TROPICAL RAINFOREST

Tropical rainforests grow in places where the temperatures are high throughout the year and where there is enough sunshine to provide the energy for a huge amount of growth. In tropical rainforests, nourishment and rainfall are all-important. True rainforests exist only where the dry season is less than two months. Rainforest soil is actually very infertile; most life occurs in the high tree canopies. Nutrients are generally scarce in tropical rain forests; however, the plants have developed ways of conserving the available nutrients. For example their root systems are especially well developed near the surface so as to take in the nutrients in decomposing plant tissue. Because no climate problems limit growth, tropical rainforests have more species than any other place on Earth. Seeds are scattered by birds and animals, and with no distinct seasons plants flower and fruit throughout the year.