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The emergent layer, above the canopy, exists in tropical rainforests. Each layer has a different set of plants and animals, depending upon the availability of sunlight, moisture, and food. The Forest floor is covered in dead plant material such as fallen leaves and decomposing logs, which detritivores break down into new soil. The layer of ...
Fungi are also very common in rainforest areas as they can feed on the decomposing remains of plants and animals. The great diversity in rainforest species is in large part the result of diverse and numerous physical refuges , [ 25 ] i.e. places in which plants are inaccessible to many herbivores, or in which animals can hide from predators.
Rainforests are home to half of all the living animal and plant species on the planet. [7] Two-thirds of all flowering plants can be found in rainforests. [5] A single hectare of rainforest may contain 42,000 different species of insect, up to 807 trees of 313 species and 1,500 species of higher plants. [5]
Thus, forests are often highly heterogeneous environments compared to other terrestrial plant communities. This heterogeneity in turn can enable great biodiversity of species of both plants and animals. Some structures, such as tree ferns may be keystone species for a diverse range of other species. [11]
Major plant communities in this biome include: Forest: Mediterranean forests are generally composed of broadleaf trees, such as the oak and mixed sclerophyll forests of California and the Mediterranean region, the Eucalyptus forests of Southwest Australia, and the Nothofagus forests of central Chile. Forests are often found in riparian areas ...
The biome includes several types of forests: Lowland equatorial evergreen rain forests, commonly known as tropical rainforests, are forests which receive high rainfall (tropical rainforest climate with more than 2000 mm, or 80 inches, annually) throughout the year. [5]
In these forests, winter is a time of dormancy for plants, [8] when broadleaf deciduous trees conserve energy and prevent water loss, and many animal species hibernate or migrate. [1] Preceding winter is fruit-bearing autumn, a time when leaves change color to various shades of red, yellow, and orange as chlorophyll breakdown gives rise to ...
They occupy about seven percent of the Earth's surface and harbour more than half of the planet's terrestrial plants and animals. Tropical evergreen forests are dense, multi-layered, and harbour many types of plants and animals. These forests are found in the areas receiving heavy rainfall (more than 200 cm annual rainfall). They are very dense.