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.[1][2] Because of these difficulties, information on the extent of tropical forests varies between sources. However, tropical forests are extensive, making up just under half the world's forests.[3] The tropical domain has the largest proportion of the world’s forests (45 percent), followed by the boreal, temperate and subtropical domains.[4]
More than 3.6m hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018.[5]
The original tropical rainforests, which covered the planet's land surface, were the type of flora that covered Earth. Other canopy forests expanded north-south of the equator during the Paleogene epoch, around 40 million years ago, as a result of the emergence of drier, cooler climates.
The tropical forest was originally identified as a specific type of biome in 1949.
Types of tropical forest
Tropical forests are often thought of as evergreenrainforests[2] and moist forests, but these account for only a portion of them (depending on how they are defined - see maps). The remaining tropical forests are a diversity of many different forest types including: Eucalyptus open forest, tropical coniferous forests, savanna woodland (e.g.Sahelian forest), and mountain forests[6] (the higher elevations of which are cloud forests). Over even relatively short distances, the boundaries between these biomes may be unclear, with ecotones between the main types.
Tropical forest ecological zones (FAO)
Tropical forest land from the UN FO FRA2000 report
Soil characteristics (also subject to various classifications): including depth and drainage.[10]
The Global 200 scheme
The Global 200 scheme, promoted by the World Wildlife Fund, classifies three main tropical forest habitat types (biomes), grouping together tropical and sub-tropical areas (maps below):
Guyaneese log "bulletwood" near the Berbice River, Guyana
A number of tropical forests have been designated High-Biodiversity Wilderness Areas, but remain subject to a wide range of disturbances, including more localized pressures such as habitat loss and degradation and anthropogenic climate change. Studies have also shown that ongoing climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of some climate extremes (e.g. droughts, heatwaves and hurricanes) which, in combination with other local human disturbances, are driving unprecedented negative ecological consequences for tropical forests around the world.[11] All tropical forests have experienced at least some levels of disturbance.[12] Current deforestation in the biodiversity hotspots of North of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific, can be attributed to export of commodities such as: beef, soy, coffee, cacao, palm oil, and timber; there is a requirement for "strong transnational efforts ... by improving supply chain transparency [and] public–private engagement".[13]
A study in Borneo describes how, between 1973 and 2018, the old-growth forest had been reduced from 76% to 50% of the island, mostly due to fire and agricultural expansion.[14] A widely-held view is that placing a value on the ecosystem services these forests provide may bring about more sustainable policies. However, clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for environmental, social and economic outcomes are needed. For example, a study in Vietnam indicated that poor and inconsistent data combined with a lack of human resources and political interest (thus lack of financial support) are hampering efforts to improve forest land allocation and a Payments for Forest Environmental Services scheme.[15]
This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings, FAO, FAO. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. For information on reusing text from Wikipedia, please see the terms of use.
References
^ abPutz, Francis E.; Redford, Kent H. (September 14, 2009). "The Importance of Defining 'Forest': Tropical Forest Degradation, Deforestation, Long-term Phase Shifts, and Further Transitions". Biotropica. Wiley. 42 (1): 10–20. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00567.x. ISSN 0006-3606. S2CID 83577100.
^ abAnatoly Shvidenko, Charles Victor Barber, Reidar Persson et al. 2005 "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment." Ecosystems and human wellbeing: a framework for assessment Washington, DC: Island Press
^D’Annunzio, Rémi, Lindquist, Erik J., MacDicken, Kenneth G. 2017 “Global forest land-use change from 1990 to 2010:an update to a global remote sensing survey of forests Forest Resource Assessment Working Paper 187” FAO, Rome.
^Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life. Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report 6 May 2019 Guardian [1]
^Van Der Hammen, Thomas (1991). "Palaeoecological Background: Neotropics". Tropical Forests and Climate. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp. 37–47. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-3608-4_4. ISBN978-90-481-4147-0.
^Chen, Ya-Jun; Cao, Kun-Fang; Schnitzer, Stefan A.; Fan, Ze-Xin; Zhang, Jiao-Lin; Bongers, Frans (September 29, 2014). "Water-use advantage for lianas over trees in tropical seasonal forests". New Phytologist. Wiley. 205 (1): 128–136. doi:10.1111/nph.13036. ISSN 0028-646X. PMID 25264136.
^Merckx, Vincent S. F. T.; Hendriks, Kasper P.; Beentjes, Kevin K.; Mennes, Constantijn B.; Becking, Leontine E.; Peijnenburg, Katja T. C. A.; Afendy, Aqilah; Arumugam, Nivaarani; De Boer, Hugo; Biun, Alim; Buang, Matsain M.; Chen, Ping-Ping; Chung, Arthur Y. C.; Dow, Rory; Feijen, Frida A. A.; Feijen, Hans; Soest, Cobi Feijen-van; Geml, József; Geurts, René; Gravendeel, Barbara; Hovenkamp, Peter; Imbun, Paul; Ipor, Isa; Janssens, Steven B.; Jocqué, Merlijn; Kappes, Heike; Khoo, Eyen; Koomen, Peter; Lens, Frederic; et al. (2015). "Evolution of endemism on a young tropical mountain". Nature. 524 (7565): 347–350. Bibcode:2015Natur.524..347M. doi:10.1038/nature14949. PMID 26266979. S2CID 4447746.
^Heinimann, Andreas; Messerli, Peter; Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich; Wiesmann, Urs (2007). "The Dynamics of Secondary Forest Landscapes in the Lower Mekong Basin". Mountain Research and Development. 27 (3): 232–241. doi:10.1659/mrd.0875. S2CID 102490131.
^Schulte, A, Ruhiyat D (Eds.) (1998) Soils of Tropical Forest Ecosystems: Characteristics, Ecology and Management. Springer, 204 pp.
^França, FM; Benkwitt, CE; Peralta, G; Robinson, JPW; Graham, NAJ; Tylianakis, JM; Berenguer, E; Lees, AC; Ferreira, J; Louzada, J; Barlow, J (2020). "Climatic and local stressor interactions threaten tropical forests and coral reefs". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 375 (1794): 20190116. doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0116. PMC7017775. PMID 31983328.
^Robin L. Chazdon 2003 “Tropical forest recovery: legacies of human impact and natural disturbances” Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 6/1,2, pp. 51–71
^Hoang NT, Kanemoto K (2021) Mapping the deforestation footprint of nations reveals growing threat to tropical forests. Nat Ecol Evol.
^Gaveau DLA (2016) What a difference 4 decades make: Deforestation in Borneo since 1973 CIFOR (retrieved 29 October 2017)
^Pham TT, Le ND, Vu TP, Nguyen HT, Nguyen VT (2016) Forest land allocation and payments for forest environmental services in four northwestern provinces of Vietnam: From policy to practice CIFOR (retrieved 29 October 2017)
External links
Media related to Tropical forest at Wikimedia Commons
Tropical Forests, Project Regeneration, 2021.
March 03, 2023
tropical, forest, plant, life, tropical, latitudes, tropical, vegetation, jungle, forested, landscapes, tropical, regions, land, areas, approximately, bounded, tropic, cancer, capricorn, possibly, affected, other, factors, such, prevailing, winds, borneo, rain. For the plant life in tropical latitudes see tropical vegetation Tropical forests a k a jungle are forested landscapes in tropical regions i e land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds 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 1 2 Because of these difficulties information on the extent of tropical forests varies between sources However tropical forests are extensive making up just under half the world s forests 3 The tropical domain has the largest proportion of the world s forests 45 percent followed by the boreal temperate and subtropical domains 4 More than 3 6m hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018 5 Contents 1 History 2 Types of tropical forest 2 1 The Global 200 scheme 3 Threats 4 See also 5 Sources 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditThe original tropical rainforests which covered the planet s land surface were the type of flora that covered Earth Other canopy forests expanded north south of the equator during the Paleogene epoch around 40 million years ago as a result of the emergence of drier cooler climates The tropical forest was originally identified as a specific type of biome in 1949 Types of tropical forest EditTropical forests are often thought of as evergreen rainforests 2 and moist forests but these account for only a portion of them depending on how they are defined see maps The remaining tropical forests are a diversity of many different forest types including Eucalyptus open forest tropical coniferous forests savanna woodland e g Sahelian forest and mountain forests 6 the higher elevations of which are cloud forests Over even relatively short distances the boundaries between these biomes may be unclear with ecotones between the main types Tropical forest ecological zones FAO Tropical forest land from the UN FO FRA2000 report Tropical climate sub types Koppen classification Af Tropical rainforest climate Am Tropical monsoon climate Aw Tropical savanna climate The nature of tropical forest in any given area is affected by a number of factors most importantly Geographical location and climatic zone see sub types with Temperature profile which is relatively even in equatorial rainforest or with a cooler season towards subtropical latitudes Precipitation levels and seasonality with strong dry seasons significantly affecting flora e g the predominance of lianas 7 Elevation affects the above often creating ecological islands with high endemism e g Mount Kinabalu in the Borneo rainforest 8 Historical prehistoric age of forest and level of recent disturbance see threats changing primary usually maximum biodiversity into secondary forest degenerating into bamboo forest after prolonged swidden agriculture e g in several areas of Indo China 9 Soil characteristics also subject to various classifications including depth and drainage 10 The Global 200 scheme Edit The Global 200 scheme promoted by the World Wildlife Fund classifies three main tropical forest habitat types biomes grouping together tropical and sub tropical areas maps below Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Extent of tropical and sub tropical coniferous forest regions dry forest regions moist forest regionsThreats EditFurther information Deforestation of tropical rainforests Guyaneese log bulletwood near the Berbice River Guyana A number of tropical forests have been designated High Biodiversity Wilderness Areas but remain subject to a wide range of disturbances including more localized pressures such as habitat loss and degradation and anthropogenic climate change Studies have also shown that ongoing climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of some climate extremes e g droughts heatwaves and hurricanes which in combination with other local human disturbances are driving unprecedented negative ecological consequences for tropical forests around the world 11 All tropical forests have experienced at least some levels of disturbance 12 Current deforestation in the biodiversity hotspots of North of South America sub Saharan Africa South East Asia and the Pacific can be attributed to export of commodities such as beef soy coffee cacao palm oil and timber there is a requirement for strong transnational efforts by improving supply chain transparency and public private engagement 13 A study in Borneo describes how between 1973 and 2018 the old growth forest had been reduced from 76 to 50 of the island mostly due to fire and agricultural expansion 14 A widely held view is that placing a value on the ecosystem services these forests provide may bring about more sustainable policies However clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for environmental social and economic outcomes are needed For example a study in Vietnam indicated that poor and inconsistent data combined with a lack of human resources and political interest thus lack of financial support are hampering efforts to improve forest land allocation and a Payments for Forest Environmental Services scheme 15 See also EditTropical rainforest Gallery forest Savanna Seasonal tropical forest Primary forest Secondary forestSources Edit This article incorporates text from a free content work Licensed under CC BY SA 3 0 license statement permission Text taken from Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings FAO FAO To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles please see this how to page For information on reusing text from Wikipedia please see the terms of use References Edit a b Putz Francis E Redford Kent H September 14 2009 The Importance of Defining Forest Tropical Forest Degradation Deforestation Long term Phase Shifts and Further Transitions Biotropica Wiley 42 1 10 20 doi 10 1111 j 1744 7429 2009 00567 x ISSN 0006 3606 S2CID 83577100 a b Anatoly Shvidenko Charles Victor Barber Reidar Persson et al 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Ecosystems and human wellbeing a framework for assessment Washington DC Island Press D Annunzio Remi Lindquist Erik J MacDicken Kenneth G 2017 Global forest land use change from 1990 to 2010 an update to a global remote sensing survey of forests Forest Resource Assessment Working Paper 187 FAO Rome Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings FAO 2020 doi 10 4060 ca8753en ISBN 978 92 5 132581 0 S2CID 130116768 Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth s natural life Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report 6 May 2019 Guardian 1 Van Der Hammen Thomas 1991 Palaeoecological Background Neotropics Tropical Forests and Climate Dordrecht Springer Netherlands pp 37 47 doi 10 1007 978 94 017 3608 4 4 ISBN 978 90 481 4147 0 Chen Ya Jun Cao Kun Fang Schnitzer Stefan A Fan Ze Xin Zhang Jiao Lin Bongers Frans September 29 2014 Water use advantage for lianas over trees in tropical seasonal forests New Phytologist Wiley 205 1 128 136 doi 10 1111 nph 13036 ISSN 0028 646X PMID 25264136 Merckx Vincent S F T Hendriks Kasper P Beentjes Kevin K Mennes Constantijn B Becking Leontine E Peijnenburg Katja T C A Afendy Aqilah Arumugam Nivaarani De Boer Hugo Biun Alim Buang Matsain M Chen Ping Ping Chung Arthur Y C Dow Rory Feijen Frida A A Feijen Hans Soest Cobi Feijen van Geml Jozsef Geurts Rene Gravendeel Barbara Hovenkamp Peter Imbun Paul Ipor Isa Janssens Steven B Jocque Merlijn Kappes Heike Khoo Eyen Koomen Peter Lens Frederic et al 2015 Evolution of endemism on a young tropical mountain Nature 524 7565 347 350 Bibcode 2015Natur 524 347M doi 10 1038 nature14949 PMID 26266979 S2CID 4447746 Heinimann Andreas Messerli Peter Schmidt Vogt Dietrich Wiesmann Urs 2007 The Dynamics of Secondary Forest Landscapes in the Lower Mekong Basin Mountain Research and Development 27 3 232 241 doi 10 1659 mrd 0875 S2CID 102490131 Schulte A Ruhiyat D Eds 1998 Soils of Tropical Forest Ecosystems Characteristics Ecology and Management Springer 204 pp Franca FM Benkwitt CE Peralta G Robinson JPW Graham NAJ Tylianakis JM Berenguer E Lees AC Ferreira J Louzada J Barlow J 2020 Climatic and local stressor interactions threaten tropical forests and coral reefs Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 375 1794 20190116 doi 10 1098 rstb 2019 0116 PMC 7017775 PMID 31983328 Robin L Chazdon 2003 Tropical forest recovery legacies of human impact and natural disturbances Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics 6 1 2 pp 51 71 Hoang NT Kanemoto K 2021 Mapping the deforestation footprint of nations reveals growing threat to tropical forests Nat Ecol Evol Gaveau DLA 2016 What a difference 4 decades make Deforestation in Borneo since 1973 CIFOR retrieved 29 October 2017 Pham TT Le ND Vu TP Nguyen HT Nguyen VT 2016 Forest land allocation and payments for forest environmental services in four northwestern provinces of Vietnam From policy to practice CIFOR retrieved 29 October 2017 External links Edit Media related to Tropical forest at Wikimedia Commons Tropical Forests Project Regeneration 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tropical forest amp oldid 1139310528, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
