Seasonal tropical forest, also known as moist deciduous, semi-evergreen seasonal, tropical mixed or monsoon forest, typically contains a range of tree species: only some of which drop some or all of their leaves during the dry season. This tropical forest is classified under the Walter system as (i) tropical climate with high overall rainfall (typically in the 1000–2500 mm range; 39–98 inches) and (ii) having a very distinct wet season with (an often cooler “winter”) dry season. These forests represent a range of habitats influenced by monsoon (Am) or tropical wet savannah (Aw) climates (as in the Köppen climate classification). Drier forests in the Aw climate zone are typically deciduous and placed in the Tropical dry forest biome: with further transitional zones (ecotones) of savannah woodland then tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands.
Global 200#Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Seasonal (mixed) tropical forests can be found in many parts of the tropical zone, with examples found in:
In the Asia-Pacific region: seasonal forests predominate across large areas of the Eastern Java, Wallacea, Indian subcontinent and Indochina
Eastern Java monsoon forests
Wallacea Forest
Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests
Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia
Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam
Khao Yai National Park and Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand
Northern Australia: Cape York Peninsula (Queensland), Arnhem Land (Northern Territory), The Kimberly (Western Australia)
In the Americas
Atlantic forests of Brazil
Central and eastern Panama: with Barro Colorado Island especially well studied
In Africa
Coastal West Africa: Guinean seasonal forest: from south-western Gambia to eastern Ghana
The climate of seasonal forests is typically controlled by a system called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), located near the equator and created by the convergence of the trade winds from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
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Tropical vegetation is any vegetation in tropical latitudes. Plant life that occurs in climates that are warm year-round is in general more biologically diverse that in other latitudes. Some tropical areas may receive abundant rain the whole year round, but others have long dry seasons which last several months and may vary in length and intensity with geographic location. These seasonal droughts have great impact on the vegetation, such as in the Madagascar spiny forests. Rainforest vegetation is categorized by five layers.
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jaṅgala ( जङ्गल), meaning rough and arid. It came into the English language via Hindi in the 18th century. Jāṅgala has also been variously transcribed in English as jangal, jangla, jungal, and juṅgala.
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: i.e. land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical forest types are difficult to categorize. While forests in temperate areas are readily categorized on the basis of tree canopy density, such schemes do not work well in tropical forests. There is no single scheme that defines what a forest is, in tropical regions or elsewhere.
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