structure of the rainforest

• the dense vegetation of the tropical rainforest shows four distinct layers
• in each layer, the plants have adapted to the physical conditions, particularly to the available sunlight
• most sunlight is received by the tops of the trees and due to the shading effect, the least sun reaches the forest floor
• in the lowest 2 layers, there is little photosynthesis to convert the small amount of sunlight into plant food
• plants have had to adapt to get their food supply by using soil or even attaching themselves to other plants and using their food and water