cloud forests
Fog-draped mountain jungles
Cloud forests are tropical or subtropical mountain forests characterized by persistent low-level cloud cover, which keeps the environment perpetually moist.
The fog and mist that envelop these forests support dense growth of mosses, ferns, and epiphytes on every surface.
Cloud forests are biodiversity hotspots, home to species found nowhere else: The cloud forests of Costa Rica shelter hundreds of endemic orchids.
- misty peaksMountains obscured by vapor
- epiphytesPlants growing on others
- orchidsTropical flowering plants
- quetzalTropical bird or currency
- MonteverdeCosta Rican nature reserve
mist · fog belt · endemic species · elfin · endemic · rare birds · biosphere · bromeliads · biodiversity hotspots · altitude · montane · high altitude · humidity · conservation efforts · mountains · hidden valleys · ferns · canopy layer
- ecosystemsdesert, jungle, ocean, lake, river
- Asian ecologytigers, pandas, elephants, orangutans, bamboo forests
- carbon sinksforests, trees, oceans, peatlands, soil
- ecotourismecotourism, ecotour, ecotours, nature reserve, Galapagos Islands
- Ecuador GeographyAndes, Quito, Galapagos Islands, volcanoes, crater lakes
- island ecologyoceanic islands, endemic species, archipelago, archipelagos, atoll
cloud forestsdesert
To leave behind completely
arid lands · dryland · scrubland · savanna · chaparral
cloud, forest, cloudy, overcast, clouds, cloudburst, forested, forestry, cloudiness