TROPICAL RAINFORESTS: Types of Forest
Changing Times, Changing Forests
In 1997, the widespread fires in tropical rainforests around the globe illustrated that drought can affect rainforests, especially those that have been degraded by logging and agricultural conversion. Such practices alter the forest canopy coverage, subjecting the usually humid rainforest microclimate to penetrating sunlight that dries out the forest interior. Grassy and bushy growth in recent forest clearings adds to the fire threat. The combination of this forest degradation and the unusually strong el Nino of 1997-98 made 1997 the year of the forest fire in the tropics. Studies by the Woods Hole Research Center indicate that as much as 50% of the Amazon rainforest is dangerously flammable and could go up in smoke should agricultural fires spread.Continued: Structure of the tropical rainforest