Life in the Amazon Rain Forest

The Amazon rain forest is like a four-story building. Life at the treetops is very different from life on the forest floor. The four levels are the forest floor, the understory, the canopy, and the emergent layer.

Before we climb, we notice that the forest is moist and dark. It rains often, especially in the afternoon. Huge trees block much of the sunlight. Because the soil is shallow, tall trees use wide buttress roots to stay strong.

On the forest floor, insects, birds, monkeys, and ants are busy. Leafcutter ants live in huge colonies. They cut leaves and carry them to underground nests. They do not eat the leaves. They use them to grow fungus, which becomes their food.

In the understory, smaller trees, ferns, vines, and palms grow between the trunks of large trees. Tarantulas hunt small animals. Some Amazon bats drink flower nectar and carry pollen from flower to flower. This helps both bats and flowers.

The canopy is more than 100 feet above the ground. It is the busiest and noisiest level. Monkeys leap from tree to tree, toucans eat fruit, and sloths hang from branches. Some animals even share homes at different times of day.

At the emergent layer, the tallest trees rise above the canopy. Here, there is more sun and breeze, and it is less wet. Spider monkeys, gliding tree frogs, birds, mammals, iguanas, and tiny mouse opossums may live or move here.