Difference Between Jungle and Rainforest

Jungle vs Rainforest

Jungle and rainforest are areas or locations that are commonly interchanged. If you ask a lot of people, most of them could not give a straight answer to the difference between the two places. Both locations are full of wide life and are both well protected.

Jungle

The word jungle originated from the Sanskrit word jangala which means uncultivated land. A jungle can be found anywhere in the world that has the capacity to sustain tree growth. More often than not, a jungle is associated with dry land. The jungle floor has a hard ground with thick growth of vegetation. A forest has been generally termed to mean wooded land.

Rainforest

An area wherein thick canopy of trees is available is called a rainforest. A rainforest climate is characterized by high incidence of rainfall. So, typically a rainforest floor is wet and mushy because of constant rain. Around 40-80% of the world’s animal species has lived or is living in the rainforest. There are two types of rainforest, tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest.

Difference between Jungle and Rainforest

A jungle can be typically found all over the world while a rainforest can be found in areas where rain is constant. A jungle is a wooded and dry area while a rainforest has thick canopies of tall trees and constantly wet. A jungle floor is hard and thick with vegetation and plant life while a rainforest floor is wet because of sunshine or sun rays can not penetrate the tall canopy of trees. Therefore the rainforest has no means of supporting vegetation. A jungle’s impact in the ecosystem is not as immense as the effect or importance of the rainforest to the ecological health.

It is good to note that both have equal importance and destruction of either one would result to a catastrophic event.