292 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



The Tropical Rain Forest 



Two things are noteworthy in comparing tropical forests with those 

 of colder regions : the diversity of the vegetation, and the intensity of the 

 struggle for existence. In the temperate or frigid regions of the earth 

 which are forested we are accustomed to see one species or genus of trees 

 dominate all other plants and become a " climax forest," e. g., oak, 

 pine, spruce, beech forests. But in the tropics conditions are favorable 

 for many species; the growing season is always good, and the forest is 

 always varied. Tree ferns, palms, vines, deciduous trees, epiphytes, 

 mosses, ferns — all grow in riotous confusion. Vines climb over great 



A Tree Fern. 



trees and steal their sunlight ; strangler trees grapple with forest giants, 

 squeeze them out of existence, and take their places; epiphytes and 

 mosses festoon the limbs of trees, stretching their leaves toward the light 

 that filters through the canopy above. Any handicap means that a tree 

 must give way to more successful rivals, and many drop out. But the 

 floor of the forest is not always strewn with the remains of the unsuccess- 

 ful, for where it is not too wet the termites, or white ants, honeycomb 

 every bit of dead timber and convert it into powder, which in turn is 

 soon "resolved to earth again." Thus the cycle goes round and tree suc- 

 ceeds tree. One who lives in a temperate climate has no idea of the 

 manifold intensity of the struggle among the plants in tropical forests. 

 In the midst of such a struggle one would expect to find a great 

 variety of adaptations for surviving, and such is indeed the case. Many 



