Plant Adaptations

An epiphyte is a plant that grows on a different plant, and are often called "air plants." According to research gathered by an undergraduate research honors project from the Grand Valley State University, this adaptation allows these plants to reach sunlight easier and overcome the limited nutrients and water from the tropical rainforest soil. Their research also found that vascular epiphytes are an adaptation that is prevalent in most tropical rainforests, and make up about 1/2 of the world's flora and almost 1/4 of all vascular plant species in tropical biomes. This image was provided by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society.

A large part of the tropical rainforest climate is high levels of rainfall. Plants have adapted their leaves to withstand the rainfall, creating drip tips that let the water easily run off leaves. Based on a study conducted by the National Library of Medicine, drip tips are a long and narrow extension on a leaf, and are used to alleviate the harm of leaf wetting on the functionality of plants. Their data showed that drip tips are not formed in response to increases in precipitation, but primarily due to other factors such as temperature. Regardless of the cause, drip tips allow plant species of the tropical rainforest to resist the potential damage of heavy rainfall. This image was provided by Crow's Path, and taken in Rock Point, Burlington.