Rain forest

  • Title

    Rain forest

  • Definition

    A low, large tree dominated forest found from sea level to around 500 meters in Latin America. Dominant trees families are members of the Burseraceae, Chrysobalanceae, Lecythidaceae, Moraceae, Sapotaceae etc. but the composition of the forest can vary geographically, for example, the rain forests of eastern Brazil are sometimes dominated by species of Myrtaceae. The largest trees in neotropical rain forests usually do not exceed 65 meters in height. True rain forest does not have a marked tree season but currently the rain forest concept does include some forests with short dry seasons.

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