- canopy: dense carpet of vegetation 65 to 100 feet off the ground which absorbs about 90% of the sunlight
- emergent tree: a tall tree that towers above the canopy
- flooded rainforest: has vast areas under water at least part of the year
- forest floor: the ground of the rainforest is almost bare except for fallen leaves and branches
- igapo: a rainforest flooded for most of the year
- lowland rainforest: rainfall and humidity are relatively constant throughout the year, though dry and wet seasons do occur
- montane rainforest: high land rainforest such as the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Puerto Rico
- mangrove rainforest: forests of the distinctive mangroves tree, with their distinctive stilt roots
- rainfall: the amount of rain in a year, measured in inches or centimeters
- rainforest: anywhere that receives more than eighty inches of rainfall a year
- temperate rainforests: are mild weather forests, not located near the equator, that have more than eighty inches of rain per year
- tropical rainforests: exist mainly near the equator, and have from 160 to 400 inches of rain a year
- understory: the dark region below the rainforest canopy
- varzea: a rainforest flooded for a short time after heavy rains
