Trees in the Tropical Rain Forest Have ________ Root Systems

Multiple Choice

Trees in the tropical rain forest have ________ root systems because ________.

A) deep; a large percentage of soil nutrients lies at great depths as a result of having been flushed there by heavy rains
B) deep; water near the soil surface is often too acidic for the trees to tolerate
C) shallow; most of the nutrients occur in the shallow surface layer that contains rapidly decaying organic matter
D) shallow; there is intense competition for moisture, which occurs only near the surface because rapid evaporation prevents water from penetrating the soil to a significant degree