Tropical rainforests are located in a band 4800 km wide around the equator, mostly in the area between the Tropics of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. These forests cover much of northern South America, Central America, central Africa, and southeast Asia.

The soil is poor as nutrients are quickly recycled and not retained. The soil is also poor because heavy rain washes minerals away. The forest floor is very dark, which limits plant growth.

There are a lot of rainfall and sunlight all year

talll trees form a dense canopy that absorbs most of the sunlight.Only shrubs adapted to shade thrive in the understorey.Vines climb tree trunks in to the canopy where there in there is more light.Leaves have narrow tips that allow rain to run off quickly, which reduces weight on the branches.

This biome has the greatest diversity of animals on Earth but has few large mammals. Most animals are adapted to live in trees since there is little vegetation on the forest floor. Many are specialists,adapted to a particular food or habitat,which reduces competition.