Shades of Green: Earth's Forests -- Temperate Forests

The temperate forest experiences warm, enjoyable summers, and cold, often harsh winters. With these winters comes snow toward the northern range of the forests, rapidly decreasing in amount near the southern end. The growing season lasts about six months, and the twenty to sixty inches of precipitation is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Conditions such as heavy tree cover and mild, damp summers allow organic materials to build up on the forest floor. These materials eventually turn into humus, a brown or black material resulting from the decay of organic materials. It forms the organic portion of the soil.

Right: The top of a small fir tree covered in snow. Below: In a thick temperate forest, little light reaches through the branches. Photos by Maya Walters.

Broad-leaved forests occur throughout the temperate zone where the climate is moist. In colder areas the trees are deciduous and many animals hibernate or migrate south for the winter. During the summer these forests are the temporary home of many migratory birds which come for the variety of food sources available at this time of year, such as insects and berries. Insects are extremely abundant in these forests because of the huge supply of leaves. In more southern areas, the trees keep their leaves all year long and forests have a lush almost tropical appearance.
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temperate forests -- page 3 of 6
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sub-topics
[broadleaf forests] [coniferous forests] [temperate rain forests]

related topics
[seasons] [water] [fungi]

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