Evergreen forest

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An evergreen forest is a forest consisting entirely or mainly of evergreens, trees that retain green foliage all year round. Such forests exist in the tropics primarily as broadleaf evergreens, and in temperate and boreal latitudes 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. They are found mostly near the equator.

These forests are dense and multi-layered and harbour many types of plants and animals. The trees are evergreen as there is no period of drought. They are mostly tall hardwood trees with broad leaves that release excess water through transpiration.

In India, evergreen forests are found in the western slopes of the Western Ghats in States such as Kerala and Karnataka. They are also found in the hills of Jaintia and Khasi. Some of the trees found in Indian Tropical Forests are rosewood, mahogany and ebony. Bamboos and reeds are also common.

Temperate evergreen forests are found mainly in regions like Asian-Russia, Canada and Northern Scandinavia, and Broadleaf evergren forests are found in countries around the Meditteranean 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 fir, hemlock, oak, and giant sequoia. See also:

• Deciduous forest