The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Can you answer all of the following questions and get a perfect score? Click on the links that you think best answer each quiz question below. Good luck!

1. Rainforests cover what percentage of the Earth's total surface?

   Less than one percent

   Less than one percent | Incorrect

   2 percent

   2 percent | Correct

   Covering less than 2 percent of the Earth's total surface area, the world's rainforests are home to 50 percent of the Earth's plants and animals.

   10 percent

   10 percent | Incorrect

   45 percent

   45 percent | Incorrect

2. Rainforests provide which of the following products?

   Chewing gum

   Chewing gum | Incorrect

   Medicines

   Medicines | Incorrect

   Coffee

   Coffee | Incorrect

   All of the above

   All of the above | Correct

   Rainforests provide many important products for people: timber, coffee, cocoa and many medicinal products, including those used in the treatment of cancer.

3. Rainforests are only found in warm regions close to the equator.

   True

   True | Incorrect

   False

   False | Correct

   Rainforests can be found all over the world from as far north as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa.

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

4. What is a major threat to rainforest ecosystems?

   Illegal logging

   Illegal logging | Correct

   Rainforests are threatened by unsustainable agricultural, ranching, mining and logging practices. Originally, 6 million square miles of tropical rainforest existed worldwide. But as a result of deforestation, only 2.6 million square miles remain. Every second, a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down. That's 86,400 football fields of rainforest per day, or over 31 million football fields of rainforest each year.

   Volcanoes

   Volcanoes | Incorrect

   Very large populations of vampire bats

   Very large populations of vampire bats | Incorrect

   Desertification

   Desertification | Incorrect

5. The largest temperate rainforests left on Earth can be found along the western coast of South America.

   True

   True | Incorrect

   False

   False | Correct

   The largest temperate rainforests are found on North America's Pacific Coast.

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

6. Rainforests can be found in the U.S.

   True

   True | Correct

   Temperate rainforests stretch from Northern California up into Canada.

   False

   False | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

7. What percentage of the Earth's plant and animal species live in rainforests?

   10 percent

   10 percent | Incorrect

   25 percent

   25 percent | Incorrect

   50 percent

   50 percent | Correct

   The world's rainforests are home to 50 percent of the Earth's plants and animals. A typical four square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies.

   75 percent

   75 percent | Incorrect

8. More than 2,000 tropical forest plants have been identified by scientists as having anti-cancer properties

   True

   True | Correct

   Yes, it's true!

   False

   False | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

   | Incorrect

9. How many major types of rainforests are there?

   5 types

   5 types | Incorrect

   4 types

   4 types | Incorrect

   More than 30 types

   More than 30 types | Incorrect

   2 types

   2 types | Correct

   There are two major types of rainforest: temperate rainforests and tropical rainforests.

10. Rainforests play a significant role in maintaining which of the following?

    Weather patterns

    Weather patterns | Incorrect

    The Earth's limited supply of drinking and fresh water

    The Earth's limited supply of drinking and fresh water | Incorrect

    More species of plants and animals than any other ecosystem on Earth

    More species of plants and animals than any other ecosystem on Earth | Incorrect

    All of the above

    All of the above | Correct

    Rainforests act as the world's thermostat by regulating temperatures and weather patterns, and are critical in maintaining the Earth's limited supply of drinking and fresh water.