Rainforests represent one of Earth's most precious natural resources. With swaths of forested land spanning the globe, rainforests house over half of the known species in the world. Along with this biodiversity, they also provide homes for certain human peoples, are critical to maintaining the oxygen-carbon dioxide balance in the atmosphere, and are an important source of food and medical supplies. However, rainforests face the threat of extinction because of logging and the encroachment of urban societies. Every day sees more and more acres of these needed and beautiful areas disappear forever, vanishing faster than nature can replace them. This book provides a useful review of rainforests: describing exactly what they are, the source of their importance, and the dangers they face. Following this overview are carefully selected abstracts of current literature that provide in-depth studies and discussions of the rainforests, with easy access provided by author, title, and subject indexes.