AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The rainforest floor is often dark and humid due to constant shade from the canopy’s leaves. Despite its constant shade, the rainforest floor is an important part of the forest ecosystem. The forest floor is where decomposition takes place.

Detailed explanation-2: -At ground level, the rainforest is very dark. No more than a fiftieth of light from above penetrates this far down. The humid air is almost completely still.

Detailed explanation-3: -Rainforests are divided into layers or storeys. The forest floor is the lowest layer where it is dark, hot, and damp. Only two per cent of sunlight gets through the thick canopy trees and understorey plants to reach the forest floor. Large-leafed shrubs and saplings (new trees) grow in the patches of sunlight.

Detailed explanation-4: -The canopy’s dense network of leaves and branches forms a roof over the two remaining layers. The canopy blocks winds, rainfall, and sunlight, creating a humid, still, and dark environment below.

Detailed explanation-5: -The forest floor is the darkest of the layers of the rainforest. It is extremely difficult for plants to grow here, and leaves that fall to the forest floor decay quickly.