Formation

How are Tropical Rain forests formed?

It takes four different layers to form a tropical rain forest:

EMERGENT LAYER-  The highest, top layer of the tropical rain forest is the emergent. The trees are tallest in the emergent layer, and are about 100- 240 feet tall. The trees have thick and smooth trunks. The emergent layer receives intense sunlight and wind. It protects all the other layers below from wind & rain. The leaves are usually red, birds and monkeys usually lives there.

CANOPY LAYER- The second layer is the canopy layer, The majority of the tropical rain forest's tallest trees are here because there's still plenty of sunlight here. The trees grow largely and quickly towards the sunlight. Just like the emergent layer, they have bright red leaves, and the leaves have 'drip tips' which allows the rainwater to quickly run off. The upper layer of the canopy, has smaller leaves, while the lower layer, has straight leaves, and rope-like plants that wraps around the trees and supports them. But overall, the canopy layer has the most biodiversity, and is the most livable. The canopy layer is home to over half the tropical rain forest's plant & animal species.

UNDERSTORY/ SHRUB LAYER- The next layer is the understory, or some people may call it the shrub layer. In this layer, there are small short trees, shrubs, small plants, and trunks of the canopy. It gets less than 5% of light, which doesn't get enough sunlight to fully support vegetation. But, it is still home to thousands of plants, insects and birds. When a tree collapse, small fungi, plants & trees grow out of it.

FOREST FLOOR- The lowest and last layer of the tropical rain forest is the forest floor. It receives no more than 2% of sunlight, so very little vegetation can be produced. It is the most humid place of the rain forest, there's no grass, and soil is hidden under a thin layer of twigs, and decomposing plants such as fungi, animals and insects. The dead leaves rot away, producing new soil on the forest floor, and the feeds the ground animals. The forest floor is home to lots of animals like jaguars, snakes, spiders etc.