| jumanku | Date: Sunday, 11/09/2011, 1:42 PM | Message # 1 |
|
Sergeant
Group: Administrators
Messages: 38
Awards: 1
Reputation: 0
Status: Offline
| 
There is a difference between rainforest and jungle, though this doesn’t have much to do with rainfall. Jungle areas typically surround rain forest areas, and have a key difference that has little to do with climate. The biggest distinction is that rain forests have an incredibly thick canopy of very tall trees. This means there are far fewer plants at ground level. Trees block out much of the light that would be required by most plants to thrive, so you will usually only find shade loving ground plants in rain forest areas.
In contrast, a jungle allows some light in, and jungles are often located surrounding rainforests, near water sources like rivers. Parts of the Amazon rainforest are really jungles, because the tree canopy doesn’t fully block the light. This can make the ground much more difficult to navigate, since you will have a great deal more ground dwelling plants and shrubs, that because of the light, will grow very tall and block paths. If you think of movies where characters are shown cutting their way through paths with machetes, they are typically in jungles and not rainforests.
Sometimes jungles are man made. When rainforests are partially cleared, more light allows ground plants to grow. If there are still remaining trees and a variety of plants on the ground, you may be in a jungle that was once a rain forest.
As for lions being kings of the jungle or the rainforest, this is really inaccurate. Most African lions are kings of the savanna: large, open, grassy plains and spend little time in tree dense areas. Some nominate the jaguar as king of the Amazonian rainforest, since it is one of the top-level predators that exist there.
|
| |
| |
