You most likely have heard about tropical rain forests. But in the countries to the south of the United States, other kinds of forested areas exist which you may have heard a great deal about, but have never seen. There are many factors which influence the forest type. Forest type vary by rainfall, temperature, type of soil, animal life, the number of dry months, altitude, and slope . For example, short scrub forests grow in tropical regions with little rainfall.
Mangroves grow along shorelines where fresh river water and sea water mix together.
The map below shows how forests ecosystems change as Latidude and Altitute increase Defining the boundaries between types of tropical forests can be difficult. For example, with an increase in altitude, a tropical rainforest may gradually blend with cloud forest. As a forest nears the shore, it may slowly become dominated by mangrove forest. Overall, tropical forests cover about 1,700 million hectares, an area about the size of South America. All of the forests mentioned are threatened by logging, intensive resource use, and urban development.