practice test 10-q4

Today, we’re going to continue our discussion on biomes by focusing on the tropical rain forest. We’ll talk about what makes this biome special.

It occurs in regions of the Earth with year-round warmth. The temperature rarely exceeds 34 degrees Celsius and rarely falls lower than 20 degrees. The average humidity stays close to about 82% throughout the year and tropical rain forests receive an average rainfall of over 100 inches per year. This creates an incredible habitat for plant and animal life. In fact, though this biome can only be found on 6% of the Earth’s land surface, researchers believe that more than half of all the world’s plant and animal species live within it.

The plant life found in tropical rain forests creates four layers of vegetation that vary according to height. Within each of these layers plants have evolved many adaptations that help them survive the extremely wet conditions found within this biome. For example, some leaves have an oily coating that allows them to shed water easily so that they don’t break under the weight of falling rain.

Besides the diverse array of plant life, many species of animal life can be found here. A variety of monkeys make this habitat their home and they have developed different adaptations to help them survive in this environment as well. Their tails provide them with a means of hanging and swinging from tree to tree in search of food. And, their diet and nutrition comes largely from the fruit that can be found easily among the trees.