
A forest is an area with a high density of
trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria.
[1] These plant communities cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface (or 30% of total land area) and function as
habitats for organisms,
hydrologic flow modulators, and
soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the
Earth's
biosphere. Historically, "forest" meant an uncultivated area
legally set aside for
hunting by
feudal nobility, and these hunting forests were not necessarily wooded much if at all (see
Royal Forest). However, as hunting forests did often include considerable areas of woodland, the word forest eventually came to mean wooded land more generally. A
woodland is ecologically distinct from a forest.
The latitudes 10° north and south of the
Equator are mostly covered in
tropical rainforest and the latitudes between
53°N and
67°N with
boreal forest.
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