Types of Forests: Complete Guide to the World's Forest Ecosystems

There are three main types of forests in the world, grouped by climate: tropical, temperate and boreal. Forests can also be grouped by the leaves of their trees into evergreen, deciduous and coniferous forests. Mangrove and montane forests are special types shaped by salty coasts and high mountains.

This guide is the main page on world forests on this site. It explains each forest type briefly, compares them in one table and links to a detailed article on every type. For India’s own forest groups, see our separate guide to the forest types of India.

What is a forest?

A forest is a large area where trees grow so close together that their leaves shade the ground. National Geographic Education describes forests in exactly this way. Forests can grow almost anywhere trees can survive, from land below sea level to high mountain slopes.

A forest is more than its trees. It is an ecosystem: a community of living things that interact with each other and with soil, water, air and sunlight. Shrubs, herbs, climbers, mosses, fungi, insects, birds and mammals all form part of it.

Forests are one kind of natural vegetation, the plant cover that grows without human help. National Geographic sorts the Earth’s land into five vegetation regions: forest, grassland, tundra, desert and ice sheet. Our guide to natural vegetation explains how forests fit beside the other regions.

How are forests classified?

Geographers and ecologists use two simple ways to classify forests. Students should learn both, because exam questions mix them.

1. By climate zone (latitude). This method asks how hot or cold, and how wet or dry, a place is. It gives three big groups: tropical, temperate and boreal forests.
2. By leaf type. This method looks at the trees themselves. It gives evergreen, deciduous and coniferous forests. Forests with both broad-leaved and needle-leaved trees are called mixed forests.

The two methods overlap. A tropical rainforest is tropical by climate and evergreen by leaf type. A taiga is boreal by climate and mostly coniferous by leaf type. So one forest can carry two labels at once.

Climate is the strongest control on which forest grows where. NCERT’s Class 11 chapter on natural vegetation points out that India’s plant cover changes from one region to another with climate and soil. The same rule works for the whole planet. Each forest type is part of a biome, a large natural region where similar plants and animals share a similar climate.

What are the main types of forests by climate zone?

The three climate-based types run roughly in bands from the Equator towards the poles. Moving north from the Equator, forests get colder, drier in winter and simpler in structure.

FAO, the United Nations food and agriculture agency, uses four climatic domains when it counts the world’s forests. Besides tropical, temperate and boreal, it adds a subtropical domain between the tropical and temperate belts. For school answers, the three-zone model is enough.

Types of forests at a glance: master comparison table

This table brings together every forest type covered in this guide. Use it for quick revision before an exam.

What are tropical forests?

Tropical forests grow in the warm belt on either side of the Equator. National Geographic lists Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Central America among their main regions. It reports temperatures of about 20 to 31 °C in tropical forests, so there is no cold winter.

The tropics do not all receive the same rain. Where yearly rain is very heavy, more than 203 cm according to National Geographic, tall evergreen rainforests grow. Where a long dry season follows the wet monsoon, the trees drop their leaves to save water, and tropical deciduous forests grow instead.

Tropical rainforest

The tropical rainforest is the richest forest type on land. National Geographic describes it as tall evergreen trees, usually close to the Equator, receiving more than 203 cm (80 inches) of rain a year. Tropical rainforests contain more than half of the world’s biodiversity.

India has its own rainforests too. NCERT’s Class 11 chapter lists three homes for its tropical evergreen forests. They are the western slope of the Western Ghats, the north-eastern hills and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These areas are warm and humid, with over 200 cm of rain a year and a mean annual temperature above 22 °C. The forests are well layered, and some trees grow to 60 m or taller. Rosewood, mahogany and ebony are typical species. Read the full guide to the tropical rainforest for its climate, layers and wildlife.

Animals of the tropical evergreen forest

Every layer of a rainforest, from the treetops to the dark floor, gives shelter to some animal. National Geographic names the endangered harpy eagle of Central and South America and the bonobo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as two examples. In India, Kerala’s Silent Valley National Park protects a rainforest tract in the Western Ghats. A PIB feature on the park lists the lion-tailed macaque, the Malabar giant squirrel and the great Indian hornbill among its wildlife. See our picture guide to animals of the tropical evergreen forest for many more examples.

Tropical deciduous forest

Tropical deciduous forests are also called monsoon forests. Their trees shed their leaves in the dry season, not in a cold winter. They are split into moist deciduous forests, which get more rain, and dry deciduous forests, which get less. Our article on the tropical deciduous forest covers both kinds and their main trees.

Deciduous forest animals

Animals in deciduous forests must cope with a season when leaves fall and food becomes scarce. Some move to wetter areas, some store food, and others rest through the hardest months. Deer, wild pigs, monkeys, big cats and many birds are common in tropical deciduous forests. Our list of deciduous forest animals explains their adaptations one by one.

Evergreen vs deciduous tropical forests

Students often confuse the two kinds of tropical forest. The key difference is rainfall: a very high yearly total keeps forests evergreen, while a long dry season makes deciduous trees shed their leaves. Evergreen forests are also denser and taller, with more layers. Our side-by-side table shows the difference between tropical evergreen and deciduous forests point by point.

What are temperate forests?

Temperate forests grow in the middle latitudes, between the hot tropics and the cold boreal north. National Geographic notes that they cover large parts of eastern North America and Eurasia. Their key feature is four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Rain and snow are plentiful, so temperate forest soils are often fertile. Common trees include maple, oak and birch, and common animals include deer, squirrels and bears. Temperate forests come in three main kinds, described below.

Temperate deciduous forest

The temperate deciduous forest is made of broad-leaved trees that drop their leaves before winter. In autumn, the leaves of oak and maple turn orange, yellow and red, a sight that draws tourists to the north-eastern United States. Learn its climate, plants, animals and food chain in our article on the temperate deciduous forest.

Temperate coniferous forest

The temperate coniferous forest is dominated by cone-bearing trees such as fir, pine, cedar and redwood. It grows mainly in cool, wet coastal areas and on mountains. According to National Geographic, coniferous forests hold the world’s tallest tree (coast redwood), largest tree (giant sequoia) and oldest tree (bristlecone pine). Read more on the temperate coniferous forest.

Temperate rainforest

A temperate rainforest is a cool forest that receives very heavy rain. Most grow along mountainous coasts in the middle latitudes, where moist sea winds rise over the hills and drop their rain. Decay is slow in the cool, damp air, so these forests build up huge amounts of plant material. Our guide to the temperate rainforest shows where it is and what lives there.

What is a boreal forest or taiga?

The boreal forest, also called taiga, is the forest of the cold subarctic region. It lies between the treeless tundra to the north and the temperate forests to the south. National Geographic counts it among the largest land biomes on Earth. It stretches across Siberia, Scandinavia, Alaska and Canada.

Average temperatures in boreal forests stay below freezing. In many places the ground holds permafrost, a layer of soil that stays frozen all year. Summers are short and cool, so trees grow slowly.

Spruce, fir and pine are the main trees, all of them needle-leaved conifers. Moose and deer are among the large plant-eating mammals. Most taiga birds fly away to warmer places to escape the harsh winters. Read the full article on the taiga (boreal forest) for its climate, trees and animals.

What are the types of forests by leaf type?

The second way to classify forests looks at leaves. This method cuts across climate zones, so the same leaf type can appear in hot and cold places.

Evergreen forests

Evergreen forests have trees that stay green all year. The trees do lose leaves, but only a few at a time, so the canopy is never bare. Tropical rainforests are broad-leaved evergreen forests, while the fir forests of the Pacific Northwest are needle-leaved evergreen forests. Our article on the evergreen forest explains its meaning, features, trees and examples.

Deciduous forests

Deciduous forests have trees that shed all their leaves in one season. In temperate lands, they drop leaves before the cold winter. In the tropics, they drop them in the dry season. Shedding leaves cuts water loss when water is hard to get, either because it is frozen or because rain has stopped.

Coniferous forests

Coniferous forests are made of conifers: trees that carry their seeds in woody cones and usually have needle-shaped leaves. Pine, spruce, fir, cedar and larch are common examples. Most conifers keep their needles all year, so most coniferous forests are also evergreen. The larch is the odd one out, because it drops its needles each autumn.

Deciduous vs coniferous forests

Deciduous and coniferous forests differ in leaf shape, seeds, soils and the climates they prefer. Broad, flat leaves are typical of deciduous trees, while needles and cones belong to conifers. Our comparison of deciduous vs coniferous forests sets out the key differences in a table.

Mixed forests

A mixed forest contains both broad-leaved and coniferous trees. It often forms where temperate deciduous forest meets taiga. A clear example is the Laurentian Mixed Forest of the Great Lakes region and New England in North America. The US Forest Service describes it as a transition zone between the boreal forest and the broadleaf deciduous forest. Its mixed stands combine pines, such as northern white pine, and eastern hemlock with yellow birch, sugar maple and American beech.

What are mangrove and montane forests?

Some forests are shaped less by latitude and more by their setting: the sea coast or the mountain slope.

Mangrove forest

A mangrove forest is a coastal belt of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs rooted in salty or brackish water. Such forests line warm shores in the tropics and subtropics. Brackish water is a mix of fresh and sea water, found in estuaries and deltas. Mangroves protect coasts from storms and waves and act as nurseries for many fish. Read the full article on the mangrove forest for its features and importance.

Montane forest

Montane forests grow on mountain slopes, where the air gets cooler with height. As a result, forests change in bands from the foot of a mountain to the tree line, rather like a journey from the tropics towards the poles. On some tropical mountains, cool cloud forests stay wrapped in low cloud most of the year. Our article on montane forests explains these vegetation zones.

Where are the world’s forests found?

Forests cover a large share of the planet. According to FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 (FRA 2025), the world has 4.14 billion hectares of forest. That is 32 percent of the Earth’s land area, close to one-third.

The same report shows how forest area is split between climatic domains. The tropical domain holds 45 percent of the world’s forests, the boreal domain 28 percent, the temperate domain 17 percent and the subtropical domain 11 percent (FRA 2025).

Forests are not spread evenly between countries. As of 2025, more than half (54 percent) of all forest area lies in just five countries: Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States and China. Russia’s huge share comes mostly from the taiga, while Brazil’s comes mostly from the Amazon rainforest.

India’s own forests are a mix of tropical, subtropical, temperate and alpine types. Its rainforests are small by world standards. They survive on the rainy western slope of the Western Ghats, in the north-eastern hills and on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to NCERT.

What is the role and importance of forests?

Forests matter to the whole planet, not just to the people who live near them. Their main roles are listed below.

• Climate control. Growing trees lock carbon away in their trunks, roots and the ground beneath them. Boreal forests take in large amounts of carbon dioxide, and rainforests help to steady the global climate.
• Rain and water. Trees release water vapour that helps clouds to form. Tropical rainforests make a large part of their own rain this way.
• Biodiversity. Tropical rainforests contain more than half of the world’s biodiversity. This figure comes from National Geographic’s entry on vegetation regions.
• Soil protection. Roots hold soil in place and reduce erosion and flooding.
• Resources for people. Forests provide timber, fuelwood, fruit, honey, medicines and fodder, and support millions of livelihoods.

Our article on the importance of forests explores each of these roles in more depth.

What threatens the different types of forests?

Each type of forest faces its own pressures, but the biggest threat everywhere is deforestation, the permanent clearing of forest for other land uses. According to FRA 2025, about 489 million hectares of forest were lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2025. The yearly rate slowed to 10.9 million hectares in 2015-2025.

Tropical forests suffer most. As of 2025, FAO found that 88 percent of all deforestation since 1990 happened in the tropical domain. Clearing for farms, ranches and plantations is the main cause there.

The taiga faces different dangers. Logging for timber and paper often uses clearcutting, which removes every tree in an area and leaves the soil open to erosion. A warming climate thaws permafrost and helps tree-killing insects spread northwards.

Read more on what deforestation is and on the methods of forest conservation that help forests recover.

What are the forest types of India?

India has its own detailed system for naming forests, with many separate forest groups. School textbooks simplify these into a handful of broad types that are easier to remember. They are covered in full on a separate page, so this guide does not repeat them.

Those Indian forest types fit neatly into the world types in this guide. For example, India’s tropical evergreen forests belong to the tropical rainforest family. Its Himalayan conifer forests are a kind of montane forest. For the full Indian classification and maps, read our guide to the forest types of India.

Sources

• FAO — Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025, Chapter 2: Forest extent and change
• National Geographic Education — Forest Biome
• National Geographic Education — Vegetation Region
• NCERT Class 11 — India: Physical Environment, Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation
• US Forest Service — Laurentian Mixed Forest Province (212)
• PIB — The Silent Valley National Park