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Physiological Ecology of Tropical Plants pp 51–101Cite as

Tropical Forests. I. Physiognomy and Functional Structure

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Abstract

In the tropics seasonality is determined by rainfall. Seasonality of rainfall is absent over only a very narrow zone 1◦ north and south of the equator (Fig. 3.1). Seasonality of rainfall is the most important factor determining the definition of different types of tropical forest. Hence, a detailed separation of types of tropical forests is obtained when they are related to Klimadiagramm graphs (after Walter 1973, see Sect. 2.2.1, Box 2.1), which depict the duration and severity of dry and wet seasons. Humid and arid climates, respectively, are defined by the difference between rainfall and evaporation. Positive values indicate a humid climate, where precipitation is larger than evaporation, and negative values mark arid climates with evaporation larger than precipitation.

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(2008). Tropical Forests. I. Physiognomy and Functional Structure. In: Physiological Ecology of Tropical Plants. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71793-5_3

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