Types of forests

Forests are terrestrial biomes that house a large number of ecosystems with a Spectacular biodiversity. These are areas of the earth’s crust that are made up of a large number of trees, thickets and other types of vegetation, as well as many animal species and living beings from other kingdoms of nature, such as the Animalia Kingdom, the Plantae Kingdom, the Fungi Kingdom, the Protist Kingdom and the Monera Kingdom.

The living beings or biotic elements in the forests, as well as the composition of the abiotic elements, such as geology, can change extremely according to the type of forest, because we do not find the same in a boreal forest or taiga as in a tropical or jungle forest.

We recommend you read this other article about the International Forest Day: when it is and why it is celebrated. In the following sections we offer a Forest types list that there are currently around the world and its characteristics.

The classification of forests is really very complex, since a variety of parameters can be used to differentiate them. For example, they can be classified according to their climate and latitude, but there are many more criteria.

Thus, in this article we will see the different Forest type classificationswhich are:

• Types of forests according to its climate and latitude.
• Types of forests according to foliage.
• Types of forests according to their vegetation.
• Types of forests according to the intervention in them.
• Types of forests according to the impact of the human being on them.

Taking into account the criteria of latitude and climate of the region in which a forest is located, we can define the following types of forests:

Boreal forest

Boreal forests are also known as taiga And it’s about those found in the North of the planet (On the map we can appreciate it in blue) and, specifically, they are mainly between 50º and 60º latitude. For this location, it is about The coldest wooded regions And its temperature can range, depending on the area and season of the year, between the 20 ° C of maximum temperature in summer and the -60 ºC in winter (in areas of Siberia and the East extreme). These are very extensive forest natural regions that occupy part of various countries (Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia).

Among its vegetation we find, mainly, pines and firs and among the animals that inhabit these places we can find a wide variety of species, such as caribu or reindeer, alces, brown bears, boreal lynxes, gluttons, boreal backpack and fishing eagle.

To expand this information, we recommend entering these other ecology articles in which the themes of boreal forests are treated in detail: characteristics, flora and fauna and what is the taiga: definition and characteristics.

Tempered forest

Another of the types of forest according to the weather and the latitude in which they are found is the tempered forest. These are the wooded natural regions that are in the part of the planet that has THE MOST TEMPERATED CLIMATE or less extreme, for what is found in the two hemispheres, although it abounds more in the northern part (on the map it is marked in green). These are regions in which there is moderate temperaturesThere are usually abundant rains and there are animals that hibernate and others that migrate according to the time of year. The floor of these zones is very rich and fertile, since, thanks to the vegetation cover that is very dense and the levels of humidity and temperate temperatures, the organic matter known as humus occurs, which is a great fertilizer.

In this other post you can learn more details about the tempered forest: characteristics, flora and fauna. In addition, the forests of the Mediterranean Sea area are good examples of these types of soft climate areas. Here you can discover everything about the Mediterranean forest: characteristics, flora and fauna. To learn even more about these temperate biomes, we recommend this other post about which animals live in the tempered forest.

Subtropical forest

Subtropical forests are found in Areas near the tropical zone (On the map are orange) and its average temperature is 22 ºC. In these wooded natural regions of subtropical climate The vegetation tends to be large, with wide leaves. Although there are quite a few rains, rainfall levels are somewhat lower than those of tropical forests and, in addition, the seasons of the year are very marked.

Within these there are several types:

• The pine forest.
• The wet forest deciduous.
• The rain forest or subtropical jungle.
• The subtropical dry forest.

Tropical forest

These are the forests found in the tropical region (on the map they look purple). The tropical climate It is one of the hottest and rainy and its average temperature is about 27 ºC. There are several types of tropical forests and regions within these that need to be mentioned:

• The humid tropical forest, rainy tropical forest or tropical jungle.
• The dry tropical forest.
• The Monzonic Forest.
• Wetlands or flood forests.
• The mangroves.

If you want to learn more about these, you can consult these other ecology articles about tropical forests: characteristics, flora and fauna.

Within this other Forest classificationwe can find them divided according to their leaves:

• Perennifolio forest: In this the trees are the perennial type. This means that in these trees the leaves are kept all year old, so they are always forests with leafy foliage. You can know here more information about the perennifolio forest: what is, characteristics, flora and fauna.
• Deciduous forest: It is the type of forest with trees with deciduous leaves, which means that its leaves fall in some times of the year and they rebound in others and, therefore, there are stations in which they look lush and green, others in which the leaves become reddish and brown and another in which they fall at all and the trees are naked. In this other post you can learn more about deciduous forests: characteristics, flora and fauna.

Apart from the duration of the foliage of the trees of the forests, these can also be classified according to the trees and the plants found in them. Thus, according to vegetation these are the types of forests:

• Coniferous forests: They are mainly found in the Taiga area, in the northern part of the planet. These are forests with very cold temperatures, in which there are mainly conifers, such as pines and fir trees, although vegetation and animals are not as varied as in other types of forests, there is an impressive biodiversity. Know much more about coniferous forests: characteristics, flora and fauna.
• Lush forests: They are also known as lush forests. These have more species than those mentioned above, some are like jungles and the trees in them are wide leaves. These types of forests can be divided, in turn, depending on the weather and are classified between tropical and subtropical forests (wet jungle or pluvisilva, dry forest or hemisilva and mountain forest, mountain jungle or nimbosilva) and temperate leafy forests (Mediterranean or Durisilva forest, deciduous forest deciduous or aestisilva laurisilva). Here you can read about the lush ones: what are, characteristics and examples.
• Mixed forest: This type of terrestrial bioma is one in which the two previous types are combined, so it is both vegetation of coniferous and lush forests. Expand this information about the mixed forest, its characteristics, flora and fauna in this link.

In this other article you can learn about the types of terrestrial biomes, such as forests and others.

Another of the ways in which we can distinguish these terrestrial biomes is depending on whether there has been intervention by our or not.

• Primary forests: These are those who have not had any intervention by the human being, that is, they are totally natural. Some of these spaces are protected to conserve biodiversity.
• Anthropogenic forests: These are the case contrary to the previous ones, that is, the forested spaces that have suffered the intervention of humanity, to a greater or lesser degree, from in a small part to their entirety, then being completely artificial, although they have natural elements in them.

Finally, the last form of classification of different types of forests It is precisely according to the degree of intervention of humanity or the impact it has had on these spaces:

• Primary forests: As we have indicated before, these are the completely natural because the human being has not intervened in them or has done so little that it is not relevant to the conservation of their biodiversity.
• Secondary forests: These are the ones that have been intervened by man to be used for their natural resources, although they have later been reforested. Below you can watch a video about reforestation.
• Artificial forests: These are those that have been directly created by the human being, so they have natural elements but have been placed by men expressly to exploit them and obtain raw materials or, to improve areas to preserve species.

As a summary, we can indicate that the importance of forested areas is that they are the most extensive terrestrial biomes in the world and that more biodiversity contain. This entails a series of aspects of utmost importance for life as we know it. These are some of the key aspects of The great importance of forests:

• They absorb a large amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 and offer oxygen.
• They regulate the weather.
• Habitat of a large number of living beings, that is, they act as a place of conservation of biodiversity.
• Soil conservation.
• Sources of raw materials or natural resources.

In this other ecology article, you can learn much more about what is the importance of forests and jungles.

Finally, we offer a varied Forest image gallery around the world and in different stations of the year.

If you want to read more articles similar to Types of forestswe recommend that you enter our category of ecosystems.