CLOUD NINE

摘要

From ecuador to australia to Vietnam, along a narrow band of mountainous, tropical and subtropical terrain, all the right conditions converge - altitude, moisture, temperature - to create an extraordinary habitat known as a cloud forest. Shrouded in mist, lush with ferns, mosses, orchids and bromeliads, cloud forests are a comingling of some of the rarest species on Earth. Researchers have only just scratched the surface when it comes to studying and cataloging the wealth of life in these areas, and the rush is on since cloud forests are also one of the most threatened habitats worldwide, facing logging, paving, grazing and global warming. Though some cloud-forest plants can be grown in home greenhouses and terrariums, they are not the typical greenery you see at the local garden center.