Jungle

Last updated

Jungle in Cambodia. braikmbujaa.jpg
Jungle in Cambodia.
Jungle on Tioman Island, Malaysia Tioman Rainforest.JPG
Jungle on Tioman Island, Malaysia
El Yunque National Forest is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest Service Puerto Rico El Yunque 1.jpg
El Yunque National Forest is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest Service

Ajungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century.

Contents

Etymology

The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jaṅgala ( जङ्गल ), meaning rough and arid. It came into the English language in the 18th century via the Hindustani word for forest (Hindi/Urdu: जङ्गल / جنگل ) (Jangal). [1] [2] Jāṅgala has also been variously transcribed in English as jangal, jangla, jungal, and juṅgala.[ citation needed ] It has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its connotation as a dense "tangled thicket". [3] [4] The term is prevalent in many languages of the Indian subcontinent, and the Iranian Plateau, where it is commonly used to refer to the plant growth replacing primeval forest or to the unkempt tropical vegetation that takes over abandoned areas. [5]

Wildlife

Mound from Los Naranjos archeological site in Honduras. Mosnticulo de los anranjos.jpg
Mound from Los Naranjos archeological site in Honduras.

Because jungles occur on all inhabited landmasses and may incorporate numerous vegetation and land types in different climatic zones, the wildlife of jungles cannot be straightforwardly defined.

Varying usage

As dense and tangled vegetation

Vine thicket, a typical tangled jungle, Australia Dry rainforest.jpg
Vine thicket, a typical tangled jungle, Australia

One of the most common meanings of jungle is land overgrown with tangled vegetation at ground level, especially in the tropics. Typically such vegetation is sufficiently dense to hinder movement by humans, requiring that travellers cut their way through. [6] [7] [8] This definition draws a distinction between rainforest and jungle, since the understorey of rainforests is typically open of vegetation due to a lack of sunlight, and hence relatively easy to traverse. [9] [10] Jungles may exist within, or at the borders of, tropical forests in areas where the woodland has been opened through natural disturbance such as hurricanes, or through human activity such as logging. [6] [11] [12] The successional vegetation that springs up following such disturbance, is dense and tangled and is a "typical" jungle. Jungle also typically forms along rainforest margins such as stream banks, once again due to the greater available light at ground level. [9]

Monsoon forests and mangroves are commonly referred to as jungles of this type. Having a more open canopy than rainforests, monsoon forests typically have dense understoreys with numerous lianas and shrubs making movement difficult, [6] [13] [14] while the prop roots and low canopies of mangroves produce similar difficulties. [15] [16]

As moist forest

Jungle lining a river bank in rainforest, Cameroon Fluss Dja Somalomo.JPG
Jungle lining a river bank in rainforest, Cameroon

Because European explorers initially travelled through tropical forests largely by river, the dense tangled vegetation lining the stream banks gave a misleading impression that such jungle conditions existed throughout the entire forest. As a result, it was wrongly assumed that the entire forest was impenetrable jungle. [17] [18] This in turn appears to have given rise to the second popular usage of jungle as virtually any humid tropical forest. [19] Jungle in this context is particularly associated with tropical rain forest, [8] [20] but may extend to cloud forest, temperate rainforest, and mangroves [19] [21] with no reference to the vegetation structure or the ease of travel.

The terms "tropical forest" and "rainforest" have largely replaced "jungle" as the descriptor of humid tropical forests, a linguistic transition that has occurred since the 1970s. "Rainforest" itself did not appear in English dictionaries prior to the 1970s. [22] The word "jungle" accounted for over 80% of the terms used to refer to tropical forests in print media prior to the 1970s; since then it has been steadily replaced by "rainforest", [23] although "jungle" still remains in common use when referring to tropical rainforests. [22]

As metaphor

Use of the jungle to represent savageness and ferocity in popular culture. Jungle comics 128.jpg
Use of the jungle to represent savageness and ferocity in popular culture.

As a metaphor, jungle often refers to situations that are unruly or lawless, or where the only law is perceived to be "survival of the fittest". This reflects the view of "city people" that forests are such places. Upton Sinclair gave the title The Jungle (1906) to his famous book about the life of workers at the Chicago Stockyards, portraying the workers as being mercilessly exploited with no legal or other lawful recourse. [24]

The term "The Law of the Jungle" is also used in a similar context, drawn from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1894)—though in the society of jungle animals portrayed in that book and obviously meant as a metaphor for human society, that phrase referred to an intricate code of laws which Kipling describes in detail, and not at all to a lawless chaos.

The word "jungle" carries connotations of untamed and uncontrollable nature and isolation from civilisation, along with the emotions that evokes: threat, confusion, powerlessness, disorientation and immobilisation. [23] [25] [26] The change from "jungle" to "rainforest" as the preferred term for describing tropical forests has been a response to an increasing perception of these forests as fragile and spiritual places, a viewpoint not in keeping with the darker connotations of "jungle". [23] [27] [28]

Cultural scholars, especially post-colonial critics, often analyse the jungle within the concept of hierarchical domination and the demand western cultures often places on other cultures to conform to their standards of civilisation. For example: Edward Said notes that the Tarzan depicted by Johnny Weissmuller was a resident of the jungle representing the savage, untamed and wild, yet still a white master of it; [29] and in his essay "An Image of Africa" about Heart of Darkness Nigerian novelist and theorist Chinua Achebe notes how the jungle and Africa become the source of temptation for white European characters like Marlowe and Kurtz. [30]

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak compared Israel to "a villa in the jungle", a comparison which had been often quoted in Israeli political debates. Barak's critics on the left side of Israeli politics strongly criticised the comparison. [31] [32] [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biome</span> Biogeographical unit with a particular biological community

A biome is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. A biome encompasses multiple ecosystems within its boundaries. It can also comprise a variety of habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropics</span> Region of Earth surrounding the Equator

The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at 23°26′10.0″ (or 23.4361°) N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at 23°26′10.0″ (or 23.4361°) S. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangrove</span> Shrub growing in brackish water

A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have special adaptations to take in extra oxygen and to remove salt, which allow them to tolerate conditions that would kill most plants. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several plant families. They occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics and even some temperate coastal areas, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator. Mangrove plant families first appeared during the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene epochs, and became widely distributed in part due to the movement of tectonic plates. The oldest known fossils of mangrove palm date to 75 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savanna</span> Mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem

A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. Four savanna forms exist; savanna woodland where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, tree savanna with scattered trees and shrubs, shrub savanna with distributed shrubs, and grass savanna where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests</span> Habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical climate</span> Major climate group in Köppen classification

Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64 °F) or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot temperatures and high humidity all year-round. Annual precipitation is often abundant in tropical climates, and shows a seasonal rhythm but may have seasonal dryness to varying degrees. There are normally only two seasons in tropical climates, a wet (rainy/monsoon) season and a dry season. The annual temperature range in tropical climates is normally very small. Sunlight is intense in these climates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barak River</span> River in India and Bangladesh

The Barak River or Barbakro flows 900 kilometres (560 mi) through the states of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam in India. It flows into Bangladesh where it bifurcates into the Surma river and the Kushiyara river which converge again to become the Meghna river before forming the Ganges Delta. Of its total length, 524 km (326 mi) is in India, 31 km (19 mi) in Bangladesh. The upper part of its navigable part is in India — 121 km (75 mi) between Lakhipur and Bhanga, declared as National Waterway 6, (NW-6) since the year 2016. It drains a basin of 52,000 km2 (20,000 sq mi), of which 41,723 km2 (16,109 sq mi) lies in India, 1.38% (rounded) of the country. The water and banks host or are visited by a wide variety of flora and fauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Life zones of Peru</span>

When the Spanish arrived, they divided Peru into three main regions: the coastal region, that is bounded by the Pacific Ocean; the highlands, that is located on the Andean Heights, and the jungle, that is located on the Amazonian Jungle. But Javier Pulgar Vidal, a geographer who studied the biogeographic reality of the Peruvian territory for a long time, proposed the creation of eight Natural Regions. In 1941, he presented his thesis "Las Ocho Regiones Naturales del Perú" at the III General Assembly of the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History.

A tropical marine climate is a tropical climate that is primarily influenced by the ocean. It is usually experienced by islands and coastal areas 10° to 20° north and south of the equator. There are two main seasons in a tropical marine climate: the wet season and the dry season. The annual rainfall is 1000 to over 1500 mm. The temperature ranges from 20 to 35 °C. Under the Köppen climate classification, a "tropical marine climate" would fall under Af or Am, tropical rainforest or tropical monsoon climate. The trade winds blow all year round and are moist, as they pass over warm seas. These climatic conditions are found, for example, across the Caribbean, the eastern coasts of Brazil, Madagascar and Queensland; and many islands in tropical waters.

Lothian Island Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India. The wildlife in this sanctuary includes estuarine crocodiles, olive ridley sea turtles, spotted deer, jungle cats and rhesus macaques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate classification</span> Systems that categorize the worlds climates

Climate classifications are systems that categorize the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome classification, as climate is a major influence on life in a region. One of the most used is the Köppen climate classification scheme first developed in 1884.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biogeographic classification of India</span>

Biogeographic classification of India is the division of India according to biogeographic characteristics. Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species (biology), organisms, and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. India has a rich heritage of natural diversity. India ranks fourth in Asia and tenth in the world amongst the top 17 mega-diverse countries in the world. India harbours nearly 11% of the world's floral diversity comprising over 17500 documented flowering plants, 6200 endemic species, 7500 medicinal plants and 246 globally threatened species in only 2.4% of world's land area. India is also home to four biodiversity hotspots—Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Eastern Himalaya, Indo-Burma region, and the Western Ghats. Hence the importance of biogeographical study of India's natural heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical vegetation</span> Vegetation in tropical latitude

Tropical vegetation is any vegetation in tropical latitudes. Plant life that occurs in climates that are warm year-round is in general more biologically diverse that in other latitudes. Some tropical areas may receive abundant rain the whole year round, but others have long dry seasons which last several months and may vary in length and intensity with geographic location. These seasonal droughts have great impact on the vegetation, such as in the Madagascar spiny forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon biome</span> Ecological region of South America

The Amazon biome contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and whitewater flooded forest, lowland and montane terra firma forest, bamboo and palm forest, savanna, sandy heath and alpine tundra. Some areas of the biome are threatened by deforestation for timber and to make way for pasture or soybean plantations.

Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the Earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource and environmental management. Many different methods of vegetation classification have been used. In general, there has been a shift from structural classification used by forestry for the mapping of timber resources, to floristic community mapping for biodiversity management. Whereas older forestry-based schemes considered factors such as height, species and density of the woody canopy, floristic community mapping shifts the emphasis onto ecological factors such as climate, soil type and floristic associations. Classification mapping is usually now done using geographic information systems (GIS) software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seasonal tropical forest</span> Type of tropical forest

Seasonal tropical forest, also known as moist deciduous, semi-evergreen seasonal, tropical mixed or monsoon forest, typically contains a range of tree species: only some of which drop some or all of their leaves during the dry season. This tropical forest is classified under the Walter system as (i) tropical climate with high overall rainfall and (ii) having a very distinct wet season with dry season. These forests represent a range of habitats influenced by monsoon (Am) or tropical wet savanna (Aw/As) climates. Drier forests in the Aw/As climate zone are typically deciduous and placed in the Tropical dry forest biome: with further transitional zones (ecotones) of savannah woodland then tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands.

Sri Lanka exhibits a remarkable biological diversity and is considered to be the richest country in Asia in terms of species concentration.

References

  1. "Meaning of jungle in English". Lexico. Oxford University Press/Dictionary.com. 2020. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020. Origin: Late 18th century from Sanskrit jāṅgala 'rough and arid (terrain)'.
  2. "Home : Oxford English Dictionary" . www.oed.com. Retrieved 2019-04-01.(subscription required)
  3. Francis Zimmermann (1999). The jungle and the aroma of meats: an ecological theme in Hindu medicine. Volume 4. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN   81-208-1618-8.
  4. Dove, Michael R. (1992). "The Dialectical History of 'Jungle' in Pakistan: An Examination of the Relationship between Nature and Culture". Journal of Anthropological Research. 48 (3): 231–253. doi:10.1086/jar.48.3.3630636. S2CID   141730178.
  5. Yule, Henry, Sir (1903). Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive. New ed. edited by William Crooke, B.A. J. Murray, London. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 3 Tropical Forests Archived 2012-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Mysterious Journey Archived 2012-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
  8. 1 2 Nygren, A. 2006 Representations of Tropical Forests and Tropical Forest-Dwellers in Travel Accounts of ‘National Geographic', Environmental Values 15
  9. 1 2 "SUNY Oneonta - Grow Intellectually. Thrive Socially. Live Purposefully". suny.oneonta.edu. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  10. "Rainforest Biomes". www.blueplanetbiomes.org.
  11. Kricher JC. 1997. A neotropical companion: an introduction to the animals, plants, and ecosystems of the New World tropics, 2nd edn. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
  12. "Ecology L4.OO". Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2014-01-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Terrestrial Biomes" (PDF). Wku.edu (Western Kentucky University, Department of Geography and Geology). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  15. Holguin, G. Guzman, M.A. &Bashan, Y. 1992 Two new nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the rhizosphere of mangrove trees: Their isolation, identification and in vitro interaction with rhizosphere Staphylococcus sp. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 101
  16. Namdar, A. & Nusrath, A. 2010 Tsunami numerical modeling and mitigation. Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale 12
  17. Sterling, T. (1983). The Amazon: The World's Wild Places. Time-Life Books. New York
  18. Baumann, Paul R. (2009). "Tropical Wet Realms of Central Africa, Part 1". Oneonta.edu (State University of New York College at Oneonta). Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  19. 1 2 Purser, B. 2003. Jungle bugs: masters of camouflage and mimicry. Firefly Books, Toronto.
  20. Birtles, T. G. 1997: "First contact: colonial European preconceptions of tropical Queensland rainforest and its people". Journal of Historical Geography 23, 393–417.
  21. M\Iyengar, M. O. T. 1930 Jungle in Relation to Malaria in Bengal. Indian Journal of Medical Research 18:1
  22. 1 2 Rogers, C. 2012 Jungle Fever: Exploring Madness and Medicine in Twentieth-Century Tropical Narratives. Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville. ISBN   9780826518316.
  23. 1 2 3 Slater, C (2003). In Search of the Rain Forest. Duke University Press
  24. Miller, David Cameron (1989). Dark Eden: the swamp in nineteenth-century American culture. Volume 43 of Cambridge studies in American literature and culture Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-37553-3.
  25. Fearing, F. (1963) "The problem of metaphor" Southern Journal of Communication
  26. Jones, J. (1962) "The Thin Red Line". Dell Publishing New York
  27. Slater, C (2004). Marketing the ‘rain forest’: Raw Vanilla fragrance and the ongoing transformation of the jungle. Cultural Geographies 11:4
  28. Gustavson, E. 2007 "Rhetoric: How Politicians Manipulate Language and the Media to Shape Public Thought" Hinckley Journal of Politics 8
  29. Said, Edward W. (2000). "Jungle Calling". Reflections on Exile: And Other Essays . Convergences Series. Harvard University Press. ISBN   9780674003026.
  30. Chinua, Achebe (1977). "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'". Massachusetts Review (18 ed.).
  31. Koplow, Michael J. (3 September 2020). "The Iron Wall Versus the Villa in the Jungle" . Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  32. Uri Avnery, "Barak: A Villa in the Jungle", Gush Shalom website, July 7, 2007 ,
  33. Akiva Eldar, "The price of a villa in the jungle", Ha'aretz, Jan. 30, 2006