Plants The northeast Asian
deciduous forest biome is located on the continent of Asia
at about 30° to 45° North latitude, and about
130° to 145° East longitude. The biome covers
parts of Korea, China, Russia, and Japan. In one part of
China it is known as the Northeast China Plain deciduous
forest, and in another part of China near the plain it is
known as the Manchurian mixed forest. The part located in
Korea is also known as the Central Korean deciduous forest.
The forest
experiences all four seasons, and has long cold winters, and
warm, humid summers. The temperature changes within the
seasons. Annually about 20-40 inches of rain falls, mostly
in the summer and fall. The Central Korean deciduous forest
covers about 40,400 square miles, and is about the size of
Ohio. The Manchurian mixed forest covers about 194,600
square miles, which is about twice the size of Wyoming, and
the Northeast China Plain deciduous forest covers 89,800
square miles, about twice the size of Pennsylvania. The
biome is highly elevated in some places and the home to more
than one mountain range. Walking through this
biome, the trees one would see would be similar to trees in
the United States. Pine trees, spruce, oak, and ash trees
grow in this biome as well as Manchurian elm, Manchurian
walnut, Mongolian oak, and Daurian birch. Below these trees
a valuable medicinal plant called the Asian ginseng grows,
as well as the shrubs bush clover, hazel, Daurian buckthorn,
hawthorn, and the thorny Daurian rose. The Mongolian oak,
and the Daurian birch tend to grow in drier spaces. Many
areas like where the Mongolian oak, and Daurian birch stand
are very dry, but other areas are prone to seasonal
flooding. Forests there probably include woodland,
grassland, and swamp components with closed canopy forest
staying in the well drained but wetter sights. The bamboo
plant, which grows in the area, has adapted to growing in
the cleared areas of the forest, rather then the shady
ground floor. Though some trees in
the Northeast Asian deciduous forest are the same as those
in the United States, if one got a glance at the animals
they could tell they were not in the USA. The endangered
red-crowned crane, and red panda are two of these animals.
Others that now have first class protection are the sable,
Sika deer, leopard, and Siberian tiger. Otters hang out in
freshwater streams in this forest biome, while Asiatic black
bears look for insects. Leopards and Siberian tigers hunt in
search of their prey, which include musk deer, red deer,
Sika deer, and goat-like animals called gorals. Lynx and
sable prowl for smaller prey, which include rodents and
small birds. Pandas in the area adapt to the area by growing
thick winter coats. In recent decades
heavy logging has extensively changed much of the forest.
Timber harvesting, over-harvesting, and fires have also
dramatically reduced the amount of Asian ginseng, which is
rare, or extinct in most of eastern Asia. The Northeast
China Plain is intensively farmed for wheat mainly, so very
little traces of the original forest remain. Patches of
forest can still be seen in some places where it has been
protected for religious reasons, or where the land is steep
and inaccessible. At the mouth of the Liao River where
wetlands, reed beds, sand, and mudflat areas still exist,
there is a breeding shelter to protect endangered
red-crowned cranes and Saunders gulls lies, called the
Shuangtai Itekou Nature Reserve. Though the Northeast
Asian deciduous forest conservation status is critical and
endangered, hopefully in this millennium more reserves will
be established, and maybe the countries' government will do
something about the extensive farming in the Northeast China
Plain. Hopefully the deciduous forest will never fully
disappear. Mariah H.
2003
bibliography: Green, Robert.
China. Lucent Books, CA: 1999. Kaplan, Elizabeth.
Temperate Forest. Benchmark Books, New York:
1996. "Terrestrial
Ecoregions--Central Korean Deciduous Forest." "Terrestrial
Ecoregions--Manchurian mixed forests." "Terrestrial
Ecoregions--Northeast China Plain deciduous forest." Wakeman, Fredrick
Jr. "China" World Book, 2002 ed
http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/pa/pa0413_full.html
(2/10/03)
http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/pa/pa0426_full.html
(12/10/02)
http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/pa/pa0430_full.html
(12/11/02)
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