types of jungle

[muduri]

I had unexpected chances to visit the real-world equivalents of Lopango and Mhair and now want to do justice to my fantasy jungles! Any suggestions for what could differentiate that belt of dark green on every fantasy equator? Climate and terrain are what I'm thinking of first but other factors could count too. So far real and imagined biomes have gotten me this far:

Tropical rainforest: the baseline type.
Highland jungle: similar to the Virunga Mountains or central Papua New Guinea.
Cloud forest: I understand rainfall and moisture patterns might make this a slightly different biome than the above?
Flooded forest: poor drainage and swampy, perhaps in an inland valley bowl and perhaps seasonal.
Coastal swamp: river delta or shallow littoral area.
Deluge forest: noticeably higher rainfall than even typical jungle, e.g., Quibdó in western Columbia.

Primary vs secondary vs recently cleared forest: applicable to any of the above; I understand secondary is, surprisingly, often thicker than primary because the understory hasn't grown up / cleared out? These may show up more on the local maps, and have distinct patterns based on hunter-gatherer, swidden, or continuous-farming cultures.

Enchanted jungle: not a biome but applicable to any of the above.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by muduri

I had unexpected chances to visit the real-world equivalents of Lopango and Mhair and now want to do justice to my fantasy jungles! Any suggestions for what could differentiate that belt of dark green on every fantasy equator? Climate and terrain are what I'm thinking of first but other factors could count too. So far real and imagined biomes have gotten me this far:

Tropical rainforest: the baseline type.
Highland jungle: similar to the Virunga Mountains or central Papua New Guinea.
Cloud forest: I understand rainfall and moisture patterns might make this a slightly different biome than the above?
Flooded forest: poor drainage and swampy, perhaps in an inland valley bowl and perhaps seasonal.
Coastal swamp: river delta or shallow littoral area.
Deluge forest: noticeably higher rainfall than even typical jungle, e.g., Quibdó in western Columbia.

Primary vs secondary vs recently cleared forest: applicable to any of the above; I understand secondary is, surprisingly, often thicker than primary because the understory hasn't grown up / cleared out? These may show up more on the local maps, and have distinct patterns based on hunter-gatherer, swidden, or continuous-farming cultures.

Enchanted jungle: not a biome but applicable to any of the above.

How do you intend to differentiate between 'jungle' and 'forest/woodland'? I ask because much of New Zealand's bush is rainforest, but it's not tropical (or even warm sometimes). It could be called 'jungle' by some definitions.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Rupert

How do you intend to differentiate between 'jungle' and 'forest/woodland'? I ask because much of New Zealand's bush is rainforest, but it's not tropical (or even warm sometimes). It could be called 'jungle' by some definitions.

I actually do a three-way distinction: tropical rainforest, temperate forest, and taiga. Tropical rainforest has intense rainfall at least part of the year (it may have a monsoon and a dry season) and never gets cold. Temperate forest has a cold season and typically has deciduous trees. Taiga has mostly evergreens. This is a crude approximation; in terms of the Köppen system they're A, C and a little of D, and the colder part of D. I think that the word "jungle" is used for A, or tropical rainforest, and not for C or D.

[The Colonel]

I know the canopy type makes a massive difference - old growth, high canopy stuff can be pretty open at ground level because there's not much light makes it that far down. The stuff without the high canopy - including regrown, cleared land can be almost impenetrable due to how thick the brush is.
Rhododendron forest and mangrove swamp are both particularly evil terrain types to try and move in, and the mangroves also tend to have a serious wildlife problem. Most of the things that live in regular jungle will get out of your way as you make an immense amount of noise crashing through the foliage towards them ... in the mangroves, not so much. The crocodiles/gators and carnivorous fish tend to be the big ticket items, closely supported by snakes, biting insects and leeches. Plus an almost infinite range of bacteria to infest the wounds of any survivors.

[Rolando]

Part of the problem you will have is that some parts of the forest change when you get higher altitude and it gets thicker or more open in the ground depending on the canopy, not just for old vs new forest but because some trees let more light reach the bottom.

In the Caribbean and Central America you may have "dry" fores or jungles near the coasts, more palms and more bush and thickets, they are dry and hot as hell because lots of sun gets in but little air flow. these jungles are hard to navigate and many dangers may hide near by, low visibility because of the tall bushes and few water sources, if you dig you may get salt water and the soil is sandy in many parts.

Near some coasts you also have Mangrove Forests or jungles, there are not places you should travel on foot, people that live there or near them do it and I have done it but it is not something you want to "adventure" in. Some places it is flooded, you wal over the roots of the mangrooves trees and there are all kinds of animals below, and insects above. Other parts have earth, you still try to walk on the roots because the earth is incredibly soft and you may dig your leg up to the knee in mud, you may loose a boot there easily (it suck you shoes), it's kind of a gelatinous mud. It is hot but the mangroves lets a lot of air go through (a lot considering it is a jungle type environment) and the places with water make it more bearable too, but it is very uncomfortable and you will get mud in places you didn't knew you can get mud just by walking. In the mud some snakes and alligators may be hidden, also worms, in the flooded places also alligators, snakes (the water ones are more dangerous), dangerous fishes "barracuda" like (not sure if the actual barracuda but thinks like that that can bite a chunk of flesh) and stuff like that.

As you get inland you find the "regular" rain forest or jungle where you have a dry and damp season, in the dry season there is some rain but not constantly raining, in the rainy season it rains almost every day sometimes during the entire day, sometimes for a few days non-stop, but less than in in the South East Asia monsoon season. In these jungles yo may find patches of open spaces below big canopy trees but most of it is covered by bush, thickets, brambles and tangles of plants and vines. Sometimes a big tree fall and make some open space above but overall enough light gets to the bottom to have a lot of low vegetation. this type of jungle is dangerous because of lack of visibility, the ground is very irregular, rarely flat, may have holes from roots and dangerous animal may live hidden almost anywhere; laso water is possible contaminated by bacteria and parasites, also lots of dangerous ticks that can transmit diseases, rivers and creeks may be common but there is always danger in jungle waters as animals go there, for preys and drinking. it is almost impossible to find dry wood during rainy season and very hard during dry season. Also, this jungles are very hot, damp with little air if any flow, you may dehydrate fast, past midnight they get very cold, you may get pneumonia easily. During the early morning there may be mist.

As you go up in height you find the cloud forest or jungle. This one is a bit colder with a fairer weather, still almost no air flow is any but the temperature is a lot more comfortable. In these forests the canopy is thicker and less light gets to the bottom, so they are easier to travel and have a better visibility, even with the reduced light, they are very dark. They are in mountain regions so the ground is very irregular, you almost always will be standing in tilted terrain and going up and down to reach anywhere. It is still a dangerous place because of the many bugs, snakes and stuff like that but water tend to be cleaner, you may find creeks that go through rock that is almost safe to drink straight but not really, just almost safe (I would say a HT roll with no mods at best, but better than the other jungles). It is almost impossible to find dry wood, wood in the ground gets spongey. It is called Cloud Forest because at its height clouds get inside the forest, there may be mist but sometimes they are actual clouds, it can gets misty at any hour during day or night. The nights are dangerously cold.


This is a layman knowledge of jungles in the middle of the Central America, not real botanical knowledge, but will give you an idea. For game rules there is a lot of similarity, so much that a single survival skill will work perfectly fine for all, but the equipment or familiarity with each may change. Also the feel and descriptions of each will be different.

My advice, search for pictures of jungles from different places and get inspired, don't forget to always hint at unseen dangers because the jungles are like that, there is almost nothing dangerous most of the time but you never know because you can barely see beyond a few meters.

[muduri]

Originally Posted by Rupert

How do you intend to differentiate between 'jungle' and 'forest/woodland'? I ask because much of New Zealand's bush is rainforest, but it's not tropical (or even warm sometimes). It could be called 'jungle' by some definitions.

Originally Posted by whswhs

I actually do a three-way distinction: tropical rainforest, temperate forest, and taiga. Tropical rainforest has intense rainfall at least part of the year (it may have a monsoon and a dry season) and never gets cold. Temperate forest has a cold season and typically has deciduous trees. Taiga has mostly evergreens. This is a crude approximation; in terms of the Köppen system they're A, C and a little of D, and the colder part of D. I think that the word "jungle" is used for A, or tropical rainforest, and not for C or D.

These are key points. Taking a cue from the WWF maps and Columbia Games I've been color-coding for other types of forests similar to WHSWHS - seasonal monsoon forest and savannal scrub, temperate / subtropical rainforest, mediterranean hardwood, temperate forest and woodland, coniferous forest and scrub etc. I think under that system the dense parts of New Zealand would be "temperate / subtropical rainforest" - also a useful type!

[muduri]

Thanks Rolando, every part of those evocative descriptions is going into the game haha, and The Colonel I'm doing likewise with the more-dangerous-than-it-sounds rhododendron jungle. Is eastern Nepal where I should be getting rhododendron jungle inspiration?

[Pursuivant]

Possibly add:

Seasonal Tropical Forest: Similar to Tropical Rainforest, but it only gets heavy, steady rains for part of the year. During the dry season, many plants and animals die off or go dormant. Typical of many African and Indian jungles.

From a gaming point of view, the big differences will be local flora and fauna and skills required to survive and get around. Cloud Forest might have gorillas and require Climbing skill in addition to Survival, while Coastal Swamp might have crocodiles and will require Swimming skill as well.

Given the way that GURPS skills work, all the various sub-types of jungle are covered by Survival (Jungle), possibly with Unfamiliarity penalties if you're in a different type of jungle.

Realistically, animals and indigenous people also have a decent Area Knowledge skill for their home territory, which either gives bonuses or limits penalties for certain survival tasks (e.g., bonus to Survival skill to find shelter because you know where the local caves are.)

In some cases, there will be overlap between Survival (Jungle) and other specializations - notably Island/Beach and Swampland.

[KarlKost]

Hi, brazilian here and former biologist.

Here in Brazil alone we have 7 different biomes: the Amazon, Cerrado, Pantanal, Caatinga, Mata Atlantica, Pampas and Mangue (swamp? Im not sure if the english world "swamp" applies to woods close to the salt water of the sea, but that's what "mangue" is for, an exclusive jungle type intersectional forest between the sea and the continent).

The Pampas are in the south and it"s mainly grass under temperate climate. Begins in Brazil and goes over Argentina until ending in the far south Argentiniam permafrost, so it doesnt count.

Caatinga happens in the Northeast of Brazil and it's a semi-arid forest, so I guess it doesnt count either. The closest parallel would be the african savanna nut only in terms of climate, since it's vastly different.

Pantanal is an umid tropical forest south of the Amazon, in the center of Brazil. That's one biome vastly different from the Amazon.

The Cerrado is actually a transitional biome between the Caatinga and the Pantanal and Mata Atlantica so... it kind counts.

The Mata Atlantica is a vast tropical forest in the East of Brazil ranging from the Caatinga to the north all the way down to the Pampas to the south. It is vastly different from both the Amazon and the Pantanal.

And finally the Amazon, our most famous tropical jungle.

So, you have in Brazil alone 4 vastly different tropical jungles biomes.

The Amazon itself, despite looking like just a single endless green hell, in fact are 6 different biomes connected.

All the way up to the holocen (last 12k years ago), the Amazon was semi arid, almost like the African Savanna. So you had 6 big forest biomes isolated from each other by semi arid terrain.

With the end of the glacial period, the region become a lot more wet, and those forests spread up to the point of occupying all the previously semi desertic areas, until getting connected.

Those 6 amazonic biomes have no discernable geographic borders, but the biological ones are clear and undeniable: there are several species of plants and animals that simply do NOT cross those borders AT ALL. They live EXCLUSIVELY in their amazonic biomes, but you would have to be an expert in the amazon to be able to tell that difference.

Search for some pictures on the internet about "Amazon", "Pantanal", "Cerrado" and "Mata Atlantica". You'll see the enormous differrences, and they are all in the same footing of "tropical forests" and in the same geographic corner of the world.

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

I know the canopy type makes a massive difference - old growth, high canopy stuff can be pretty open at ground level because there's not much light makes it that far down. The stuff without the high canopy - including regrown, cleared land can be almost impenetrable due to how thick the brush is.
Rhododendron forest and mangrove swamp are both particularly evil terrain types to try and move in, and the mangroves also tend to have a serious wildlife problem. Most of the things that live in regular jungle will get out of your way as you make an immense amount of noise crashing through the foliage towards them ... in the mangroves, not so much. The crocodiles/gators and carnivorous fish tend to be the big ticket items, closely supported by snakes, biting insects and leeches. Plus an almost infinite range of bacteria to infest the wounds of any survivors.

Yeah I always get astounished by hippies worshipping "mother nature". They only do that because they dont have to live in the woods. Because in truth, those jungles are green hellholes and death traps.

A massive jungle would actually make a better hell than lava and fire.