Cloud forests comb moisture from fog that never falls as rain
On cool tropical mountainsides, clouds drag through mossy branches for hours. Leaves, lichens, and epiphytes strip water droplets from the mist — a “horizontal precipitation” that can rival rainfall in the forest’s water budget.
That extra drip feeds streams, keeps soils damp in dry spells, and sustains orchids and bryophytes that need constant humidity.
Not all forest water comes from storms you hear. Some of it is silent fog, harvested by living combs in the clouds.
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