Forest Floor: The forest floor hardly reaches any sunlight so almost no plants grow in this area. Things decay very quickly on this level because of the limited sunlight. Leaves that might take one year to decompose in a regular climate will only take 6 weeks on the forest floor. An animal that lives on this level are the giant anteaters.
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Layers of the RainforestIn the Daintree Rainforest there are four different levels of the rainforest: Emergent; Canopy; Understory; Forest Floor.
Emergent: The tallest trees in a rainforest are in the emergent layer. They tower above the forest floor by about 200 feet, with 16 feet trunks. Lots of sunlight is provided for the emergent trees that are broad leaved, hardwood evergreens. Some of the animals that are found in emergent level are eagles, monkeys, bats and butterflies. Canopy: The canopy layer is the primary layer of the forest. It often forms a roof over the understory layer and forest floor. Most of the canopy trees have smooth pointed oval leaves. Animals that can be seen in canopy trees are snakes, toucans and tree frogs. Understory: Not much sunshine reaches the understory layer as the plants only grow to about 12 feet. In a result of this the plants have to grow longer leaves to reach sunlight. Animals that can be seen in the understory layers of the rainforest are jaguars, red eyed tree frogs, leopords and many types of insects. |