ABOUT RAINFORESTS Rainforest Basics Rainforest Experiences

What is a Rainforest?

Is there a difference between a rainforest and a jungle?

Is the Amazon a jungle or a rainforest?

Where are the rainforests of the world?

Where are the rainforests in South & Central America?

Rainforest Quick Facts

Amazon Quick Facts

WHAT IS A RAINFOREST?
From "The Neotropical Companion" by John Kricher:

A rainforest is essentially a non-seasonal forest, where rainfall is both abundant and constant.

 

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JUNGLE AND A RAINFOREST?
From "The Neotropical Companion" by John Kricher:

When a rainforest is disturbed, such as by hurricane, lightning strikes or human activity,
the disturbed area is opened, permitting the penetration of large amounts of light.

Fast growing plan species intolerant of shade are temporarily favored
and a tangle of thin-boled trees, shrubs and vines result.

Like a huge, dense pile carpet, a mass of greenery, or "jungle",
soon covers the gap created by the disturbance.

Another explanation:

A tropical rainforest has more kinds of trees and other plant life than any other area of the world. Most trees in the tropical rainforest are broad leaf trees that grow closely together. The tallest trees may grow as tall as 200 feet. The tops, called crowns, form a covering of leaves about 100-150 feet above the ground. This cover is called the upper canopy. The crowns of the smaller trees form one or two lower canopies. These canopies share the forest floor so that it receives less than one percent as much sunlight as does the upper canopy. As a result, only ferns and other plants requiring little sunlight grown on the forest floor. This makes it possible for a person to easily walk through most parts of a tropical rainforest.
However, areas of dense growth occur where much sunlight reaches the ground. These areas are called jungles and grow in swamps, near broad rivers or in former clearings.

IS THE AMAZON A JUNGLE OR A RAINFOREST?

According to www.dictionary.com whose source is Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary,
the definition of "amazon" is:

1. One of a fabulous race of female warriors in Scythia; hence, a female warrior.
2. A tall, strong masculine woman; a virago
3. A name numerous species of South American parrots of the genus Chrysotis

According to WordNet, the definition of "amazon" is:

1. A large strong and aggressive woman
2. (Greek mythology) one of a nation of women warriors of Scythia (who burned off the right breast in order to use a bow and arrow more effectively
3. A major South American river; flows into the Atlantic; the world's 2nd longest river (4000 miles)
4. Mainly green tropical American parrots

According to Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridged Second Edition:

1. In Greek Mythology, a female warrior of a race supposed to have lived in Scythia, near the Black Sea
2. a woman or girl soldier
3. a large, strong, masculine woman; a virago
4. a South American parrot of the genus Chrysotis
5. any of the South American hummingbirds
6. an Amazon ant

You will note that NONE of the definitions associate "jungle" or "rainforest" with the definition of Amazon.

However, in everyday language "amazon" most commonly refers as equally to "rainforest" and-or "jungle" as it does to the actual river and river basin itself.

So, is the Amazon a "rainforest" or a "jungle"?
Both, depending on where you are in the Amazon.

According to Grolier Inc, there are two major types of rainforests:

• tropical, characterized by broadleaf evergreen trees that form a closed canopy, below which is found a zone of vines and epiphytes (plants growing in the trees), a relatively open forest floor and a very large number of species of both plant and animal life. The largest areas of the tropical rainforest are in the Amazon basic of South America, in the Congo basin and other lowland equatorial regions of Africa, and on both the mainland and the islands off Southeast Asia where they are especially abundant in Sumatra and New Guinea. Small areas are found in Central America and along the Queensland coast of Australia.
• temperate, growing in higher-latitude regions having wet, maritime climates and less extensive than those of the tropical forests. Some of the notable forests in this category are the northwest of the USA, southern Chile, in Tasmania and in parts of southeastern Australia and New Zealand.