Jungle Planet

Life on Earth is characterized by its enormous richness. Even today, much of its surface is covered with forests and jungles. These terrestrial ecosystems are home to the greatest diversity of living things. This chapter shows the diversity of these environments and how the wildlife there adapts to living in them.

The jungles of Borneo and Southeast Asia are among the oldest in the world, at nearly 15 million years old. They are inhabited by a unique and exclusive fauna with its own special characteristics, with the orangutan as its leading character, living alongside sun bears, flying lizards, giant rafflesia flowers, macaques and hornbills with their huge bills.

Mangrove forests, which grow along the coasts in the tropics, are magical in appearance. These forests and their inhabitants - such as proboscis monkeys, langurs, mudskippers and bearded wild boars - are dependent on the tides.

The south of Africa is home to an unusual forest that loses its leaves during the dry season. The Mopane tree - or butterfly tree - is the main exponent of this behaviour. In this peculiar landscape live elephants, hyenas and lions, and hidden among its foliage, the most striking of African wildlife - colobus monkeys, eagles and mousebirds.

The laurel forests of the Canary Islands are relics more than 20 million years old. They grow in the interior of some islands where winds carry clouds and mist. They are jungles full of strange and unique animals, such as Laurel and Bolle's pigeons, lizards, snails and birds of prey.

The Madagascan rainforest is one of the strangest in the world. It is inhabited by lemurs whose howls at dawn and dusk fill the woodland. In this extraordinary and unique ecosystem, more than fourteen species of lemur, thirty species of chameleon, strange and striking birds, and countless insects survive.

In the State of California, some of the world 's most notable forests in terms of their size, diversity and gigantic trees grow. Redwoods thrive over the different mountain ranges, breaking all records of height. Under their canopies, the most diverse wildlife flourishes in an extraordinary setting: black bears, coyote, mountain sheep, wapiti and squirrels live out their lives.

One of the strangest ecosystems on the planet is the Spiny Forest of Madagascar where almost all the plants are armed with thorns like daggers. Most of the species of baobab also grow here, and the fauna inhabiting this forest is very diverse and special: sifakas, chameleons, three-eyed lizards, radiated tortoises, and many endemic birds.

The eucalyptus forests of Australia have adapted to the different environments found on the largest island on the planet. Its forests are home to a varied and striking collection of wildlife including koalas, tree kangaroos, flying squirrels, cockatoos, parrots and flying foxes.

The Florida Peninsula is dominated by an immense wealth of woodland, specifically wetlands and swamps. Bald cypress and many other tree species grow here, surviving in this amphibious world and providing shelter to deer, alligators, storks, eagles, numerous snakes and a multitude of birds.

The Taiga is the world's largest forest, occupying the northern regions of North America, Europe and Asia. This seemingly infinite forest of the harshest environmental conditions is inhabited by massive bears, wolverines, wolves, moose and a huge variety of small creatures.

The cloud rainforest is a unique ecosystem that grows in equatorial regions, perched on peaks of over two thousand meters, where clouds permanently deposit water and the weather is cold. The quetzal, several species of hummingbirds, wild cats, monkeys and snakes all live here.

The interior of Madagascar is dry and mountainous, and the forests that grow here lose their leaves during the dry season, except for those that take refuge in narrow canyons eroded by rivers. These unique forests are home to ring-tailed lemur, pied crow, various species of tenrec, and unique chameleons that can withstand the harsh environmental conditions.

The environment of southern Europe and North Africa is the perfect territory for oak trees, huge trees whose branches may be home to more than 300 species of animals, from the critically endangered imperial eagle, to colonies of stork, genets and mice. Its fruit are eaten by deer, wild boars and cranes, any of which may be prey for the prowling Iberian lynx, the world's rarest feline.

One of the most extraordinary forests in the world grows on top of volcanic cones, between rocks and ashes. This is the Canary pine, capable of growing after a fire. Its adaptation has allowed it to colonize some of the harshest ecosystems, and among its branches live animals as unique as the blue finch, the canary and the Barbary falcon.

The rivers of the Northern Hemisphere are naturally flanked by forests adapted to periodic flooding: these are tall, lush forests, the hiding places of otters and ferrets, and whose branches provide shelter and sustenance for colonies of heron and deer, wild boar and water voles.

In Northern Africa and Southern Europe, there are forests that grow only on the highest mountain peaks, unique ecosystems of singular beauty that are home to a variety of wildlife on both sides of the Straight of Gibraltar.

The huge expanses of olive groves around the Mediterranean region are a humanized forest where trees grow in an orderly manner. Italy, Spain and Greece benefit from this humanized ecosystem, inhabited by a diverse range of wildlife, including great bustards, eagles, owls, snakes and small carnivores such as weasels and genet.

African rainforests are the oldest in the world. They are inhabited by some of the most legendary animals, such as gorillas, chimpanzees and okapi. The biodiversity of these forests includes millions of as yet unknown insects, birds and small mammals.

In the northern hemisphere, forests are adapted to the extreme seasonality of very cold winters and hot, humid summers. This is the deciduous forest, whose leaves change colour throughout the year and are lost in winter. It is home to unique wildlife, such as the European bison, lynx, goshawks and dormice, as well as a huge diversity of birds and small mammals.

The Neotropical forests of South America extend across huge territories with an incredible diversity of trees and plants: orchids and bromeliads grow on the branches forming a hanging forest, and the diversity of the animals here is fabulous: jaguars, monkeys, toucans, iguanas... together they form one of the richest wildlife communities in the world.

The coastal regions of the Old Continent are occupied by an evergreen forest that reach to the very edge of the sea. This forest is adapted to the lack of water and high temperatures, and is inhabited by a special collection of fauna, such as chameleons, imperial eagles, dormice, nightjar and storks.

In some regions of Central and South America, a forest adapted to drought combined with intermittent humidity survives. Its trees are of colossal dimensions, and this is the preferred ecosystem of pumas, agoutis, large poisonous snakes, lizards, deer and red-faced buzzards, among others.

Some of the forests with most character in the world are the juniper woods. Each juniper tree has its own shape. Juniper woodlands are open and adapted to the cold and dry climates. They are of a unique beauty emerging from between bare rock. Wolves, vultures, badgers, rabbits and hares inhabit this unique ecosystem that serves as a wintering stop for countless small birds.

A fragile strip of tropical woodland extends along the east coast of the huge island of Australia. It is a unique jungle, caressed by rains and humidity, a place of refuge for a wide range of fauna that lives exclusively here on the edge of the great Australian desert: birds of paradise, cassowaries, tree kangaroos and an infinite number of endemic species found nowhere else on Earth.