The rain Forest.
The rain Forest. A rain forest is typically made up of four key layers: emergent, upper canopy, under story, and forest floor. In the top emergent layer, trees as tall as 200 feet (60 meters) grow far apart and tall, their branches reaching above the canopy. The upper canopy, a deep layer of vegetation roughly 20 feet (6 meters) thick, houses most of the rain forest's animal species and forms a roof that blocks most light from reaching below. Below the canopy, the under story is a low-light layer dominated by shorter plants with broad leaves, such as palms and philodendrons. On the dark forest floor, few plants are able to grow and decaying matter from the upper layers is prevalent, feeding the roots of the trees. Why "rain" forests? Rain forests are often partly self-watering. Plants release water into the atmosphere through a process called transpiration. The moisture helps create the thick cloud cover that hangs over most rain forests. Even when it's ...