Climatic Conditions
Unchanging climate of high temperatures and very heavy rainfall
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Plant life
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1. Luxuriant growth, evergreen variety (synchronous shedding).
2. Staggering richness and diversity
3. Stability of the biome.
4. Light is the limiting factor, not nutrients.
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5. Trees consist of several layers.
6. Little undergrowth.
7. Herbaceous plants in more illuminated areas, saprophytes in areas of great darkness with the help of certain fungi which grow without photosynthesis.
8. Contain a large number of epiphytes (stranglers).
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9. Climbers including lianas are numerous.
10. Trees have leathery dark green leaves.
11. Trees may have drip trips devices that have evolved for shedding heavy rains.
12. Trees have buttress roots or stilt roots.
13. Trunks of many rainforest trees bear flowers and fruits-a habit called cauliflory.
14. Have conspicuous flowers and use animals for pollination. So the fruits are large, succulent and showy.
Animal Life
1. Since food production occurs many metres above the ground heavy browsing animals of the ground are thus numerous and are replaced by browsers that can climb, principally primates.
2. Abundance of detrivorous particularly ants and termites.
3. Insects are very large; moths have wingspan of 30 cm, spiders are large enough to eat small birds.
4. Dominated by snakes (anaconda) and reptiles.