Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (9) – Sick; swallow a tree!

The active fight of plants against natural attacks, such as predation by insects and other animals, fungi that want to invade and fauna that use parts of the plants, has resulted in a variety of defence mechanisms. Some of these are highly beneficial to human kind.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (8) – Trees under the magnifying glass

If you want a forest, you need trees. Trees are special organisms that are more complex than we often think. The ease with which trees are cut down would be a lot less if we realized how much a tree has had to go through to become as big and wide as we see it.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (7) – Local forests under the magnifying glass

Biologically, a distinction is made between different types of vegetation on our islands, and therefore different types of forests. The distinction is closely related to the geological composition of the soil on our small islands.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (6) – Microclimates on a tree

One tree can have a variety of microclimates suitable to a wide array of species of animals, other plants, fungi, lichen and more.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (5) – Undergrowth and Canopy

Forests have layers, called the undergrowth, middle layer and canopy. Even with the semi-arid environment of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao the mondi also has layers, only not as impressive and pronounced.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (4) – ‘Sexy’ forest: the Amazon

There is no tropical rainforest in the world as famous as the Amazon rainforest, an area of approximately 7 million square kilometres where more than half of all the rainforest in the world is located. This tropical jungle is spread over nine different countries.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (3) – Forests and climate

Forests worldwide have more than just the function of a habitat (place to live) for plants and animals. The large numbers of trees and other plants in forests together provide a large part of the oxygen that humans and other animals so desperately need to survive.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (2) – Wet forests

The most striking ‘wet’ forests in the world, but still somewhat the ‘underdogs’ of the forests as a whole, are the mangrove forests, the only forests that can grow and flourish in and near salt water.
Mangrove forests were the neglected child, forgotten by many despite major information campaigns by nature organisations over the years.

Forests on the semi-arid ABC islands (1) – The forest called ‘Mondi’

The ABC-islands also have forests, although they are somewhat different from the forests we have in mind when we think of the large areas of forests in, for example, Germany, the United States and the Amazon region in South America.

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