slands of Indonesia, the Malay peninsula (Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar), Laos, and Cambodia.
"The Southeast Asian rainforests are the oldest, consistent rainforests on Earth, dating back to the Pleistocene Epoch 70 million years ago." Source: Blue Planet
Millions of years ago when most of the planet went through a cooling period Southeast Asia remained warm due to its location. This and the melting of glaciers resulting in the formation of many islands in the region, contributed to amazing species diversification in the area.
Some scientists believe this forest has existed for over 100 million years.
The region has two monsoon seasons. The northeastern monsoon occurs from October to February and brings heavy rains. The southwestern monsoon is stronger and occurs from April to August. These monsoons cause a rain shadow over opposite sides of the islands and Malaysian peninsula, increasing its ecosystem diversity.
Distictive animals from South East Asia Tropical Forests include: orangutans, birds, tigers, Malayan tapir, and elephants.
If you are planning a trip to check some of the beautiful birds in the area, I suggest you get this book found on Amazon: The 125 Best Birdwatching Sites in Southeast Asia.
A dominant plant of this forest is Dipterocarpaceae. These trees can reach heights of 120ft (36m). Another distinctive plant is the tualang or Koompassia excelsa. This tree can reach heights of up to 280ft (85m). This is the third tallest tree species in the world.
Trees in this region flower or fruit at different times. Some once every three years, others every ten years. This is also because the lack of nutrients in the soil.
There is a strong link between plants and animals through mutualistic relationships which help trees pollinate. This is because very little wind flows in the dense tree canopy. Source: Blue Planet
Besides the expected problems from deforestation throughout the world, another problem became evident several years ago in Southeast Asia. When a tsunami hit South East Asia in 2004, the areas with the most damage were the areas with the most deforestation.
African Tropical Forests
The largest forest in Africa is the Congo Basin Rainforest. Other African major Rainforests include the Guinean Forests, the Eastern Afromontane, the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa, and the Forests of Madagascar.
The Congo Forest, located in Central Africa, has an area of approximately 1.8x106Km2. It extends from the Congo Basin to the Atlantic Ocean.
Half of Africa's animal species are in its rainforests. It is also estimated that 6,000 plant species exist in African forests. Nevertheless, compared with other forests, Africa has low diversity.
Low African diversity is partly attributed to the past climate of the area. It went through dry periods that wiped local species.
It is estimated that African tropical rain forests are larger carbon sinks than the Amazon. This is because in average trees in Africa are wider and taller than those in the Amazon. The Conversation
Some of the characteristic animals of these tropical forests include orangutans, chimpanzees, elephants, leopards, drill monkeys, African buffalo, cheetahs, warthogs, hippos, rhinos, giraffe, zebra, caracal, lions, baboons, and other megafauna.
African rainforests appear to be relatively poor in tree species compared to those of America and Asia. The most important commercial species belong to the Meliaceae family. Science Direct
One of the major threats to African Tropical forests is how little information we have about them. This is mainly because fragmented politics and civil conflicts. Source: Royal Society
There are other semi evergreen and deciduous forests in Africa, but as mentioned before due to lack of studies, most of the information is focused in the Congo Rainforest.
Tropical Forest Importance
Tropical forests hold 50% of world's timber and could potentially produce 75% of world's wood products if harvested efficiently.
Many common products used every day, were initially found in tropical forests. For example: bananas, cocoa, natural rubber, palm oil,