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Borneo rainforest. Some tropical forest types are difficult to categorize. While forests in temperate areas are readily categorized on the basis of tree canopy density, such schemes do not work well in tropical forests. [1] There is no single scheme that defines what a forest is, in tropical regions or elsewhere.
Amazon River rain forest in Peru. Tropical rainforests are hot and wet. Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year. [4] Average annual rainfall is no less than 1,680 mm (66 in) and can exceed 10 m (390 in) although it typically lies between 1,750 mm (69 in) and 3,000 mm (120 in). [5]
Tropical rainforests provide timber as well as animal products such as meat and hides. Rainforests also have value as tourism destinations and for the ecosystem services provided. Many foods originally came from tropical forests, and are still mostly grown on plantations in regions that were formerly primary forest. [39]
Tropical ecosystems may consist of tropical rainforests, seasonal tropical forests, dry (often deciduous) forests, spiny forests, deserts, savannahs, grasslands and other habitat types. There are often wide areas of biodiversity , and species endemism present, particularly in rainforests and seasonal forests.
The crowns of the dominant trees receive most of the sunlight. This is the most productive part of the trees, where maximum food is produced. The canopy forms a shady, protective "umbrella" over the rest of the forest. Emergent layer exists in a tropical rain forest and is composed of a few scattered trees that tower over the canopy. [39]
Jungle on Tioman Island, Malaysia El Yunque National Forest is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest Service. A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century.
A Sapele tree in the Republic of the Congo. The Congolian rainforest is the world's second-largest tropical forest, after the Amazon rainforest.It covers over 500,000,000 acres (2,000,000 km 2) across six countries and contains a quarter of the world's remaining tropical forest.
Tropical seasonal forests, also known as moist deciduous, monsoon or semi-evergreen (mixed) seasonal forests, have a monsoon or wet savannah climates (as in the Köppen climate classification): receiving high overall rainfall with a warm summer wet season and (often) a cooler winter dry season. Some trees in these forests drop some or all of ...