Hobbies And Interests
Light
In order to create the temperature range necessary to sustain rainforest life, light from the sun must be consistent and intense. Solar energy strikes Earth most directly along the equator and adjacent latitudes, varying little between seasons. This consistency creates year-round conditions suitable for photosynthesis, a hallmark of the plant life in the tropics. Days and nights are also remarkably consistent in this region, with a cycle of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark varying only a little in the winter and summer months. This consistent photoperiod influences the evolution of all forms of life found in the tropics, creating a stability to the circadian rhythms that makes it difficult to impossible for tropical life to adapt to life at higher latitudes, where daylight varies significantly from season to season.
High Temperatures
To generate large amounts of water vapor daily, rainforests need sufficiently high levels of heat. Ranging in totality from the 60s to the 90s, rainforests have very hot, consistent temperatures. The narrow temperature range is a direct result of the narrow variance in solar energy reaching the rainforest latitudes. Unlike temperate zones, such as Europe or the midwestern United States, these hot days are unending, with no meaningful drop in temperatures.
Consistent Rainfall
The intense light and constant heat endemic to the equatorial belt create an environment where huge amounts of water are moved from plant life and the surrounding soil into the atmosphere in a process called evapotranspiration. This is a critical part of the water cycle and occurs to varying extents in all terrestrial biomes. Tropical rainforests evapotranspirate enormous volumes of water on a daily basis, actually creating their own weather. As the water vapor saturates the atmosphere, clouds form. When temperatures are rising, the air's capacity for storing water vapor increases. Once the temperatures begin to fall later in the day, that same capacity diminishes, and the water vapor in those same clouds condenses, falling to the ground as rain. Rainfall occurs nearly every day in a rainforest, often at the same time in the afternoon.
Rapid Nutrient Cycling
As a result of almost daily rainfall, the tropics have some of the highest erosion and weathering rates in the world. Any nutrients in the soil must be used quickly, before they are washed away by the next downpour. This creates a paradox: the most luxuriant, lush ecosystems in the world are supported by some of the poorest soils. Nearly all of the nutrients and minerals present in a tropical rainforest are contained in the living part of the ecosystem. When something dies, it is rapidly decomposed by insects, bacteria and fungi. Tree roots complete the cycle by storing the newly available nutrient capital.