Weather Patterns
In a tropical rainforests rain falls nearly every day. On average about 2500 millimetres of rain falls annually. This, along with the constant temperature hanging around 25-30 degrees Celsius, makes the rainforest an extremely humid place. Tropical rain forests receive almost 12 hours of sunlight every day. Since a lot of sunlight emanates into the rainforest, a large amount of energy is stored by plants and then later eaten by animals, creating a more lively and thriving ecosystem for both plants and animals in this biome.
Arrangement of vegetation
The tropical rainforest region is made up of just that, tropical forest. Although the rainforest and temperate deciduous forest have a similar structure, the vegetation is much more lush in a tropical rainforest. The arrangement of plants within a tropical rainforest is made up of four different layers, each consisting of different plants and animals.
The uppermost level is know as the emergent layer. It consists of the tallest and usually the oldest trees, which can grow to 40 meters in hight and spread over the tops of other trees. These trees take the burden of climatic changes, as they are constanly susceptible to sunlight, hot temperatures, rain and wind.
The layer directly below is called the canopy layer. It is made up of smaller 25- 30 meter trees. These trees act as a living umbrella, sheltering anything below from extremes like the heat, wind and rain. Very few trees rely on wind to disperse their seeds, therefore birds and insects are required to pollenate plants. This layer is the home to thousands of animal species such as primates and birds.
The under storey is the layer between the canopy and the forest floor. It consists of shrubs and smaller trees growing only to 4 meters high. Although the amount of sunlight and rainfall is limited in the understory, the layer is full of life as it provides a very sheltered environment for its inhabitants. The last level is the forest floor. Here the humidity is extremely high, and very little sunlight makes it through the dense vergatation above. On the forest floor, there are many seeds lying dormant waiting, sometimes for years, for a tree to fall. In this gap where the tree once stood the seedlings will receive sufficient light, heat and water to grow regenerating the forest.
The uppermost level is know as the emergent layer. It consists of the tallest and usually the oldest trees, which can grow to 40 meters in hight and spread over the tops of other trees. These trees take the burden of climatic changes, as they are constanly susceptible to sunlight, hot temperatures, rain and wind.
The layer directly below is called the canopy layer. It is made up of smaller 25- 30 meter trees. These trees act as a living umbrella, sheltering anything below from extremes like the heat, wind and rain. Very few trees rely on wind to disperse their seeds, therefore birds and insects are required to pollenate plants. This layer is the home to thousands of animal species such as primates and birds.
The under storey is the layer between the canopy and the forest floor. It consists of shrubs and smaller trees growing only to 4 meters high. Although the amount of sunlight and rainfall is limited in the understory, the layer is full of life as it provides a very sheltered environment for its inhabitants. The last level is the forest floor. Here the humidity is extremely high, and very little sunlight makes it through the dense vergatation above. On the forest floor, there are many seeds lying dormant waiting, sometimes for years, for a tree to fall. In this gap where the tree once stood the seedlings will receive sufficient light, heat and water to grow regenerating the forest.
geographic features
A tropical rainforest consists mainly of moss and other lush plantation, rocks, trees, healthy soil, and grasses. The actual land of a rainforest is usually quite rocky, as it isn't uncommon for a rainforest to cover hills and small mountains. Even though there is a lack of light that reaches the forest floor, countless species of plants, animals, and insects continue to thrive in this biome.
How they all impact the biome
All three element above play into effect when you talk about a tropical rainforest. The weather patterns of this particular biome allow for a specific environment to exist. In a rainforest, the temperature stays the same year round, whether thats humidity precipitation amount of sunlight, temperature, etc. This plays an extremely large roll on animals, as all species have to adapt to thrive in this particular niche. The arrangement of vegetation really justifies what makes up the rainforest. Not only does the vegetation literally make up the biome, it also consists of the habitats for animals, as well as the animals, plants and organisms themselves. The geographic features determine how the climate and weather will act in this particular biome due to its location on the earth. You could have two tropical rainforest biomes that appear exactly the same, however are very different in some ways due to that