The tropical rainforest is indeed the worlds most complex and diverse biome in the way of its structure, but also in the way of its species diversity. The climate of this biome has monthly temperatures usually above 64 F with very high humidity. Because the humidity is so high the people that live in the forest do not drink much water, as sweating is not an efficient way to cool off. This is because the high humidity will not allow the sweat to evaporate. The precipitation is often over 100 inches per year, but there is usually a dry period sometime. During this time the rainforest still manages to stay wet and vast with growth because of the extreme rains before the season starts. The vegetation of the tropical rainforest is very vast, but usually does not get the chance to become very thick because there is not enough light on the floor of the forest. The only places it usually becomes thick is around the banks of rivers.
There are three recognized layers of trees. The first layer is a layer of called emergents. They are widely spaced trees that are 100 to 120 feet tall
and have umbrella-shaped canopies that extend well over the canopy of the rainforest. They also must fight high winds so they usually have small leaves and some of the species are deciduous during the dry seasons. The next layer is a layer where there is a closed canopy of 80-foot trees. Light is available at the top layer of the forest, but is greatly reduced below it at this level. There is not much air movement at this level and humidity is very high. The next layer is a layer of 60-foot trees. The light is also greatly reduced at this level and the humidity is deadly. In this layer is included shrubs and saplings. Less than 3% of the light the forest receives passes this far into the forests depth. The following layer is the ground layer where less than 1% of the forest light penetrates this far into the forest. Thus, not much grows in this layer. Despite popular beliefs the soil of the rainforest is quite infertile and deeply weathered. It is leached and rapid bacterial decay prevents humus from forming on the ground layer of the forest.
The animals of the tropical rainforest, including the indigeno
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