Publication
 

How Wet are the Wet Tropics?

The forests portrayed in this volume span a variety of climates.  At the dry extreme, Mudumalai in south India averages about 1250 mm of rain per year.  At the wet extreme, Korup, Cameroon, averages more than 5250 mm per year.  These forests differ not only in total annual rainfall but also in its seasonal distribution.  At Huai Kha Khaeng, Thailand, the total rainfall over the 3 driest months averages 46 mm, and at Mudumalai, the total rainfall over 3 driest months averages 67 mm.  By comparison, at Luquillo, Puerto Rico, the year's drieset month averages 203 mm.  Cameroon's Korup and Sri Lanka's Sinharaja both average over 5000 mm of rain per year, but at Korup, the total rainfall for the 3 driest months averages 172 mm, while Sinharaja's driest month, February, averages 171 mm.  What effects do these differences in climate have on tropical forest?  

Authors: 
Egbert G. Leigh, Jr.
Booktitle: 
Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism: Findings from a Large-Scale Plot Network
Year: 
2004
Pages: 
43-55
Editor: 
Elizabeth C. Losos & Egbert G. Leigh, Jr.
Publisher: 
The University of Chicago Press
Publisher Address: 
Chicago