. This is followed by a middle or main canopy layer. Below is a subcanopy of smaller trees and shrubs.
At the bottom, the forest is dark and shaded. This is why trees in tropical forests have wide leaves, to absorb as much light as possible.
Tropical Forests have high species diversity. In one square kilometer (0.38 square mile) it is possible to find up to 100 different tree species.
Trees are 83-114ft (25-35m) tall. They may have projected supports and not just one single trunk.
Trees are evergreen, the leaves have a dark green color, and the roots are shallow.
Common plant species are bromeliads, vines (lianas), orchids, ferns, mosses, and palms.
If you have an interest in plants and flowers from tropical forests but you cannot travel to see one, I suggest you take a piece of the forest to your home and buy this beautiful orchid found on Amazon: Easy Care Live Blue Orchid
Creepers or climbers (vines) are the second important floral members of the rain forests. These climbers are so irregular in form that it becomes difficult to find out their actual lengths. Source: Geographynotes.com
Because the soils are nutrient poor and very shallow, tree roots usually stay close to the surface. For this same reason trees also grow buttressed roots up to 30 ft (9m) high, or roots that hang from their trunks and branches, aerial roots.
Tropical Evergreen Rain Forests Animals
Many animals in tropical forests are adapted to live in trees. For example monkeys, snakes, frogs, lizards and small animals.
The widest variety of animals is believed to be insects. It is estimated that the number of insect species in the canopies of tropical rainforests is over 20 million.
In tropical evergreen rainforests due to the constant supply of food, there is no migration of organisms. In general they are least mobile.
Also in tropical evergreen rainforest, it has been suggested that organisms are stratified vertically. So deer are at the bottom, monkeys on the branches, and high above birds and butterflies coexist. Source: Geographynotes.com
Largest Tropical Forests
Tropical forests are located in three main regions close to the equator, in America, South Asia, and Africa. Other small tropical forests are located in Australia, Indian Ocean Islands, and Hawaii.
The Amazon Rain forest covers parts of Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guyana, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. It spans 40% of South America.
The Amazon Rainforest is the largest forest in the world, with approximately half of the world's forest area, spanning 6.7x106Km2.
The forest is drained by the Amazon River, the world's largest river in terms of discharge, and the second longest river in the world. The Amazon has 4,100 miles (6598 Km) of rivers, and receives over 1,100 tributaries.
The Amazon River discharges over 209,000 cubic meters of water per second into the Atlantic.
The Amazon forest, holds at least 10% of the world's known biodiversity.
It is estimated that the Amazon Rainforest holds 40K plant species, 16K tree species, 3K fish species, 1.3K bird species, and 430+ mammal species. Source: Mongabay
Some well recognized animals from the Amazon Rainforest include the sloth, anteater, toucan, macaw, Amazon River Dolphin, capybara, giant river otter, jaguar, puma, tapir, squirrel monkey, spider monkey, Hoatzin, toucan, black caiman, anaconda, poison frogs and more.
There is no complete list of wildlife without the birds in the Amazon forest. For a complete guide, this is the best book in the topic and it is found on Amazon: A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. It focuses in one country but you will probably find it useful for South American birds in general.
There are many trees in the Amazon rainforest, but an easy recognizable tree is the Kapok. This tree belonging to the Malvaceae family is the tallest tree in the Amazon. In Spanish it is known as Ceiba. Kapoks grow to 240 ft (73 m) tall.
Asian Tropical Forests
The rain forests in Asia are centered in the Malay Archipelago. This area has the second largest tropical forest with 2.5x106Km2.
The forests are on scattered i