TEMPERATE DECIDOUS FOREST

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TEMPERATE DECIDOUS FOREST
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Description
Temperate deciduous forests are located in the
mid-latitude areas which means that they are
found between the polar regions and the tropics.
The deciduous forest regions are exposed to warm
and cold air masses, which cause this area to
have four seasons. The temperature varies widely
from season to season with cold winters and hot,
wet summers. The average yearly temperature is
about 10C. The areas in which deciduous forests
are located get about 750 to 1,500 mm of
precipitation spread fairly evenly throughout the
year. During the fall, trees change color and
then lose their leaves. This is in preparation
for the winter season. Because it gets so cold,
the trees have adapted to the winter by going
into a period of dormancy or sleep. They also
have thick bark to protect them from the cold
weather. Trees flower and grow during the spring
and summer growing season. Many different kinds
of trees, shrubs, and herbs grow in deciduous
forests. Most of the trees are broadleaf trees
such as oak, maple, beech, hickory and chestnut.
There are also several different kinds of plants
like mountain laurel, azaleas and mosses that
live on the shady forest floor where only small
amounts of sunlight get through.
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How Temperate Forest Was Formed
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Classification of Temperate Forests

• Temperate deciduous forests are classified
  according to the dominant tree species. These
  forest types are called associations. Most common
  associations are
• Oak/Hickory
• Beech/Maple
• Mixed Mesophytic

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Location
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Characteristics
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Rainfall-Comparison to Other Biomes

• No dray season precipitation falls throughout
  the year
• 75-150 centimeters of rain per year.
• Average rainfall is about 60 centimeters per year

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Climatogram
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Temperate Forest Mammals
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Animals Found In The Temperate Forest
Collard Peccary
Black Bear
Nightingale
Cardinal
Muskrat
Opossum
White tailed Deer
Dhole
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Plants Found In The Temperate Forest
American Chestnut Tree
Big-leaf maple tree
Eucalyptus tree
Giant sequoia
Snowdrops
White trillium flowers
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Food
Chain
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Ecosystems
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Carrying Capacity
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Biotic Factors

• Mammals- Cardinal, Black Bear, Collard Peccary
  etc.
• Insects- leaf-cutting ants, earthworms,
  Springtail, etc
• Plants- snowdrops, white trillium flowers, Giant
  sequoia etc.
• Bacteria- Bacillus thuringiensis, flaccidum
  (fungus), etc.
• Microorganisms
• Other Living Organisms

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Abiotic Factors

• Climate- Rainfall, Winds...
• Landscape- Rocks, Rivers, Soil
• Forest Fire
• Other Chemicals- nitrogen, phosphorus..

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Plants Adaptations

• Special fluids allow fragile blossoms to survive
  the freezing nights of early spring
• Possess Embryonic leaves curled up and encased
  in tough, protective coverings called buds.
• Thick leafy layer blocks most sunlight and
  catches precipitation
• Trees possess many stems to provide shelter for
  animals

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Animal Adaptations

• Brightly colored to attract mates
• Special color that blends in with the forest
  background
• Ability to change color throughout the seasons
• Thick Fur for cold winter
• Sharp talons beaks, jaws etc to hunt

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Cooperation Among Species

• Trees provide shelters, foods for the Animals.
  15 nests on the ground, 25 nests in the herb
  and shrub layers, 31 nests on or in the trunks
  of canopy trees, and 29 nests in the canopy
  itself.
• The animals carry seeds and new plants grow this
  way.
• All plants depend on soil organisms, including
  fungi
• Animals can help each other finding foods if
  they need the same kind of food, there will be
  less competition.

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Competition

• Plants compete for light, space and nutrients,
  small plants close to the ground have leaves are
  good at gathering light in shady conditions.
• Limitation of resource for animals, they then
  migrate or find other resources. Animals depend
  on their own ability to survive.
• Animals also compete for mates.

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The Soil Community

• Beneath the dead leaves there are woodlice,
  snails, slugs, earthworms, millipedes and various
  insect larvae. All feed on leaves and similar
  plant material, shredding it into tiny pieces.
  They drag it below the ground surface and move it
  from the place where it fell, spreading it
  throughout the upper most soil layer, where
  smaller animals can reach it. When they have
  eaten their fill, what remains passes to nematode
  worms, rotifers, and single celled protozoan.
• In a temperate forest, every square yard of the
  soil surface there may be close to 850 species of
  animals. Each square yard of forest floor may
  conceal more than 8 million nematode worms,
  80,000 springtails, and 80,000 mites.

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Mixed Forests and Population

• The regions of mixed forests are among the most
  densely populated areas.
• The forest have been largely chopped down, so
  predators have been eliminated from the areas
• As a result, prey of these predators, (for
  example, the white-tailed deer) became
  overabundant in the mixed forests.

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Stable, Unstable, and Ephemeral Habitats

• For a stable habitat, conditions for those
  species at home in it will remain hospitable at
  some times than at others
• For an unstable habitat, conditions will change,
  so the habitat is more hospitable at some times
  than at others
• For an ephemeral habitat, hospitable conditions
  will occur only occasionally and then disappear
  quickly
• Reproductive strategy is one way in which a
  species adapts to its habitat.

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Ecological Niches

• If its habitat is the address of a species, what
  it does to make a living at that address is its
  ecological niche
• For example, the gray squirrel feeds mainly on
  seeds, leaves of trees, and fungi. In spring and
  summer its diet is more varied and it spends most
  of its time high in the forest canopy. In fall,
  when the leaves are less nutritious but seeds are
  appearing, it spends more time on the ground,
  storing food in caches, and it winter it is on
  the ground a good deal, feeding on its stores.
• You can think of an ecological niche as the
  presence of a range of factors

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People and the Temperate Forest

• Native Americans survived by hunting deer,
  squirrels, and bear from the forests. They are
  skillful hunters, did cut forests, but after
  eight to ten years, they abandoned most plots,
  letting the forest fill in and regrow. They have
  little negative impact on the forest
• The government encouraged Europeans to settle
  land, so many forests were cut down
• As the forest was destroyed, the Native Americans
  who lived there suffered.

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Threats to the Temperate Forest

• Today, in many parts of North America, the
  temperate forest has been chopped down
• The loss of the forest does not mean simply the
  loss of a beautiful landscape. It involves the
  loss of plant and animal species.
• The destruction of forests has endangered many
  species, including the Mississippi sandhill
  crane, northern goshawk, mountain lions, etc

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Value and Commercial use by humans

• Human need trees for buildings and making other
  materials
• Ski slopes, mountain retreats, homes, shopping
  malls, amusement parks- such development involves
  cutting down forest and clearing land.
• Human also mines in or around the forest for
  coal, granite, and other resources involves
  stripping off forest to get to the rock
  underneath. Many acres of mining lands become
  damaged to the extent that forests do not regrow
  on the depleted soils

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Climatic Effect of Forest Clearance

• Removing trees cause changes in climates
• The climates in Temperate forest became windier
• Wind also affects the temperature, it can
  dangerously reduce your body temperature
• Also reduces average annual precipitation

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Quiz Questions

• What is temperate forests and where are they
  located?
• What is the average yearly temperature and
  precipitation in the temperate forest?
• What are the forest layers?