Jungle Trees: What Trees Can You Find in the Jungle?

Any tropical forest in which trees and plants grow very closely together may be termed jungle.¹ Rainforests typically fall under this descriptive term. Rainforests capture and store vast quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2).² By removing this greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, rainforests help to prevent a catastrophic global increase in temperature.³ They are also home to the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.⁴ Though they cover just six per cent of the Earth’s surface, they contain more than half of all plant and animal species.⁵ 

Examples of trees in the jungle

Hevea brasiliensis, better known as the rubber tree, is native to the Amazon rainforest.⁶ It produces a creamy white latex that is used to make a variety of products, including tyres and rubber gloves.⁷ The demand for rubber has led to the tree’s introduction to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.⁸

There are an estimated 5.2 billion Euterpe precatoria, or forest acai trees, in the Amazon basin.⁹ The palm is one of the most common trees in the Amazon rainforest.¹⁰ Its fruits are rich in antioxidants and are popular in its native Brazil.¹¹ 

The Eusideroxylon zwageri, Borneo ironwood or simply Belian, is a slow-growing timber tree from Southeast Asia.¹² Its wood is one of the hardest and most durable in the world.¹³ The tree is naturally resistant to bacteria and fungi and is subsequently in high demand for bridges, roof tiles and pillars for houses.¹⁴ 

What are the particularities of a jungle tree?

Most jungles are structured into four layers: the forest floor, understory, canopy and emergent.¹⁵ Each layer develops differently as they receive contrasting levels of water, sunlight and air circulation.¹⁶ For example, the light and airy canopy layer forms a dense roof of vegetation where the vast majority of rainforest animals live.¹⁷ Jungle trees at this level have adapted to their environment by producing sweet fruit.¹⁸ This entices animals who eat the fruit and deposit their seeds on the forest floor below in their droppings.¹⁹

On the other hand, only about two per cent of sunlight reaches the forest floor, creating a dark and damp environment.²⁰ The soil is typically low in nutrients and so many rainforest trees have developed particularities such as buttress roots.²¹ These widely spread shallow roots extend laterally from the central trunk and share the tree’s weight.²² They sometimes intertwine with neighbouring trees to create a supportive mesh.²³

Heavy rainfall is integral to jungle conditions, and jungle trees have specially adapted leaves. They often have a waxy, water-resistant surface and pointed tips to allow excess rainwater to run-off their ‘drip tips’.²⁴ This prevents water from building up on the leaf, which would invite algae to grow and therefore inhibit photosynthesis by blocking the sunlight.²⁵ 

The importance of trees in the jungle for the ecosystem

Without trees, there could be no ecosystem in the jungle. They provide the multi-layered structure of the rainforest, which creates habitats for millions of species.²⁶ Trees are a food source for the myriad of lifeforms that inhabit jungle regions, producing fruits, seeds and nuts.²⁷ Deforestation is at risk of eliminating entire ecosystems forever since they cannot survive without trees.²⁸  

Why do we need to preserve and plant these trees?

Rainforests absorb and sequester vast quantities of CO2 from the earth’s atmosphere.²⁹ But, deforestation has the opposite effect, releasing CO2 and other greenhouse gases.³⁰ Reducing harmful emissions and removing CO2 from the atmosphere is critical to prevent a catastrophic temperature increase.³¹ We should therefore reduce deforestation wherever possible and plant new trees to replace those that have been lost.

Preserving the trees we already have is more important than planting new trees, however. Saplings can take decades to absorb the same quantities of CO2 as older trees.³² Cutting down trees releases the sequestered CO2.³³ Deforestation also has disastrous repercussions for biodiversity, soil quality and even local weather conditions.³⁴ Afforestation can slowly replace the trees themselves, but the delicate ecosystems that rely on them may never return.

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