Forest

Ancient woodland at Brading, Isle of Wight, England showing bluebells (*Hyacinthoides non-scripta*), ramsons (white flowers, *Allium ursinum*) and hazel trees (*Corylus avellana*)

A forest is a piece of land with many trees. Forests are important and grow in many places around the world. They are an ecosystem which includes many plants and animals. Many animals live in forests and need them to survive.

Temperature and rainfall are the two most important things for forests. Many places are too cold or too dry for them. Forests exist from the equator to near the polar regions, but different climates have different kinds of forests. In cold climates conifers dominate, but in temperate zone and tropical climates forests are mainly made up of flowering plants. Different rainfall also makes different kinds of forest.

There are no forests in deserts, just a few trees in places where their roots can get at some underground water. There's quite a lot of water beneath the Sahara desert, and also beneath the Australian desert areas. The general term for this is "groundwater".