agascar Dry Deciduous forests or South Deccan Deciduous forests in South India.
Montane Rain Forests
In mountainous regions in the tropics, there is a drastic change in vegetation as elevation increases.
Closer to summits the vegetation is shorter, about 5ft (1.5m). Plants also have small thick leaves.
Vines and buttresses are absent. Mosses are quite common.
An example of these forests are the Montane Rain Forests of the Andes in Central Colombia.
Also called Kerangas in Asia. These forests have a canopy that is low and uniform. There is no vertical stratification.
Leaves are small with brown to reddish colors. The amount of light that filters to the ground is high.
This type of forests have a high number of insectivorous plants, like pitcher plants.
Soils are Podzolic, therefore acidic and with good drainage.
An example of these forests, are the Sundaland Heath Forests in South Borneo.
Also called "mangal", these forests have salt or brackish water. These forests are common along coastlines.
Mangrove forests do not have a high plant diversity. Most belong to the Rhizosphoraceae family, or mangroves.
Mangroves grow in anaerobic waters with high salinity. These trees also have pneumatophores, which enable part of their roots to grow above water to get oxygen.
In South Bangladesh you can find the largest mangrove forests called the Sundarbans Mangroves.
Freshwater and Peat Swamp Forests
This forests are mainly characterized by the habitat rather than the plant structure.
Peat is non decomposed plant material that years ago, during glaciation or due to bad drainage.
They are associated with low lying areas near rivers, and are seasonally covered by rivers.
This inundation results in high nutrient content and fast growth of trees.
An example are the Tonle-Sap Mekong Peat Swamp Forests in south Cambodia.
Tropical Evergreen Rain Forest Plants
The canopy in most tropical forests has multiple layers. Inside it, every plant is competing for a ray of light.
The canopy architecture has an upper layer of emerging tall trees. This is followed by a middle or main canopy layer. Below is a subcanopy of smaller trees and shrubs.
At the bottom, the forest is dark and shaded. This is why trees in tropical forests have wide leaves, to absorb as much light as possible.
Tropical Forests have high species diversity. In one square kilometer (0.38 square mile) it is possible to find up to 100 different tree species.
Trees are 83-114ft (25-35m) tall. They may have projected supports and not just one single trunk.
Trees are evergreen, the leaves have a dark green color, and the roots are shallow.
Common plant species are bromeliads, vines (lianas), orchids, ferns, mosses, and palms.
If you have an interest in plants and flowers from tropical forests but you cannot travel to see one, I suggest you take a piece of the forest to your home and buy this beautiful orchid found on Amazon: Easy Care Live Blue Orchid
Creepers or climbers (vines) are the second important floral members of the rain forests. These climbers are so irregular in form that it becomes difficult to find out their actual lengths. Source: Geographynotes.com
Because the soils are nutrient poor and very shallow, tree roots usually stay close to the surface. For this same reason trees also grow buttressed roots up to 30 ft (9m) high, or roots that hang from their trunks and branches, aerial roots.
Tropical Evergreen Rain Forests Animals
Many animals in tropical forests are adapted to live in trees. For example monkeys, snakes, frogs, lizards and small animals.
The widest variety of animals is believed to be insects. It is estimated that the number of insect species in the canopies of tropical rainforests is over 20 million.
In tropical evergreen rainforests due to the constant supply of food, there is no migration of organisms. In general they are least mobile.
Also in tropical evergreen rainforest, it has been suggested that organisms are stratified vertically. So deer are at the bottom, monkeys on the branches, and high above birds and butterflies coexist. Source: Geographynotes.com
