How do plants adapt to the rainforest?

Answer 1

Plants have many adaptations to the tropical rainforest because the environment is wet, warm, the soil is often poor, and there is a lot of competition for sunlight and space. Growth is often fast.

Rain: The average yearly rainfall is 50 to 260 inches (125 to 660cm).

Waxy or oil-like coating on leaves in tropical rainforest help water roll off. The leaves may also slope downward and have features such as drip tips and grooves to direct the water to the ground.

On the other hand, leaves in the high canopy are usually small and leathery to reduce water loss in the strong tropical sunlight.

Large sloping buttresses and stilt roots on trees add extra support in the shallow and wet soil.

Most bark is thin and smooth to help water roll off. (Some have spines or thorns for protection.)

Sunlight: Less than 3 % reaches the ground level due to the thick canopy.

Large and broad leaves in the lower levels help the plants capture as much light as possible. Some leave may also be darker in color to absorb more light.

Trees grow smaller leaves higher and larger leaves lower in the canopy to obtain the max sun.

Phototropism (turning and growing toward light) helps plants follow the most sun throughout the day. This is a characteristic of all plants but may be faster acting in many tropical plants, especially with their stems.

Epiphytes are plants that grow on top of each other. Instead of starting growth in the dark underbrush the plant sprouts and grows on the limbs of taller trees. They get moisture from the air or have leaves that direct water into a central reservoir where they can absorb the water with special hairs. These include many kinds of orchids.

Vines crawl up tall trees to reach light. Woody vines are called Lianas, and green-stemmed vines are called Climbers.

Some species strangle other plant competitors as they climb upward or land as epiphytes and grow roots downward. Strangling epiphytes, such as figs, can kill and replace entire trees.

Sapling trees are capable of rapid growth spurts when a space in the canopy opens up and allows light in.

Nutrients: The soil is poor in nutrients, only the very top decomposing layer holds much value.

Roots are shallow and spread outward.

Some parasitic plants are non-photosynthetic; instead they tap their roots into other plant roots to absorb food and nutrients.

Other:

Trees of the same species are usually spread away from each other; this biodiversity helps stop mass die-off from pests and diseases.

The trees usually have adaptations that allow their seeds to be spread far and wide, like large fleshy fruit which birds and animals will eat and poop out the seeds in other areas.

Temperate rainforests consist mainly of pine trees, mosses, and ferns. These forest are cooler and grow slower but have many similar characteristics such as rainfall and soil conditions.