Mediterranean forests

These forests are found to the south of the temperate regions around the coasts of the Mediterranean, California, Chile and Western Australia. The growing season is short and almost all trees are evergreen, but mixed hardwood and softwood.

Montane forests

These are also known as cloud forests because they receive most of their precipitation from the mist or fog that comes up from the lowlands. Some of these montane woodlands and grasslands are found in high-elevation tropical, subtropical and temperate zones. Plants and animals in these forests are adapted to withstanding the cold, wet conditions and intense sunlight. Trees are mainly conifers.

Plantation forests

There are around 140 million hectares of “plantation forests” in the world, accounting for around 7% of global forest cover. The productivity of planted forests, in terms of supplying a sustainable volume of timber and fibre, is usually greater than natural forests. Plantations produce around 40% of industrial wood. Both the plantation area and contribution to world wood production are projected to continue to increase in the foreseeable future.

Temperate forests

Found in such places as eastern North America, northeastern Asia, and western and eastern Europe, temperate forests are a mix of deciduous and coniferous evergreen trees. Usually, the broad-leaved hardwood trees shed leaves annually. There are well-defined seasons with a distinct winter and sufficient rainfall.

Tropical rainforests

Year-round high temperatures and abundant rainfall makes this a dense, lush forest. Tropical rainforests are found near the equator. They are vital storehouses of biodiversity on the planet, and yet face severe threat today, with much of their original extent depleted.

Coniferous forests

Coniferous forests inhabit the cold, windy regions around the poles. There are both hardwoods and conifers found in this region. The conifers are evergreen and structurally adapted to withstand the long drought-like conditions of the long winters, whereas the hardwoods are deciduous.

Sub-tropical forests

These are found to the sound and north of the tropical forests. The trees here are adapted to resist the summer drought. In contrast to TSMF, tropical forest regions with lower levels of rainfall are home to tropical dry broadleaf forests and tropical coniferous forests. Temperate rain forests also occur in certain humid temperate coastal regions. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests are common in several terrestrial ecozones. About half of the world’s tropical rainforests are in the South American countries of Brazil and Peru. Rainforests now cover less than 6% of Earth’s land surface. Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world’s plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests.