 
Rainforests contain the largest variety of living things. With an average temperature of 25-30°C and an annual precipitation in excess of 200 cm per year, they are hot and wet, and plants can grow year-round. The rainforest is predominantly large-leaved trees, although both deciduous and evergreen trees can exist, depending on the location. The forest floor is thick with varieties of small plants, including ferns, mosses and vines. Animal life is abundant, including many varieties of birds, insects and reptiles.Different layers of vegetation exist; tall trees take advantage of the sunshine, while plants needing less light grow to shorter heights, and those able to exist with little light dominate the forest floor.   Animals in a rainforest occupy niches that suit them; some live in the treetops, while others survive on the forest floor. Rainforests are home to the largest number of species in the world, including some seen nowhere else, such as parakeets, peccaries, many species of monkeys and apes, and a huge variety of reptiles and insects. Not all of the world's rainforests have been documented, so new species are still regularly being discovered. |