Deciduous
forests can be found in the eastern half of North America,
and the middle of Europe. There are many deciduous forests
in Asia. Some of the major areas that they are in are
southwest Russia, Japan, and eastern China. South America
has two big areas of deciduous forests in southern Chile and
Middle East coast of Paraguay. There are deciduous forests
located in New Zealand, and southeastern Australia also.
The
average annual temperature in a deciduous forest is 50°
F. The average rainfall is 30 to 60 inches a year.
In
deciduous forests there are five different zones. The first
zone is the Tree Stratum zone. The Tree Stratum zone
contains such trees as oak, beech, maple, chestnut hickory,
elm, basswood, linden, walnut, and sweet gum trees. This
zone has height ranges between 60 feet and 100 feet.
The small
tree and sapling zone is the second zone. This zone has
young, and short trees. The third zone is called the shrub
zone. Some of the shrubs in this zone are rhododendrons,
azaleas, mountain laurel, and huckleberries. The Herb zone
is the fourth zone. It contains short plants such as herbal
plants. The final zone is the Ground zone. It contains
lichen, club mosses, and true mosses. The
deciduous forest has four distinct seasons, spring, summer,
autumn, and winter. In the autumn the leaves change color.
During the winter months the trees lose their leaves.
The
animals adapt to the climate by hibernating in the winter
and living off the land in the other three seasons. The
animals have adapted to the land by trying the plants in the
forest to see if they are good to eat for a good supply of
food. Also the trees provide shelter for them. Animal use
the trees for food and a water sources. Most of the animals
are camouflaged to look like the ground. The plants
have adapted to the forests by leaning toward the sun.
Soaking up the nutrients in the ground is also a way of
adaptation. A lot of
deciduous forests have lost land to farms and towns.
Although people are trying to protect the forests some
poachers are trying to kill the animals in the forests. The
animals are losing their homes because of people building
their homes. by Connie
T. 2001
bibliography: "All about
nature: Biomes-Habits", http://www.zoomwhales.com/biomes/tempdecid/tempdecid.shtml,
11/21/00 "Temperate
Deciduous Forest Biome", http://mbgnet.mobot.org/pfg/diverse/temp/index.htm,
11/4/00 "Temperature
Deciduous Forest Biome", http://mbgnet.mobot.org/pfg/diverse/temp/locatns.htm,
11/5/00 "Temperature
Deciduous Forest Biome", http://mbgnet.mobot.org/pfg/diverse/temp/whats.htm,
11/20/00 "World
Biomes", http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm,
5/1/01"
The word
"Deciduous" means "falling off or out at a certain season".
That explains why deciduous forest means a forest in which
the leaves fall off the trees when the winter comes.
The
deciduous forests are located in the temperate zone above
the tropical forests and below the coniferous forests. Most
of Europe, the eastern half of North America, parts of Japan
and Asia were once covered with large deciduous forests.
Most of the deciduous forests have now disappeared but many
of the trees still grow in deciduous forest biome. The types
of trees you can find in these three regions are broad
leafed deciduous trees and some of the evergreen species.
The trees are more commonly known as ash, oak, lime,
beech,
birch and northern arrowwood. Also found in this biome are
wild flowers such as oxlip, bluebells, painted trillium and
primrose. As well as things such as carpet moss, tawny
milk-cap mushrooms and lady fern. The soil
is very fertile. In fact, some of the great agricultural
regions are found in this biome. That is one of the reasons
there aren't a lot of original deciduous forests left in the
world. Almost all of the forests in North America are second
growth forests but it still has the biggest variety of
original plant species. In Europe there are only a few
species of original trees left. Most of the forests have
been cleared for agriculture. China has been clearing the
natural trees for at least 4,000 years and most of the
forests are man-made. There are
many types of animals in the deciduous forest ranging from
mammals like deer to bugs like mosquitoes. Many of the
animals are either nut and acorn feeders, or omnivores. Many
of the animals have adapted to forest life. Some of them
hibernate during the winter months. A few
common animals found in the deciduous forest are, deer, gray
squirrels, mice raccoons, salamanders, snakes, robins, frogs
and many types of insects. Some animals migrate south when
winter comes. Most
deciduous forests are found in Eastern North America
somewhere around 35-48° N, and Europe and Asia around
45-60° N. There are some deciduous regions in the
southern hemisphere but their plants and animals are
different from those of the northern deciduous
forests. The
average temperature is around 50° F (about 10° C).
The average rainfall is 30-60 inches (75-150 cm ) per year.
You can find all four seasons: winter (cold and frosty),
summer (hot and humid), fall (cool and breezy), and spring
(warm and breezy). There is about a 6 month growing season.
2000
bibliography: "Deciduous
Forest". World Book Encyclopedia. 1994 ed. "Deciduous",
Websters New World Dectionary, 1994 ed. "Temperate
Deciduous Forest", http://www.coff.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/clymo5.html
(June 4, 2000). "Mid-Latitude
Deciduous Forest", http://wbgnet.mobot/sets/temp/index.htm
(June 4, 2000).
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