Question

Give a geographical reason:

The trees in the tropical rainforests are broad-leaved while those in the Taiga are coniferous.

Answer 1

1. The tropical rainforest biome has high temperatures and heavy rainfall almost throughout the year.
2. The trees grow very densely and very little sunlight falls on the ground of the forest.
3. So, plants near the ground have broad leaves to capture as much sunlight as possible.
4. Such leaves can cope in hot, wet tropical climates because they counteract the day-time heat-trapping effect using transpiration.
5. The taiga biome has cold winter with severe snowfall. Therefore, to adapt to this condition:

• Coniferous trees that grow here have thick bark to protect against the cold.
• They are tall, cone-shaped, with flexible branches that taper to the ground and due to their waxy leaves, the snow does not stay on the trees.
• The pine cones protect the seeds in winter.