Jungle

Jungle

Jungle usually refers to a dense forest in a hot climate, such as a tropical rainforest. The word "Jungle" originates from the Sanskrit word "Jangala" which means a desert or "uncultivated land" [http://www.answers.com/topic/jungle?cat=technology] . The term "Jungle" is prevalent in many colloquial languages of the Indian subcontinent and generally used to refer a dense tropical forest or a swamp. About 6% of the Earth's land mass is classified as jungle. Jungles are vital to sustaining the ecosystems of the Earth as we know it. About 57% of all species live in jungle environments [http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/jungle/] . The term may still be used in a technical context to describe the forest biome rainforest, a forest characterised by extensive biodiversity and densely tangled undergrowth including young trees, vines and lianas, and herbaceous plants. As a forest biome, "jungles" are present in both equatorial and tropical climatic zones, and are associated with preclimax stages of the rainforest. For this reason, jungle is to be distinguished from tropical rainforest in that the former is a profuse thicket of tropical shrubs, vines, and small trees growing in areas outside the light-blocking canopy of a tropical rainforest. Hence, 'jungle' is often found at the edges of climax rain-forests, where human activity may increase sunlight penetration.

Not all regions called "jungles" would qualify as "rain forests" because many would apply "jungle" to the forests of northern Thailand or southern Guangdong in China: but scientifically, these are "monsoon forests" or "tropical deciduous forests" but not "rain forests".

As a metaphor

Upton Sinclair gave the title "The Jungle" (1906) to his book about the life of workers at the Chicago Stockyards in order to imply that the workers were being mercilessly exploited and had no legal or other recourse.

The term "The Law of the Jungle" is also used in this kind of 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 "Cities in Flight" science fiction series by James Blish depicted spaceborne cities flying through the galaxy, which the writer compared to Hobos or Okies of space. The term "jungle", borrowed from the above Hobo term, is used for an area of space where such flying cities congregate.

ee also

*Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFC)

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/jungle BBC interactive site]
* [http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/worldbiomes.html Link illustrating Biomes]
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/jungle?cat=technology]


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Synonyms:
(of brushwood, shrubs, and woods),


Look at other dictionaries:

  • jungle — [ ʒœ̃gl; ʒɔ̃gl ] n. f. • 1796; mot angl., de l hindoustani jangal « steppe » 1 ♦ Dans les pays de mousson, Forme de savane couverte de hautes herbes, de broussailles et d arbres, où vivent les grands fauves. Les lianes de la jungle. « Le Livre de …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Jungle — Orígenes musicales Techno, dancehall, dub, hardcore, breakbeat, rave Orígenes culturales Finales de los 1980 Reino Unido …   Wikipedia Español

  • Jungle — ist ein Stil der elektronischen Musik, der sich durch schnelle gebrochene Rhythmen, sogenannte Breakbeats, auszeichnet. Der Stil entstand unter starken Einflüssen der Tradition von Raggamuffin und Dancehall aus dem britischen Hardcore. Jungle… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jungle — Jun gle (j[u^][ng] g l), n. [Hind. jangal desert, forest, jungle; Skr. ja[.n]gala desert.] 1. A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • jungle —    Jungle is a form of dance music characterized by the use of high speed (usually around 160 beats per minute), highly syncopated drums and simple looped bass lines. Early jungle records often used a reggae/ragga ‘toasting’ style lead vocal,… …   Encyclopedia of contemporary British culture

  • jungle — (n.) 1776, from Hindi jangal desert, forest, wasteland, uncultivated ground, from Skt. jangala s arid, sparsely grown with trees, of unknown origin. Specific sense of land overgrown by vegetation in a wild, tangled mass is first recorded 1849;… …   Etymology dictionary

  • jungle — ► NOUN 1) an area of land with dense forest and tangled vegetation, typically in the tropics. 2) a very bewildering or competitive place. 3) a style of dance music with very fast electronic drum tracks and slower synthesized bass lines. ● the law …   English terms dictionary

  • jungle — jun‧gle [ˈdʒʌŋgl] noun [singular] a situation in which a lot of people or businesses are competing with each other in a very determined way: • Without the free publicity, the firm would be lost in the jungle of TV advertising …   Financial and business terms

  • jungle — [juŋ′gəl] n. [Hindi jangal, desert forest, jungle < Sans jaṅgala, wasteland, desert] 1. land in a wet, tropical region, usually with large trees, dense underbrush, and a hot climate 2. any confused, tangled growth, collection, etc. ☆ 3. Slang… …   English World dictionary

  • Jungle — (engl., spr. Dschongl), s. Dschungeln. Daher Junglefieber (Sumpf od. Malariafieber), ein dem Typhus u. der Pest sich näherndes Wechselfieber …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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