79 Refreshing Facts about Nature’s Boon to Earth – Forests

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1Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein

During the 1980s the Swiss army fired off shells during an exercise and mistakenly burned a patch of forest inside the country Liechtenstein. The incident was said to have been resolved "over a case of white wine".


2. In 1996, Woody Harrelson was arrested for climbing the Golden Gate Bridge to hang a banner protesting the destruction of the Redwood forest.


3. In 2011, a fungus named Pestalotiopsis microspora was found in the Amazon Forest that can feed on a diet solely of polyurethane (plastic). It can also do so in a non-aerobic environment.


4. A 70's cartoon inspired Japanese to adopt baby raccoons as pets. As a result, Japan imported thousands of raccoons from America. Seeing how violent they could be, families released them into forests following one scene in the cartoon. Raccoons multiplied - damaged 80% of Japan's temples.


5. The word "Jurassic," which we so often associate with dinosaurs, comes from the Celtic word for "forest"


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6Underwater forest

Underwater forest

The underwater forest off Alabama coast uncovered by Hurricane Katrina is 50,000-year-old.


7. Johnny Cash accidentally started a wildfire when he let his pickup overheat in a California forest. When asked why he did it, he responded: "I didn't do it, my truck did, and it's dead, so you can't question it."


8. There is a 2400-year-old giant "honey mushroom" in Oregon, covering 2200 acres, slowly killing off the trees in the forest. It is the largest living organism on the planet.


9. After being attacked by a grizzly bear, a man spent 7 years and $150,000 to build a bear-proof suit to take revenge on the bear. When he found back the bear years later, he discovered that he was unable to chase the bear in the hilly forest since he only tested the suit on flat ground.


10. The largest cave in the world named Hang Son Doong or mountain river cave houses a rain forest in its largest chamber, wasn't discovered until 1991 and wasn't explored until 2009.


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11Charcoal beetles

Charcoal beetles

Charcoal beetles fly into still-burning forest fires to mate and lay eggs because competition and predators will be low. They sense distant fires using infrared armpit sensors.


12. More than 80% of the Earth’s natural forests have already been destroyed.


13. There's a species of orchid that evolved to look like a replica of a monkey's face (Monkey orchid). It grows in the cloud forests of Peru and Ecuador.


14. London has so many trees that it can be classified as a forest


15. A single valley in Chad provides over 50% of the nutrient-rich dust that is in the Amazon rain forest.


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16Iran

Iran

There is a massive rain forest in the north of Iran


17. In the 19th Century, Americans purposely filled their parks with squirrels for entertainment purposes. They were rarely found outside of the forest beforehand.


18. The Rainforest Trust, which buys acres of the forest using donations and permanently protects them. They have already protected 11,500,000 acres.


19. A forest of 100,000 "artificial trees" could be deployed within 10 to 20 years to help soak up the world's carbon emissions.


20. Trees in the red forest, a forest in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, are not decaying because organisms that recycle organic matter suffer from radiation as well.


21Central Pennsylvania forest

Central Pennsylvania forest

There is a 390-acre tract of-of virgin old growth forest in central Pennsylvania. It features ancient hemlock trees and 20-foot rhododendrons. This area was conserved because of a land dispute between logging companies in the 1900's.


22. Most rainforest soils are extremely poor in minerals and nutrients and the key to the luxuriant vegetation of these forests lies in the rapid nutrient cycling.


23. The word "panic" comes from the Greek woodland god Pan who was believed to be the source of mysterious forest sounds that would cause contagious, groundless fear in animals and humans alike


24. After cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the world's first spacewalk, the space capsule landed so deep in the Soviet forest that the crew had to spend the night in their capsule due to the danger of bears and wolves.


25. There is an area of forest in Tennessee that is used as a dead body farm to aid in forensic research.

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