Rainforest

The main layer of the rainforest is the canopy. Most canopy trees have smooth, oval leaves that come to a point, known as a drip tip. This allows water to flow off the leaf quickly and prevents the growth of fungi, mosses, and lichens. The canopy's leaves are very dense and filter out about 80% of the sunlight. Many flowers and fruits grow in this layer. Epiphytes cover every available surface and bromeliads provide drinking water for the many canopy creatures, and breeding pools for tree frogs.

The understory only gets about two to five percent of the available sunlight. The plants find unique ways to adapt to this shadowy existence. Their solar-collecting leaves grow large, and are dark green in color. They don't often grow more than 12 feet in height. Because there is very little air movement, they rely on insects and animals to pollinate their flowers. Some grow large flowers and fruits low on their trunks to allow larger, non-climbing animals to eat and disperse their fruit. The largest concentrations of insects inhabit this layer.

The forest floor is the lowest layer and almost no plants grow here. Only about 2% of the sunlight filters through. The floor is littered with decomposing vegetation and organisms that are broken down into usable nutrients. Many nutrients are locked

The top two inches of the acidic soil contains 99% of the nutrients. Nine tenths of the forest's energy is stored in the leaves and tissues of the trees themselves. The forest floor is a porous mass that prevents minerals and nutrients from being washed away and lost. As soon as a tree falls, or a creature dies, decomposers begin to turn it into a food source and mulch. The vegetation to renew the cycle quickly absorbs the nutrients that are released. This is the tightest, most efficient ecosystem in nature. The destruction of one part of the system can spell the destruction of the whole