The tropical rainforest is earth's most complex biome in terms of both structure and species diversity.
Sunlight is a major limiting factor.
A variety of strategies have been successful in the struggle to reach light or to adapt to the low intensity of light beneath the canopy. There is usually a brief season of reduced precipitation. In monsoonal areas, there is a real dry s eason, but that is more than compensated for with abundant precipitation the rest of the year. Widely spaced trees 100 to 120 feet tall and with umbrella-shaped canopies extend above the general canopy of the forest. Since they must contend with drying winds, they tend to have small leaves and some species are deci duous during the brief dry season.