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Rainforest
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== Definition == Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, high humidity, the presence of moisture-dependent vegetation, a moist layer of leaf litter, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. The largest areas of rainforest are tropical or temperate rainforests, but other vegetation associations including [[Laurel forest|subtropical rainforest]], [[Littoral Rainforests of New South Wales|littoral rainforest]], [[cloud forest]], vine thicket and even dry rainforest have been described.<ref name="WTMA">{{cite web |title=Rainforests |url=https://www.wettropics.gov.au/rainforest |publisher=Wet Tropics Management Authority |access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="Qld.">{{cite web |title=Rainforests |url=https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/habitats/rainforests |publisher=The State of Queensland |access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="OEH">{{cite web |title=Rainforests |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/VegFormation.aspx?formationName=Rainforests |publisher=New South Wales Government Office of Environment and heritage |access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="dpipwe">{{cite web |title=Dry Rainforest |url=https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/conservation/conservation-on-private-land/bush-information-management/identify-your-bush-type/bush-with-a-tree-layer-made-up-of-trees-that-are-not-eucalypts/dry-rainforest |publisher=Tasmanian Government Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment |access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="NSW">{{cite web |title=Western Sydney Dry Rainforest |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/EECinfoWesternSydneyDryRainforest.pdf |publisher=New South Wales Government Department of Planning, Industry and Environment |access-date=9 July 2021}}</ref> === Tropical rainforest === [[File:Koppen-Geiger Map Af present.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Worldwide tropical rainforest climate zones.]] {{Main|Tropical rainforest}} Tropical rainforests are characterized by a warm and wet climate with no substantial dry season: typically found within 10 degrees north and south of the [[equator]]. Mean monthly temperatures exceed {{convert|18|C|F}} during all months of the year.<ref>Susan Woodward. [http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/rainforest/rainfrst.html Tropical broadleaf Evergreen Forest: The rainforest.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225054655/http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/rainforest/rainfrst.html |date=25 February 2008 }} Retrieved on 14 March 2008.</ref> Average annual [[rain]]fall is no less than {{convert|168|cm|in|abbr=on}} and can exceed {{convert|1000|cm|in|abbr=on}} although it typically lies between {{convert|175|cm|in|abbr=on}} and {{convert|200|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Newman, Arnold 2002">Newman, Arnold. The Tropical Rainforest : A World Survey of Our Most Valuable Endangered Habitat : With a Blueprint for Its Survival. New York: Checkmark, 2002. Print.</ref> Many of the world's [[tropical forests]] are associated with the location of the [[monsoon trough]], also known as the [[Intertropical Convergence Zone]].<ref>Hobgood (2008). [http://geog-www.sbs.ohio-state.edu/courses/G230/hobgood/ASP230Lecture24.ppt Global Pattern of Surface Pressure and Wind.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318021749/http://geog-www.sbs.ohio-state.edu/courses/G230/hobgood/ASP230Lecture24.ppt |date=18 March 2009 }} [[Ohio State University]]. Retrieved on 8 March 2009.</ref> The broader category of [[tropical moist forests]] are located in the [[Equator|equatorial zone]] between the [[Tropic of Cancer]] and [[Tropic of Capricorn]]. Tropical rainforests exist in [[Southeast Asia]] (from [[Burma|Myanmar (Burma)]]) to the [[Philippines]], [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]], [[Papua New Guinea]] and [[Sri Lanka]]; also in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] from the [[Cameroon]] to the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]] ([[Congolian forests|Congo Rainforest]]), [[South America]] (e.g. the [[Amazon rainforest]]), [[Central America]] (e.g. [[Bosawás Biosphere Reserve|Bosawás]], the southern [[Yucatán Peninsula]]-[[Petén Department|El Peten]]-[[Belize]]-[[Calakmul Biosphere Reserve|Calakmul]]), [[Australia]], and on [[Pacific Islands]] (such as [[Hawaiian tropical rainforests|Hawai{{okina}}i]]). Tropical forests have been called the "Earth's [[lung]]s", although it is now known that rainforests contribute little net [[oxygen]] addition to the [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]] through [[photosynthesis]].<ref>Broecker, Wallace S. (2006). "Breathing easy: Et tu, O<sub>2</sub>." Columbia University [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/21stC/issue-2.1/broecker.htm Columbia.edu]</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1007/BF00890069|title = Deforestation and land use in the Brazilian Amazon| journal=Human Ecology| volume=21| pages=1–21|year = 1993|last1 = Moran|first1 = Emilio F.| issue=1 | bibcode=1993HumEc..21....1M |s2cid = 153481315}}</ref> === Temperate rainforest === [[File:Temperate rainforest map.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|General distribution of [[temperate rainforest]]s]] [[File:Rain Forest Walk - Pacific Rim National Park - Vancouver Island BC - Canada - 01.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Temperate rainforest in [[Pacific Rim National Park Reserve]] in Canada]] {{Main|Temperate rainforest}} Tropical forests cover a large part of the globe, but temperate rainforests only occur in a few regions around the world.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Link |first1=Timothy E. |last2=Unsworth |first2=Mike |last3=Marks |first3=Danny |title=The dynamics of rainfall interception by a seasonal temperate rainforest |journal=Agricultural and Forest Meteorology |date=August 2004 |volume=124 |issue=3–4 |pages=171–191 |doi=10.1016/j.agrformet.2004.01.010 |bibcode=2004AgFM..124..171L }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cunningham |first1=S. C. |last2=Read |first2=J. |title=Do temperate rainforest trees have a greater ability to acclimate to changing temperatures than tropical rainforest trees? |journal=New Phytologist |date=January 2003 |volume=157 |issue=1 |pages=55–64 |doi=10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00652.x |pmid=33873691 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2003NewPh.157...55C |hdl=10536/DRO/DU:30080507 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Temperate rainforests are rainforests in [[temperateness|temperate]] regions. They occur in [[North America]] (in the [[Pacific Northwest]] in [[Alaska]], [[British Columbia]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[Oregon]] and [[California]]), in [[Europe]] (parts of the [[British Isles]] such as the coastal areas of [[Ireland]] and [[Scotland]], [[southern Norway]], parts of the western [[Balkans]] along the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]] coast, as well as in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and coastal areas of the eastern [[Black Sea]], including [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and coastal [[Turkey]]), in [[East Asia]] (in [[Northern and southern China|southern China]], Highlands of [[Taiwan]], much of [[Japan]] and [[Korea]], and on [[Sakhalin|Sakhalin Island]] and the adjacent [[Temperate rainforests of the Russian Far East|Russian Far East]] coast), in [[South America]] (southern [[Chile]]) and also in [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/temprain.htm|title= The Temperate Rainforest}}</ref> === Dry rainforest === Dry rainforests have a more open canopy layer than other rainforests,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Coleby-Williams |first1=Jerry |title=Kumbartcho Dry Rainforest |url=https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/kumbartcho-dry-rainforest/12828434 |website=Gardening Australia |publisher=ABC |access-date=6 May 2022| date=2020}}</ref> and are found in areas of lower rainfall ({{cvt|630–1100|mm|in|0}}). They generally have two layers of trees.<ref>{{cite web | date=2004 |title=Identification of Rainforest: Field Guide |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/pnf/OGRFreviewFieldGuide.pdf |website=Department of Environment and Conservation |publisher=NSW Government |access-date=6 May 2022}}</ref><!-- cites 1.5 previous sentences -->
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