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Layers Of A
Rainforest
EMERGENT LAYER
The tallest trees are the
emergents, towering as much as 200 feet above the forest floor with trunks that
measure up to 16 feet around. Most of these trees are broad-leaved, hardwood
evergreens. Sunlight is plentiful up here. Animals found are birds, butterflies
and small monkeys live with bats, snakes and bugs.
CANOPY LAYER
This is the primary
layer of the forest and forms a roof over the two remaining layers. Most canopy
trees have smooth, oval leaves that come to a point. It's a maze of leaves and
branches. Many animals live in this area since food is abundant. The canopy is
the home to birds, monkeys, frogs, and sloths, as well as lizards, snakes and
many insects.
UNDERSTORY LAYER
Little sunshine reaches this area
so the plants have to grow larger leaves to reach the sunlight. The plants in
this area seldom grow to 12 feet. This layer is the home to birds, butterflies,
frogs and snakes
SHRUB LAYER
This is the layer that grows
between the smaller trees of the understory and the forest floor. This layer is
made up of ferns and small shrubs.
FOREST FLOOR
The forest floor is very dark.
This is due to the trees above stopping the sunlight from entering the forest.
It is estimated that only 2% of the sunlight actually reaches the floor. The
soil on the floor is covered in a layer of leaves, twigs and dead plants, which
rot down quickly to provide nutrients for the plants. The leaf litter is alive
with invertebrates and microorganisms, which quickly rot down this surface
layer. Mosses and ferns grow on the forest floor where it is warm, damp and
shady. The soil is very sandy with only a thin layer of rotting vegetation.
Without the trees, the soil quickly loses its ability to support plants and
turns to desert-like conditions. The forest floor is home to some of the larger
animals of the forest such as tigers and elephants in Asia, gorillas and
leopards in Africa and tapirs and jaguars in South America.
Amazon Rainforest
The
Amazon Rainforest is like a giant "heat pump" that sends energy
and moisture from
the tropics into the colder high latitudes -it produces a climate in which we
can live.
To learn more about
Rainforests visit the following
organizations
Credit: NASA, USGS, Woods Hole
Research Center, Wikipedia, San Diego Zoo
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