FORESTS: THREE MAJOR TYPES OF FORESTS
Forests are lands dominated by trees. The three main types of forest—tropical, temperate, and cold (northern coniferous, or boreal)—result from combinations of varying precipitation levels and varying average temperatures. 1. TROPICAL FORESTS: Tropical rain forests are found near the equator, where hot, moisture-laden air rises and dumps its moisture. These lush forests have year around, uniformly warm temperatures, high humidity, and almost daily heavy rainfall. This fairly constant warm and wet climate is ideal for a wide variety of plants and animals. These forests are often called jungle, but that word refers to the thickest and most dense parts of a tropical rain forest. Tropical rain forests have a very high net primary productivity. They are teeming with life and possess incredible biological diversity. Although tropical rain forests cover only about 2% of the earth’s land surface, ecologists estimate that they contain at least half of the earth’s known terrestrial plant and a