Page 193 - Super Earth Encyclopedia
P. 193
LIVING PARADISE
RAINFOREST
Tropical rainforests are the richest wildlife habitats,
supporting an astonishing diversity of plants and
animals, all in vast numbers. These forests thrive in
an ideal climate of constant warmth and daily rain.
This allows trees and other plants to keep growing,
flowering, and fruiting all through the year, so the
forest animals never go short of food. Many animals
spend most of their lives in the tree canopy, including
troops of monkeys that travel through the treetops in
search of fruiting trees, insect-eating tree frogs, and
leaf-eating sloths. Even small plants such as orchids
cling to branches, soaking up the sunlight high
above the dark forest floor.
AROUND THE WORLD
Tropical rainforests are found
around the equator. They cover NORTH ASIA
only 6 percent of the planet but AMERICA EUROPE
are home to more than half the AFRICA
world’s plant and animal life. Equator
The largest tropical rainforest on
Earth lies in the Amazon basin SOUTH AUSTRALASIA
of South America, extending AMERICA
north into Central America.
FOREST LAYERS
A rainforest is a multi-story
living space with four distinct
levels. The forest floor gets
very little light and supports a
sparse ground layer of plants,
allowing big animals to move
around easily. An understory
of taller plants grows beneath
the main tree canopy. The
tallest emergent trees rise
above the canopy. LIVING EARTH
EMERGENT TREES UNDERSTORY
CANOPY GROUND LAYER
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