AMAZON RAINFORESTS

(image source: http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/where.html)

The image highlights (in dark green) all the rainforest found around the world. 

Tropical rainforests are wet and moist! Temperatures are warm throughout the whole year, averaging between 70-85° F (kbears.com). This forest also experiences plenty of precipitation: between 200 and 450 cm annually! Most plants are evergreen and absorb accumulated nutrients from decomposing material in soil (blueplanetbiomes.org). Rainforests consist of four layers, each with different conditions and plants that adapt to these conditions:

http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/layers-rainforest.cfm

The top layer, the emergent layer, has trees that grow as tall as 200 feet. Here, they are exposed to wind, rainfall and direct sunlight. The leaves are adapted to this environment, as they are small and covered with a thick waxy surface to hold water (blueplanetbiomes.org). This layer acquires 1/3 of the world’s bird species as well as other animals, such as bats and monkeys (tigerhomes.org). 

The main layer, the canopy, has trees with smooth, oval leaves, allowing water to flow off quickly, preventing growth of fungi and mosses. Also, many plants in this layer are epiphytes (blueplanetbiomes.org).The majority of animals in the rainforest, including birds, monkeys, parrots, sloths, tree frogs, toucans, and leopards, are found in this layer (tigerhomes.org).

The understory only gets about two to five percent of the available sunlight. The plants adapt to these conditions with their dark green leaves, which allow them to absorb sunlight (blueplanetbiomes.org). Plants are shorter, and usually grow up to 12 feet tall. Animals found in this layer include: monkeys, sloths, tapirs, tree frogs, bats, and owls (tigerhomes.org). 
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The lowest layer, the forest floor receives only about 2% sunlight and grows very few plants. The floor is mostly decomposing vegetation and organisms that are broken down into nutrients, which tree roots adsorb (blueplanetbiomes.org). This layer includes animals such as: anteaters, beetles, frogs, lizards, snakes (including the large anaconda) and termites (tigerhomes.org).

http://infactcollaborative.com/nature/amazon-rainforest-facts.html
Clockwise: 1. Parrots (found in the canopy layer of the Amazon) 
 2. Dolphins (found in the Amazon river)
3. Tapirs (found in the understory layer of the Amazon)

http://www.global1.youth-leader.org/2011/07/in-defense-of-the-amazon-aiding-the-survival-of-an-ecological-wonder/

Epiphytes (found in the canopy layer) grow from and live off other plants.

http://imagesnoise.com/amazon-rainforest-trees/31.html
Evergreen leaves in the Amazon.

Sources:

http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/layers-rainforest.cfm

http://www.kbears.com/climates/printtropical.html

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/amazon.htm