Cinnamomum - Habitat

Habitat

They are leafy canopy trees to understorey trees or shrubs in lowland rainforest to high elevation in wet evergreen montane tropical rainforests, in laurel forest habitat generally between 600 and 2000 m.

Lauraceae are common in wet forest from sea level to the highest mountains, but are poorly represented in areas with a pronounced dry season. Cinnamomum need an ecosystem of high humidity and cloud forests. Cinnamomum is present about tropical or subtropical mountains where the dense moisture from the sea or ocean is precipitated by the action of the relief, causing it to condense. The moisture that falls as rain into the soil or fog into the air creates an especially cool tropical or subtropical habitat. With no seasonal changes, some Cinnamomum species will survive short frosts and temperatures to 32 °F, but most species should be protected from hard freezes and prolonged cool weather. Cinnamomum need climate wetter, but with an annual oscillation of the temperature moderated by the proximity of the ocean. Soil need to be ever wet. The natural habitat is forest which are cloud-covered for much of the year. Areas with high humidity and stable and mild temperatures, in a climate regime with well defined seasons, but lacking in sharp contrast. This type of habitat is found in laurel forest habitats. they are vigorous species with a great ability to populate the habitat that is conducive, forests of cool temperate zones in montane tropical or subtropical forest. This genus is present in Himalayas and other mountain areas and is present in tropical and subtropical montane rainforest, in the Weed-tree forests, in valleys, mixed forests of coniferous, and deciduous broad-leaved trees, from southern China, India, and Southeast Asia.

In the Indian Central Himalaya, the Cinnamomum laurel trees falls within the broad-leaved forests; sub-montane deciduous forests, mid-montane deciduous forests; and high-montane mixed stunted forests. The tree species growing to high altitude forests between 1500–3300 m. The upper limit of forests ranges from 3000 to 3300 m. Three taxa are commonly found at tree line: an evergreen, needle-leaved gymnosperm (Abies pindrow Spach.), an evergreen, broad-leaved sclerophyllous oak (Quercus semecarpifolia Sm.), and a deciduous, broad-leaved birch (Betula utilis Don). Vernal flowering is common at this elevation in Central Himalaya. In general, in their elevational distribution and structural-functional attributes, these high altitude forests are similar to other forests of cool temperate zones in Himalaya.