The forests are ecosystems abundant in tall vegetation, usually trees and leafy plants and wide glass, which also provide habitat for a large number of animal species.
The forests are widely distributed on the planet , adapted to different climates and high humidity conditions and, therefore play an important role in the global carbon cycle the.
A forest can be made up of a large group of plant species, or have a majority presence of the same type of tree. There are no fixed criteria to distinguish a forest from other zonal agglomerations of trees , although the term jungle is often preferred for very lush and abundant tropical rain forests, as well as grove for the less and less dense areas or forest and park for the more controlled, usually intervened by human hands.
Forest types
According to the type of vegetation, they are classified into:
- Broadleaf forest (leafy) . Much richer in species, often similar or close to the forests.
- Acicular leaf forest (conifers) . Typical of cold areas, they are usually characterized by a predominance of quality wood trees and gymnosperm vegetation .
- Mixed forests . Where the previous two are combined.
According to its seasonality of foliage, there are two types:
- Evergreen forests . Those always green, without loss (or with a minimum) of leaves.
- Deciduous forests . Those that lose foliage at certain seasons and then green again.
According to latitude and climate, they are classified into:
- Tropical forests . Known as “jungles”, they are abundant and leafy, with a warm and very humid climate, located in the belt of the equator.
- Subtropical forests . Usually abundant, either wet or dry and of wide variability
- Temperate forests . The warm and cold temperate zones populate with abundant coniferous vegetation.
- Boreal forests . Located in the areas near the poles, they resist subpolar climate.
According to the altitude at which they grow, they can be:
- Lowland forests . They can be basal, flat, or flood.
- Mountain forests . They are divided into premontanos, montanos or subalpinos.
Forest examples
Sequoia forests. In their two most famous varieties, Sequoiadendron giganteum and Sequoia sempervirens , these trees are considered the largest and tallest in the world, respectively . They are characteristic of the United States, especially in Yosemite and Redwood National Parks, both of historical and forest significance.
Patagonian Andean forest . Also known as the Valdivian cold forest , it is located in southern Chile and western Argentina, in a humid, temperate and mountainous area close to the Andes Mountains.
Boulogne Forest . With an area of 846 hectares, equivalent to twice the New York Central Park , it is a Parisian public park and one of the main ones in Europe. It contains an abundant vegetation of wide woods, controlled and domesticated to achieve a recreation or urban recreation area.
Beech forest of Montejo . Beech forest ( Fagus sylvatica ) of 250 hectares, located in the north of the province of Madrid, bordering the Jarama river, in Spain. It is one of the southernmost beech forests on the continent and a site of national interest since 1974.
The Russian taiga . The taigas or boreal forests typical of the Siberian region are abundant despite their extreme temperatures (19 ° C in summer and -30 ° C in winter), with annual rainfall of 450mm. This means that the plants have a favorable period of four months a year, despite which the evergreen conifers frequently exceed 40m in height .
Bavarian forest . Located in Bavaria, southern Germany, it extends to Austria and Czechoslovakia, where it acquires other names ( Sauwald and Bohemian Forest, respectively). It is an important European natural reserve and a source of abundant tourism , since inside it is the Bavarian Forest National Park.
Magellanic subpolar forest . Located in the southern stretches of the Andes Mountains, as well as in Tierra del Fuego, it shares many of its plant species with other southern forests in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, despite the fact that it also has endemic species as a certain type. beech . Their climates range from 6 to 3 ° C depending on how close to Antarctica they are.
Sainte Baume Forest . Known as the “forest of Mary Magdalene” and close to Marseille, France, it is considered a mystical forest because it contains the cave in which the biblical character supposedly died after his expulsion from Palestine . The forest is almost 12 kilometers long along a rocky cliff and is today a pilgrimage center for French Provence.
Conguillío National Park . Located in the Chilean Araucanía, it has an area of 60,832 hectares of a varied and unique flora of the region, whose predominance of araucarias and coigües is reminiscent of prehistoric times . The relative humidity of the area is low, but the cold weather during winter usually leads to large frosts.
Canaima National Park . Located in Bolívar state, Venezuela, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994 and the sixth largest national park in the world. It extends over an area of 30,000 km 2 , up to the border with Guyana and Brazil, and has more than 300 endemic plant species.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park . It is a forested mountain range between the states of North Carolina and Tennessee, known as the Great Smoky Mountains. It is the most visited national park in the United States , given its lush vegetation with a humid and temperate climate, as well as the remains of the southern Appalachian culture it contains.
Fontainebleau Forest . 60 km from Paris, this forest formerly known as the Beer Forest, has an area of 25,000 hectares, in the middle of which are the cities of Fontainebleau and Avon. Impressionist painters of the 19th century were often inspired by its rich lattice of colors for their masterpieces.
The Black Forest. More a dense mountain forest than a rain forest, this region of the German southwest has been immortalized in many artistic ways and is today an important natural tourist destination. It is a vegetal band 160 km long and between 30 and 60 km wide , depending on the region, where fir trees predominate.
Styx Valley Forest . Temperate eucalyptus forest , home to the world’s tallest flower plants ( Eucalyptus regnans ) , is located in a Tasmanian valley in southern Australia, crossed by the Styx River. Its total area is unknown.
Haitises National Park . To the northwest of the Dominican Republic is a zone of mogotes close to each other, populated by dense tropical vegetation in a total area of 3,600 km. Its name comes from the Aboriginal word to designate these sudden rocky elevations that can reach 40m in height.
Clayoquot Sound . Populated by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth indigenous peoples, this forest located on the west coast of Vancouver Island has been ravaged by the logging industry, given its plant richness of cold-weather conifers. The defense of the forest by ethnic groups and Green Peace activists set an important precedent in this type of initiative that led to the signing of an ecological treaty in 2001.
Plitvice Lakes National Park . The best known of Croatia’s national parks and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, it has an area of 30,000 hectares, of which 22,000 are covered with forest, 90% of beech . This park was a candidate to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World in 2011.
Couvet Communal Forest . A third of the surface of Switzerland is made up of forests. In this case, the one located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, is one of the most visited by tourism and part of the modest plant reserves that Europe keeps protected.
Mountains of Southwest China . One of the temperate habitats with the largest number of endemic species in Greater Asia, it is home to the currently endangered giant panda. Only 8% of the forest is preserved in its ideal state , as the rest is at the mercy of indiscriminate felling and urbanization.
Forest of the Constituents . Located in the city of Rosario, Argentina, it is the largest green area in the city with 260 hectares of extension . It is an area highly intervened by man, to recreate artificial lagoons and abundant walking, as well as numerous initiatives for sustainable ecological research.
