CANOPY VIEWS

To the untrained eye, the rainforest seems chaotic and disordered. But ecologists recognize there is structure behind the clutter of vegetation. The rainforest is arranged into four or five distinct layers: emergent, canopy, middle layer, shrub layer and forest floor. The canopy layer is the dense green of tree tops we see from the air, and is where most of the "action" takes place. The highest diversity of plants and animals in the rainforest is found in the canopy, 100 feet or more above the ground.

One of life's most inspiring experiences is to sit 100 feet above the ground and watch the mist rising from the rainforest canopy. Here is where most of the forest's biodiversity is to be found. Note the epiphytic mosses growing on the branch.

From Explorama's Canopy Walkway (near Iquitos, Peru) you can watch a new day dawn over the rainforest canopy. Here's a scene that's remained unchanged for millions of years.