Types Of Forests
What are the different types of forests? Forests are defined by an ecosystem dominated by trees and plants. Thus whenever we hear the term, our mind casts an image of a dense network of trees, exotic shrubs, plants and swamps with a few animals or so. But did you know that forests occupy 9.4 percent of the earth and that there are so many types of forests that we simply do not know about. Let us cast away this ignorance for our natural protectors of our planet and begin by studying the different types of forests
Tropical Forests
Located along the equator, Tropical Rainforests are one of the densest of the different types of forests. This phenomenon is attributed to the fact that the climate of these forests is hot and very wet (100 inches rainfall per year), and have thus, resulted in an extremely diverse combination of flora and fauna. Such heavy rainfall also cause the soil to be nutrient poor but because of the year round warm weather and direct sunlight, tropical forests are extremely lush by nature.
Mediterranean Forests
These types of forests are characterized by a warm, dry weather and scanty rainfall combined with wet, bland winters. Because of the lack of water, the soil is semi arid thus the general features of these forests are bushy rather than lush green. The astonishing fact is that some of the shrubs basically require forest fires to do away with their competitors and make place for themselves! These types of forests are in a part of California, South America and the banks of Mediterranean rive.
Deciduous Forests
These types of forests are found in some parts of Asia, Japan, Russia and the North America. Besides bearing a very nutrient rich soil, these forests, unlike the other forests, experience four weathers and rainfall ample enough to support a large number of evergreens, mosses and shrubs. The animal kingdom however, is restricted to the animals who can endure a bitingly cold weather
Coniferous Forests
As the name suggests, coniferous forests are overly dominated by coniferous trees (which are evergreen and bear cones and needles). These trees are exactly suited to the harsh, frosty weather that these types of forests face. Present in parts of Asia, Canada, US and Europe, these include the northern boreal forest and the temperate coniferous forest which are situated in the comparatively high altitude areas.
Montane ‘Cloud’ Forests
Montane cloud forests are situated in areas where a persistent canopy of mist or cloud hangs over the vegetation, thus resulting in extremely moist conditions. The flora and fauna of these woods are adaptive to the wet, humid conditions of the area and these types of forests are located in Europe, South America, North America and New Zealand.
Plantation Forests
Due to the spreading awareness of the many hazards of de-forestation that are posed to our environment and other natural resources, a resolution for a-forestation has made its way into many organizations’ agenda. Plantation forests or artificial forests are thus a result of these efforts. These types of forests are man-made and are a huge source of timbre. With an increasing emphasis placed upon them by environmentalists, we can predict many more to come.
