Tropical forest

Tropical forests are forested landscapes in tropical regions: i.e. land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.

Some tropical forest types are difficult to categorize. While forests in temperate areas are readily categorized on the basis of tree canopy density, such schemes do not work well in tropical forests.^[1] There is no single scheme that defines what a forest is, in tropical regions or elsewhere.^[1]^[2] Because of these difficulties, information on the extent of tropical forests varies between sources. However, tropical forests are extensive, making up just under half the world's forests.^[3] The tropical domain has the largest proportion of the world's forests (45 percent), followed by the boreal, temperate and subtropical domains.^[4]

More than 3.6 million hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018.^[5]

^ ^a ^b Putz, Francis E.; Redford, Kent H. (September 14, 2009). "The Importance of Defining 'Forest': Tropical Forest Degradation, Deforestation, Long-term Phase Shifts, and Further Transitions". Biotropica. 42 (1). Wiley: 10–20. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00567.x. ISSN 0006-3606. S2CID 83577100.
^ Anatoly Shvidenko, Charles Victor Barber, Reidar Persson et al. 2005 "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment." Ecosystems and human wellbeing: a framework for assessment Washington, DC: Island Press
^ D'Annunzio, Rémi, Lindquist, Erik J., MacDicken, Kenneth G. 2017 "Global forest land-use change from 1990 to 2010:an update to a global remote sensing survey of forests Forest Resource Assessment Working Paper 187" FAO, Rome.
^ Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 – Key findings. FAO. 2020. doi:10.4060/ca8753en. ISBN 978-92-5-132581-0. S2CID 130116768.
^ Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life. Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report 6 May 2019 Guardian [1]

[Putz_etal-1] Putz, Francis E.; Redford, Kent H. (September 14, 2009). "The Importance of Defining 'Forest': Tropical Forest Degradation, Deforestation, Long-term Phase Shifts, and Further Transitions". Biotropica. 42 (1). Wiley: 10–20. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00567.x. ISSN 0006-3606. S2CID 83577100.

[Shvidenko_etal-2] Anatoly Shvidenko, Charles Victor Barber, Reidar Persson et al. 2005 "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment." Ecosystems and human wellbeing: a framework for assessment Washington, DC: Island Press

[3] D'Annunzio, Rémi, Lindquist, Erik J., MacDicken, Kenneth G. 2017 "Global forest land-use change from 1990 to 2010:an update to a global remote sensing survey of forests Forest Resource Assessment Working Paper 187" FAO, Rome.

[4] Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 – Key findings. FAO. 2020. doi:10.4060/ca8753en. ISBN 978-92-5-132581-0. S2CID 130116768.

[5] Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life. Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report 6 May 2019 Guardian [1]

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