The tropical rainforest is a complete environment from top to bottom. In general, it is divided into four layers: emergent layer, canopy layer, understory, and the forest floor. These layers host several species of tropical animals and tropical plants.
Learn more about these layers below. Aquatic Plants : Emergent Plants. Emergent plants are rooted in the lake bottom, but their leaves and stems extend out of the water. They grow in wetlands and along the shore, where the water is typically 4 or 5 feet deep. The emergent layer is the name given to the tops of trees that poke up above the rainforest canopy.
Trees here are mostly evergreen, meaning they don't lose their leaves all at once. This enables them to use the year-round sunshine to make their own food this is called photosynthesis and they thrive here as a result. Rainforests are often called the lungs of the planet for their role in absorbing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and producing oxygen, upon which all animals depend for survival.
Rainforests also stabilize climate, house incredible amounts of plants and wildlife, and produce nourishing rainfall all around the planet. The Canopy Layer is the primary layer of the rainforest! The canopy layer has a lot of fruits, seeds, flowers and leaves. Because of this there are a lot of animals in this layer. This layer also shields the understory layer from harsh sunlight and weather.
In the canopy layer the trees never touch. The rainforest consists of several layers. Each layer has plants and animals which are adapted to the conditions found there. In the ground layer, soil is poor and any nutrients are quickly recycled. The next layer is made up of shrubs and plants which can tolerate low light levels. Buttress roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree.
Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They prevent the tree from falling over hence the name buttress while also gathering more nutrients. The canopy layer is teeming with life as it is rich in fruits and seeds. Animals such as insects, birds, monkeys, frogs and sloths are found here.
Because space is is tight in the canopy layer, many canopy layer trees have long and skinny trunks and have most of their branches at the very top of the plant, almost like an umbrella. Famous rainforest trees include: Rubber trees. Xate trees. Banana trees. Definition of shrub layer. What is in the emergent layer? For emergent-level animals, sheer size is an important factor.
Many of these topmost branches could not bear the weight of a large animal so, not surprisingly, many of the creatures that live up here move around by flying or gliding. One of the top predators up here is a flier: the harpy eagle, a fierce hunter perfectly adapted to life from a home base in these tallest rainforest trees.
A few powerful wingbeats carry it from one treetop to another as it seeks its prey, its mottled coloration blending in perfectly with bark and leaves.
Since much of its view downward is obscured by branches, it relies on excellent hearing, as well as vision, to locate prey, a capuchin monkey, perhaps, or a sloth, a macaw, or a snake. It can drop almost vertically. It dives and twists through the leaves in pursuit of its prey, seizing it finally in its powerful talons. Pygmy gliders, from New Guinea, have a completely different approach to getting what they need at the top of the rainforest. This tiny mammal no bigger than a shrew is protected from predators by the secretiveness of its life.
Under cover of darkness, it feeds on insects, sap, and buds in the emergent treetops. By day it rests packed together with others of its kind in a leaf-lined hole in a tree. Though it has no wings, a pygmy glider can move around easily up here. It has flaps of skin between its front and rear legs. Can you think of why then, the top-most layer of the rainforest is called the emergent layer?
The emergent layer is where the tallest trees can be found, poking high above the dense treetops of the canopy layer just below. The trees that make up the emergent layer can tower as high as feet, with tree trunks that can measure up to 16 feet in diameter. Look at the image below.
See how the trees in the emergent layer stand above all the others in the rainforest? As you can imagine, this is the layer that receives the most sunlight too.
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