Encyclopedia of Science | Forests

• Types of forests
• Words to Know
• Forests as habitats
• Old-growth Forests
• Forests as a natural resource
• Deforestation

A forest is an ecosystem or ecological community whose most important organisms are trees. Forests occur any place where the climate provides a sufficiently long growing season, adequate air and soil temperature, and suitable amount of moisture. Forests can be classified into broad types on the basis of their geographic position and dominant types of trees. Regional and local variations of all of these types can be found as well.

Types of forests

The designation of forest types varies from country to country throughout the world. One of...