1)How many rainforest zones (or forest types) are these in El Yunque ?
In el Yunque Rainforest there are four types of rainforest zones.
The first forest is The Tabonuco Forest. It has tall trees and low light at ground level. The trunks in the Canopy Trees are very straight with their first branches high above the ground. This forest has the richest flora in the entire Yunque, with 175 tree species. This forest is in the slopes below 2,000 feet in elevation.
The second forest is The Palo Colorado Forest. It is and upland swamp of short trees with shallow root systems that begin to uphill from the Tabonuco Forest. This forest type has an elevation of above 2,000 feet, on gentle slopes and valleys; and contains 50 tree species. This area of this type covers 3,400 hectares.
The third forest is The Sierra Palm Forest. Flora in this area does not normally great height or large trunk diameters, but it occurs in strong patches within the elevation ranges of both the Palo Colorado and Tabonuco Forest. Sierra Palms has some trees that cannot be found in others. This forest type is found on steep slopes, unstable soils and streambeds above 1,500 feet. This forest covers 2,050 hectares.
And the fourth forest is The Dwarf Forest. The Dwarf Forest is also known as ?elfin woodlands? they are found at the upper edges of the Palo Colorado and Sierra Palm Forest. In this area tree become shorter, into a zone of vegetation. This forest is in a zone of water-saturated soils in good oxygen. Most minerals for plants become dissolved in the rain and fog.
2)How much rain falls in El Yunque?
Since El Yunque is a Rainforest, there falls a lot of rain each year, 240 inches of rain falls on el Yunque each year. That is about more than 100 billion gallons of rainfall on the forest per year.
3)How much water runs off the rain forest in a year ?
In el Yunque about 100 billion gallons of water run off each year.
4) Why are Puertorican Parrots endangered ?
After the European colonization of the island began five hundred years ago, the size of the parrot population decreased in direct proportion to the making of cities and farms, while doing the that the parrots only habitat was almost gone. By the middle of the last century, The Puertorican Parrot was a threatened species, very close to extinction.
5) Briefly Describe El Yunque's histoy.
In the early 1500, Spanish Conquistadores arrived in Puerto Rico and saw that Puerto Rico was populated by Taino Indians. To the Taino Indians El Yunque was a sacred place. The Spanish soon found out that El Yunque was filled with gold. After almost of the gold was removed from El Yunque, the Spanish proclaimed El Yunque as a forest reserve. When the U.S. won the Spanish- American War, Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory. El Yunque rain forest became a federal reserve. In 1903, President Roosevelt designated the Luquillo Forest Reserve. In 1935, the Luquillo Forest Reserve?s name was changed to Caribbean Nation Forest. The roads and recreational facilities that were not built in the ?New Deal? plan were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Civilian Conservation Corps also worked in the reforestation of El Yunque. Then, in 1946, El Yunque was designated as a wild life refuge. In El Yunque many research was, and is, done. In fact, in 1956, its name changed to Luquillo Experimental Forest in recognition to its growing research. Next, in 1968, conservation efforts began to save the amazing Puerto Rican Parrot to prevent it from becoming extinct. Many years passed and finally El Yunque received its current name, El Yunque Nation Forest.
6) What does El Yunque mean ?
El Yunque comes from the word the Tainos used to use " Yu-ke ", which means white lands.
