Temperate Forests

1
Temperate Forests
2
Climate

• Named for their occurrence at Mid-Latitudes
• Extreme fluctuations in daily and seasonal
  temperatures and precipitation

3
Forest Biotic Structure

• Upper Canopy Layer Dominant Trees
• Lower Canopy Layer Saplings Understory Trees
• Shrub LayerWoody Shrubs
• Ground LayerHerbs, Ferns, and Mosses

4
Ground Layer Decomposition

• Fungi, bacteria, and Soil Invertebrates act to
  recycle the nutrients from leaves and trees limbs
  back into the soil
• This is the most diverse layer of the forest

5
Symbiosis the Forest

• Mycorrhizae Fungi that have developed beneficial
  relations with the tree roots providing them
  water and nutrients for sugars
• LichensFungi and algae that live on tree bark

6
Forest Abiotic Factors

• Sunlight, Temperature, and Humidity change
  seasonally
• These factors may effect the stomatal densities
  of forest plants

7
Spring
8
Summer
9
Fall
10
Winter
11
Secondary Growth

• The Vascular Cambium is responsible for creating
  new xylem and phloem tissues
• Xylem is thick and is created to the inside of
  the tree with identifiable annual rings
• Phloem thin and is created to the outside and
  part forms protective bark

12
Xylem Growth Rings

• During the Spring when there is sufficient water
  and sunlight the xylem tubes are large
• As precipitation decreases in Summer the xylem
  tubes produced are smaller in size

13
Old Growth Secondary Forests

• Old Growth Forestsshow variation in tree ages,
  contain more woody debris, fallen logs, and a
  greater diversity of animal life
• Secondary Forests have young homogeneous aged
  tree stands with little diversity and developed
  layers

14
Human Impacts

• Lumber and Paper
• Cleared for Agriculture
• Mining
• Human Development
• Global Warming