An
evergreen forest is a
forestA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities presently cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators,...
consisting entirely or mainly of
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
trees that retain green foliage all year round. Such forests exist in the tropics primarily as broadleaf evergreens, and in
temperateIn geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer...
and
borealBoreal may refer to*Boreal ecosystem**Boreal climate, the climate found in a region of boreal forests, and designated Dfc, Dwc or Dsc in the Köppen climate classification scheme.*Boreal Forest of Canada*Boreal owl...
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
s primarily as coniferous evergreens.
Tropical evergreen forests usually occur in areas receiving more than 200cm of rainfall and having a temperature of 15 to 30 degrees Celsius.
An
evergreen forest is a
forestA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities presently cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators,...
consisting entirely or mainly of
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
trees that retain green foliage all year round. Such forests exist in the tropics primarily as broadleaf evergreens, and in
temperateIn geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. But in continental areas, such as central North America the variations between summer...
and
borealBoreal may refer to*Boreal ecosystem**Boreal climate, the climate found in a region of boreal forests, and designated Dfc, Dwc or Dsc in the Köppen climate classification scheme.*Boreal Forest of Canada*Boreal owl...
latitudeLatitude, usually denoted by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps that run either north or south of the equator...
s primarily as coniferous evergreens.
Tropical evergreen forests usually occur in areas receiving more than 200cm of rainfall and having a temperature of 15 to 30 degrees Celsius. They occupy about seven per cent of the earth's land surface and harbour more than half of the world’s plants and animals. Found mostly near the equator, these tropical forests are dense, multi-layered and harbour many types of plants and animals. The trees are evergreen as there is no period of drought or frost. They are mostly tall hardwood trees with broad leaves that release excess water through transpiration.
In India, evergreen forests are found on the western slopes of the
Western GhatsThe Western Ghats also known as the Sahyadri Mountains, is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea...
in States such as
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
and
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act...
. They are also found in the hills of Jaintia and
KhasiThe Khasi are a tribe in Meghalaya, formerly part of Assam in north-eastern India and in parts of Bangladesh, who call themselves Ki Hynñiew trep which means "the seven huts" in the Khasi language...
. Some of the trees found in Indian Tropical Forests are
rosewoodRosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining but found in many different hues. All rosewoods are strong and heavy, taking an excellent polish, being suitable for guitars, turnery , handles, furniture, luxury flooring, etc.In general, supplies are...
,
mahoganyThe name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-coloured hardwood, it is an American Indian word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany. Mahogany it was next equally applied to the wood of Swietenia macrophylla,...
and
ebonyEbony is a general name for very dense black wood. In the strict sense it is yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but other heavy, black woods are sometimes also called ebony...
.
BambooThe bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Some are giant bamboos, the largest members of the grass family. Bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants in the world...
s and
reedsReed is a generic botanical term used to describe numerous tall, grass-like plants of wet places, which are the namesake vegetation of reed beds...
are also common.
Temperate evergreen forests are found mainly in regions like Asian-Russia, Canada and Northern Scandinavia, and Broadleaf evergreen forests are found in countries around the Mediterranean Sea like Lebanon and Morocco. Evergreen forests around the world are under threat of logging, mining, oil and gas developments, pollution, hydroelectric projects and other human developments planned in these areas.
The temperate evergreen forests are located in the mid-latitudinal coastal region. They are commonly found along the eastern margin of the continents, e.g., In the south east USA, South China and in the South East Brazil. They comprise both hard and soft wood trees like oak, pine, eucalyptus, etc
Temperate Evergreen Forest encompasses the wet temperate and subtropical conifer forests of the NorthWest in North America, as well as subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests (e.g., in China) and the Nothofagus and Eucalyptus forests of the Southern Hemisphere. Temperate evergreen forests are characterized by their hardy trees. Trees need to withstand sandy, rocky, and basically poor quality soil, occasional fires, droughts and cold weather. These forests are generally dominated by pine trees, but also support
firFirs are a genus of between 48-55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. All are trees, reaching heights of 10-80 m tall and trunk diameters of 0.5-4 m when mature...
,
hemlockThe word hemlock may refer to:*Hemlock, several poisonous plants in the Apiaceae family :**Hemlock , two species, one formerly used as a method of execution**Water Hemlock...
,
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, and giant sequoia.