What are forest animals?

We explain what are the animals of the forest, what biomes they inhabit and in what types of forests they are found.

1. Forest animals

Forest animals are those that have made their habitat of forest biomes . That is, of the more or less dense accumulations of trees and bushes, along the different latitudes of our planet .

Since there is no single ecosystem that we can call “ forest, ” but in that term both humid rainforests and arctic coniferous forests meet, forest animals include a huge variety of species .

Forests are really important for life as we know it . On the one hand they house a more or less diverse amount of animal species integrating a food or trophic circuit, both in their branches, their roots, their trunks or around their flowers and fruits.

On the other hand, they produce a significant amount of atmospheric oxygen, also fixing the carbon of CO ₂ and preserving the stability of the climate on the planet.

2. List of forest animals

Next we will list just a few species of each type of forest of those detailed above:

Tropical and subtropical humid forests of hardwoods or Pluvisilva :

• Frogs, toads and other similar amphibious batrace .
• Thousands of species of butterflies and moths, diurnal and nocturnal.
• Large spiders, such as tarantulas.
• Constrictor snakes, such as boas, anaconda or python.
• Tree apes such as spider monkey, gorillas or orangutans.
• All kinds of insects like beetles, praying mantises and mosquitoes.
• Exotic birds like the Toucan and the Macaw, or predators like the hawks.
• Jungle mammals such as tapir, danta or wild boar.

Dry tropical and subtropical hardwood forests or Dry forests :

• Felid carnivores like the puma or the jaguar.
• Birds like parrots, woodpeckers, predators like owls.
• Abundant mammals such as deer, capybaras, mice, opossums.
• Dry weather snakes like rattlesnake or cobra.
• Smaller monkeys like chimpanzees.
• Insects of all kinds and arachnid predators such as scorpions and centipedes.

Subtropical coniferous forests or Pine forests :

• Birds of prey such as eagles, hawks and owls.
• Yaks, takins and other beasts of burden.
• Felids larger like tigers.
• Apes of small size such as lagures and mammals such as sloths.
• Spiders and different types of insects in the strata more ground level.

Temperate hardwood and mixed forests :

• Deer, wild boar, shrews, squirrels.
• Eagles and other game birds.
• Small snakes, such as coral.
• Canid boys like the lynx.

Temperate coniferous forests :

• Elk, deer and other mammals with antlers.
• Foxes, American lynxes and several bears.
• Peregrine falcons, carpenters, owls, grouse.
• Very few species of reptiles and cold-blooded animals.

Boreal forests or Taigas :

• Bears, large, such as the grizzli or the Russian bear.
• Wolves, foxes and other similar canids.
• Birds of prey like owls and eagles.
• Mountain fish like salmon.
• Marmots, squirrels and other rodents like mice.

Mediterranean or Durisilva forests :

• Little birds, like doves, doves, ducks.
• Wading birds like storks and herons.
• Predatory birds like the Iberian eagle.
• Wild goats, deer and wild boar.
• Predators such as brown bears, wildcats, Iberian lynx.
• Reptiles and amphibians like the galipato, the toad runner, and the salamander.

Mangroves :

• Fish of various kinds and small size, shallow water.
• Crabs and bivalves such as oysters and mussels.
• Ospreys, such as pelicans and meatballs.
• Alligators and crocodiles.
• Migratory species of birds, which are heading south to reproduce.

3. Forest types

There are numerous ways to classify forests, but according to the one that is most important for the study of forest animals, it is convenient to attend to the one proposed by the WWF ( World Wildlife Fund ), classifies forests into biomes :

• Tropical and subtropical humid forests of hardwoods or Pluvisilva . Located in the tropics, they have dense, high and permanent tree formations, in climates tropical and temperate, with high humidity and precipitation.
• Dry tropical and subtropical hardwood forests or Dry forests . Located in tropical and subtropical latitudes, where short and seasonal rainy climates alternate with prolonged dry climates, they have semi-dense or dense vegetation.
• Subtropical coniferous forests or Pine forests . Frequent in high and low areas of semi-humid subtropical climate, with long dry seasons and low rainfall, they have a predominance of mixed coniferous and leafy forests.
• Temperate forests of leafy and mixed . Typical of temperate climate with a lot of diversity in terms of temperature and rainfall, they present a majority of angiosperms (flowering plants), generally mixing deciduous species and laurifolias.
• Temperate coniferous forests . Evergreen vegetation and generally at altitude sites (such as subalpine forests), are prevalent in temperate climates, with hot summers and cold winters, and enough rain for conifers to predominate.
• Boreal forests or Taigas . These are mostly coniferous forest formations, although with the occasional presence of mixed forests, located in the areas close to the polar circle, thus dealing with cold climates of mild summer and harsh winter, so the loss of humidity is very high and the species must be adapted .
• Mediterranean or Durisilva forests . Typical as the name implies from the Mediterranean climate, these plant formations abound in trees and bushes, nourished by abundant spring rainfall, in a climate of dry summers, warm autumns and mild winters. They are always located on the western facade of the continents .
• Mangroves . Vegetable agglutinations of species very resistant to salt and water, abundant in the intertidal zone or river mouth in the tropical or subtropical region of the planet. They have a great biotic and amphibious diversity.