The Amazon

The Amazon is a land of superlatives. The complex ecosystem covers an area about the size of the continental U.S. The Amazon River discharges 57 million gallons of water per second--in two hours, this would be enough to supply all of New York City's 7.5 million residents with water for a year.
Its flora and fauna are abundant. Approximately one of every four flowering plant species on earth resides in the Amazon. A single Amazonian river may contain more fish species than all the rivers in Europe combined. It is home to the world's largest anteater, armadillo, freshwater turtle, and
spider, as well as the largest rodent (which weighs over 200 lbs.), catfish (250 lbs.), and alligator (more than half a ton). The rainforest, which contains approximately 390 billion trees, plays a vital role in stabilizing the global climate by absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide--or
releasing it into the atmosphere if the trees are destroyed. Severe droughts in both Brazil and Southeast Asia have been linked to Amazonian deforestation, as have changing rainfall patterns in the U.S., Europe, and China. The Amazon also serves as home to millions of people.

Approximately seventy tribes of isolated and uncontacted people are concentrated in the western Amazon, completely dependent on the land and river. These isolated groups have been described as the most marginalized peoples in the western hemisphere, with no voice in the decisions made about their
futures and the fate of their forests. In this addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know(R) series, ecologist and conservation expert, Mark J. Plotkin, who has spent 40 years studying Amazonia, its peoples, flora, and fauna. The Amazon offers an engaging overview of this irreplaceable ecosystem and
the challenges it faces.

"Rainforests occupy a special place in the imagination. Literary, historical and cinematic depictions range from a ghastly Green Hell to an idyllic Garden of Eden. In terms of fiction, they fired the already fervent imaginations of storytellers as diverse as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Rudyard Kipling and even George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in whose books and films they are inhabited by dinosaurs, trod by Indiana Jones, prowled by Mowgli the Jungle Boy and swung through by Tarzan of the Apes. But rainforest fact is no less fascinating than rainforest fiction. Brimming with mystery and intrigue, these forests still harbor lost cities, uncontacted tribes, ancient shamans, and powerful plants than can kill - and cure. The rainforest bestiary extends far beyond the requisite lions, tigers and bears. Flying foxes and winged lizards, arboreal anteaters, rainforest giraffes, cross-dressing spiders that disguise themselves as ants and bats the size of a bumblebees all flourish in these most fabulous of forests along with other zoological denizens that are equally bizarre and spectacular. And no scientist immersed in these ecosystems believes that all the wonders have been found or revealed. Tropical rainforests merit their moniker. They flourish in the tropics - the more than 3000 mile-wide equatorial band between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. And these forests are hot, humid and wet, receiving in the Amazon, on average from 60 to 120 inches of rain per year - as compared to a mere 25 inches in London or 45 inches in Manhattan. However, several sites in the rainforests of northeastern India, of west Africa and western Colombia are drenched by over 400 inches of precipitation per annum. To a large degree, rainfall in the tropics is determined by the so-called "Intertropical Convergence Zone" (ICZ), a band of clouds around the equator created by the meeting of the northeast and southeast trade winds. Also referred to as the "Monsoon Trough," and known to - and dreaded by - sailors over the centuries as the "Doldrums," since the extended periods of calm that sometimes manifested there could strand a sailing vessel for weeks. The constant cloud cover due to the ICZ, the ferocious heat, and the abundant rainfall combine to produce high humidity, sometimes close to 95 per cent in the Amazon, a challenge for visitors unused to such torpor. According to Rhett Butler of Mongabay: "Each canopy tree transpires 200 gallons of water annually, translating roughly into 20,000 gallons transpired into the atmosphere for every acre of canopy trees. Large rainforests (and their humidity) contribute to the formation of rain clouds, and generate as much as 75 per cent of their own rain and are therefore responsible for creating as much as 50 per cent of their own precipitation.""--

"There is a lot to learn, and value, from this guide, by an expert immersed in the subject." -- Harvard Magazine

"One can think of the broad themes of the book as scenes on a vast tapestry and the responses to the 67 questions as the threads used by Plotkin to weave the marvelous story of Amazonia. Readers can gaze at one part of the tapestry and later explore another portion, each time coming away with a
better understanding of the nature of this extraordinary ecosystem." -- Roger Mustalish, HerbalGram

"As he has done in his other books and films ... Plotkin blazes a path for others to follow: a storied path that can help us both re-story and restore the precious places persisting on this planet, despite all odds." -- Gary Paul Nabhan, LA Review of Books

"Written in a clear and engaging style, Mark Plotkin's book on the Amazon comes at a crucial time, as more and more of Amazonia's forests are exploited and destroyed and as indigenous leaders, traditional guardians of the forest, are silenced. �I could not recommend it more highly." -- Jane
Goodall

"At long last: the book on the Amazon we all have been waiting for, with the answers to questions everyone asks -- or should ask. Fascinating and superbly written." -- Thomas E. Lovejoy, University Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University

"Lucky me, I've traveled to the Amazon with Mark Plotkin. Reading his enthralling natural history of its mystery and wonders is the next best thing-and with fewer biting insects." -- Ken Cook, President, Environmental Working Group

"The greatest tropical forest, hemmed in by the longest mountain range, giving rise to the longest, most voluminous river, the wildest wilderness, and half the freshwater and terrestrial species found an Earth--that's what makes up the Amazon and that is what Mark Plotkin evokes in this lively and
authoritative guide, based on his decades of experience." -- Adrian Forsyth, Executive Director, Andes Amazon Fund�