Forest Animals – Concept, where they live and examples

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

What are the animals of the forest?

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

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

Forests are really important to 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 CO₂ and preserving the stability of the climate on the planet.

List of forest animals

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

• Tropical and subtropical humid hardwood or rainforest forests.
  • Frogs, toads, and other similar amphibian frogs.
  • Thousands of species of butterflies and moths, day and night.
  • Large spiders, such as tarantulas.
  • Constrictive snakes, such as boas, anaconda, or python.
  • Tree apes such as spider monkeys, gorillas or orangutans.
  • All kinds of insects like beetles, praying mantises, and mosquitoes.
  • Exotic birds such as the Toucan and the Macaw, or predators such as hawks.
  • Jungle mammals such as the tapir, the tapir or the wild boar.
• Tropical and subtropical dry hardwood forests or dry forests.
  • Carnivorous felids such as the puma or the jaguar.
  • Birds like parrots, woodpeckers, predators like owls.
  • Abundant mammals such as deer, capybaras, mice, possums.
  • Dry weather snakes such as the rattlesnake or cobra.
  • Smaller monkeys such as 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.
  • Larger felids such as tigers.
  • Small apes such as lagurs and mammals such as sloths.
  • Spiders and different types of insects in the lowest strata of the ground.
• Temperate hardwood and mixed forests.
  • Deer, wild boar, shrews, squirrels.
  • Eagles and other game birds.
  • Small snakes, such as coral.
  • Canid boys like lynxes.
• Temperate coniferous forests.
  • Moose, deer and other mammals with antlers.
  • Foxes, American lynx and various bears.
  • Peregrine falcons, woodpeckers, owls, grouse.
  • Very few species of reptiles and cold-blooded animals.
• Boreal forests or Taigas.
  • Bears, large, such as the grizzly or the Russian bear.
  • Wolves, foxes and other similar canids.
  • Birds of prey such as owls and eagles.
  • Mountain fish like salmon.
  • Marmots, squirrels, and other rodents such as mice.
• Mediterranean forests or Durisilva.
  • Small birds, such as pigeons, turtle doves, ducks.
  • Wading birds such as storks and herons.
  • Predatory birds such as the Iberian eagle.
  • Mountain goats, deer and wild boars.
  • Predators such as brown bears, wildcats, Iberian lynxes.
  • Reptiles and amphibians such as the galipato, the runner toad, and the salamander.
• Mangroves.
  • Fish of various kinds and small in size, from shallow waters.
  • Crabs and bivalves such as oysters and mussels.
  • Fishing birds, such as pelicans and albatraces.
  • Alligators and crocodiles.
  • Migratory species of birds, which go south to reproduce.

Forest types

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

• Tropical and subtropical humid hardwood or rainforest forests. Located in the intertropical zone, they present dense, tall and permanent tree formations, in tropical and temperate climates, with high humidity and rainfall.
• Tropical and subtropical dry hardwood forests or dry forests. Located in tropical and subtropical latitudes, where brief and seasonal rainy climates alternate with prolonged dry climates, they present 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 present a predominance of mixed coniferous and hardwood forests.
• Temperate hardwood and mixed forests. Typical of a temperate climate with a lot of diversity in terms of temperature and rainfall, they present the majority of angiosperms (flowering plants), generally mixing deciduous and laurifolia species.
• Temperate coniferous forests. Of evergreen vegetation and generally in high altitude locations (such as subalpine forests), they are frequent in temperate climates, with hot summers and cold winters, and enough rain so that conifers predominate.
• Boreal forests or Taigas. These are mostly coniferous forest formations, although with occasional presence of mixed forests, located in the areas near 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 forests or Durisilva. Typical as their name implies of the Mediterranean climate, these plant formations abound in trees and bushes, nourished by abundant spring rains, in a climate of dry summers, warm autumns and mild winters. They are always located on the western façade of the continents.
• Mangroves. Vegetable agglutinations of species very resistant to salt and water, abundant in the intertidal zone or river mouths in the tropical or subtropical region of the planet. They present a great biotic and amphibian diversity.