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The trees are the first thing one notices upon entering
the rainforest. They are huge - up to 150 feet tall! |
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Trees in the rainforest must grow rapidly to reach the
sun at the canopy. To be competitive, they grow tall without growing as wide as
trees in moderate climates. They have developed several methods of supporting
great height without requiring great width. Having "prop roots" is one method
of doing this. |
The other method of supporting a tall tree is with
"buttress roots". Because these trees are narrow and may not have any branches
for the first 50 feet or so, they appear even taller than they
are. |
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This gives you some idea of how big these roots were. We
thought this was a big tree until a few days later..... |
...until a few days later when we found a really
big tree! If you ever get a chance to visit the Tikal Biosphere Preserve in
Guatemala, don't pass it up! |
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Contrary to popular belief, tropical rainforest trees are
not taller than all trees in temperate climates. This is an old-growth cedar in
the Broken Islands, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia,
Canada. It was as awesome as any tropical forest tree I have ever seen!
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But these trees are in as much danger of destruction as
any - and you can help! See box below! |
Another way for plants to grow in the sunlight of the
canopy is to start their growth there! Epiphytes (Latin for "upon the plant")
grow right upon the bark of trees - not as parasites but absorbing nutrients as
the bark breaks down over time. Some older trees have so many epiphytes that
their branches break from the weight! |
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