simmon from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Biodiversity Synthesis.)

When an area is completely deforested for farming, the farmer typically burns the trees and vegetation to create a fertilizing layer of ash. After this slash-and-burn deforestation, the nutrient reservoir is lost, flooding and erosion rates are high, and soils often become unable to support crops in just a few years. If the area is then turned into cattle pasture, the ground may become compacted as well, slowing down or preventing forest recovery.

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With fewer than 100 Florida panthers left in the wild, vehicle collisions are a major threat to this highly endangered cat. 15 panthers have been killed by vehicles this year alone.

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Key Forest Regions for Threatened Birds in Asia

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THIS IS AN AFTER MAN HAS BEEN HERE PICTURE

THIS IS THE BEFORE PICTURE

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