SUMMARY
The world's tropical forests, which circle the globe, are interestingly diverse. Ranging from the steamy jungles of the rain forests to the dry forests and savannas, they provide habitat for millions of species of plants and animals. Once covering some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha), these tropical forests have been reduced through cutting and clearing by 210 million acres (85 million ha) between 1985 and 1990. All types of tropical forests are defined and their products and benefits to the environment are presented and discussed. Modern forest practices are shown as a means of halting forest destruction while still providing valuable forest products and protecting and preserving the habitats of many endangered species of plants and wildlife. The Luquillo Experimental Forest is presented as a possible model to exemplify forestry practices and research that could manage and ultimately protect the tropical forests throughout the world.
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About half of all the world's forests are in the Tropics, the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This region may be best known for its rain forests - lush, steamy jungles with towering trees, epiphytes, and dense under stories of smaller trees, shrubs, and vines.
Tropical forests are surprisingly
diverse. In addition to rain forests, there are mangroves, moist forests, dry
forests, and savannas. Such classifications, however, give only a slight indication
of the diversity of tropical forests. One study by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, which considered 23 countries in tropical
America, 37 in tropical Africa, and 16 in tropical Asia, identified dozens of
types of tropical forests: open and closed canopy forests, broadleaved trees
and conifer forests , closed forests and mixed forest grasslands, and forests
where agriculture has made inroads.
Rain Forests
The largest remaining areas
of tropical rain forests are in Brazil, Congo, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Precipitation
generally exceeds 60 inches (150 cm) per year and may be as high as 400 inches
(1000 cm). Lowland rain forests are among the
world's most productive of plant communities. Giant trees may tower 200 feet
(60 m) in height and support thousands of other species of plants and animals.
Montane (mountain) rain forests grow at higher elevations where the climate
is too windy and wet for optimum tree growth.
Mangrove forests grow in the swampy, intertidal margin between sea and shore and are often considered part of the rain forest complex. The roots of mangrove trees help stabilize the shoreline and trap sediment and decaying vegetation that contribute to ecosystem productivity (fig. 3).
Dry Forests
Large areas of tropical
dry forests are found in India, Australia, Central and South America, the Caribbean,
Mexico, Africa, and Madagascar. Dry forests receive low rainfall amounts, as
little as 20 inches (50 cm) per year, and are characterized by species well
adapted to drought. Trees of dry tropical forests are usually
smaller than those in rain forests, and many lose their leaves during the dry
season. Although they are still amazingly diverse, dry forests often have fewer
species than rain forests.
Savanna is a transitional
type between forest and grassland. Trees are often very scattered and tend to
be well adapted to drought and tolerant of fire and grazing. If fire is excluded,
trees eventually begin to grow and the savanna is converted to dry forest. With
too much fire or grazing, dry forest becomes savanna (fig. 4). This vegetation
type has fewer species of trees and shrubs but more grasses and forbs than other
forest types in the Tropics.
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