Emergent Layer

At the very top of the rainforest, a few trees considerably taller than all the rest stick up out of the greenery, like giants looking over the heads of a crowd. These scattered, tall trees form what is called the emergent layer.These emergent trees, protruding as they do, each at some distance from neighboring emergents, bear the full brunt of all extremes of weather. Winds toss and churn them. The tropical sun beats down on them, drying them out. Rainstorms pummel them. Up here, temperatures drop from hot noons to cool nights, and rise again.

To thrive above the canopy, plants and animals must be adapted to a bright, open, changeable world. Between rainstorms, the climate here is often dry because of the bright sun and strong winds. Emergent trees cope with this dryness by producing tough little leaves whose small surface area and waxy coating keep evaporation to a minimum. For emergent-level animals, sheer size is an important factor. Many of these topmost branches could not bear the weight of a large animal so, not surprisingly, many of the creatures that live up here move around by flying or gliding.