up as much of the sunlight as possible and supply them with a continuous stream of water and nutrients from the soil far below, so that the process is uninterrupted from dawn to dusk. 1.2. Describe these features Light gap A common event in the tropical rainforest is the fall of an emergent tree, usually during a tropical thunderstorm. In fact, it is estimated that tree turnover rates in some rainforests are every 80-135 years. When one of these giants--laden with lianas connected to neighboring trees--falls, it takes out a sizeable portion of the canopy. This hole in the canopy is known as a "light gap" because direct sunlight reaches the floor in contrast to the usual 1-5 percent under full canopy conditions. The opening of a light gap brings many changes to the section of rainforest. Drip tips Equatorial rainfall is so heavy that trees can easily get damaged during storms. Their solution is to shed the rain as quickly as possible
Although the canopy is quite thick, it does allow sunlight to reach the forest floor, which encourages the other layers to grow. The 2nd layer: saplings and shorter kinds of trees The 3rd layer, or understorey: shrubs. The 4th layer: forest herbs, such as wildflowers and berries. In spring, before the leaves develop on the deciduous trees, these herbs bloom and grow quickly while they are getting a lot of sunlight. The 5th layer: mosses and lichens that grow on tree trunks. Lianas such as wild grape, poison ivy, and Virginia creeper climb the trees to flower and fruit high in the forest canopy. Plant adaptations: The plants have adapted so that they can survive in this biome. The leaves of deciduous trees are broad and quite light. This gives the leaves a bigger surface to capture sunlight to help produce food for the plant. This is called photosynthesis. When the weather gets cold, broad leaves are not good for the plant, as they lose too much moisture and get damaged
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