Temperate_coniferous_forest

Temperate coniferous forest

Temperate coniferous forest

Forests found in areas with warm summers and cool winters


Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needleleaf trees dominate, while others are home primarily to broadleaf evergreen trees or a mix of both tree types.[1] A separate habitat type, the tropical coniferous forests, occurs in more tropical climates.

Extent of Temperate coniferous forest

Temperate coniferous forests are common in the coastal areas of regions that have mild winters and heavy rainfall, or inland in drier climates or montane areas. Many species of trees inhabit these forests including pine, cedar, fir, and redwood. The understory also contains a wide variety of herbaceous and shrub species. Temperate coniferous forests sustain the highest levels of biomass in any terrestrial ecosystem and are notable for trees of massive proportions in temperate rainforest regions.[1]

Structurally, these forests are rather simple, consisting of 2 layers generally: an overstory and understory. However, some forests may support a layer of shrubs. Pine forests support an herbaceous ground layer that may be dominated by grasses and forbs that lend themselves to ecologically important wildfires. In contrast, the moist conditions found in temperate rain forests favor the dominance by ferns and some forbs.[1]

A pine forest is an example of a temperate coniferous forest

Forest communities dominated by huge trees (e.g., giant sequoia, Sequoiadendron gigantea; redwood, Sequoia sempervirens), unusual ecological phenomena, occur in western North America, southwestern South America, as well as in the Australasian region in such areas as southeastern Australia and northern New Zealand.[1]

The Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion of western North America harbors diverse and unusual assemblages and displays notable endemism for a number of plant and animal taxa.[1][2]

Ecoregions

Eurasia

Carpathian montane conifer forest, Slovakia.
Forest south of Munich
Alps conifer and mixed forests Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland
Altai montane forest and forest steppe China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia
Caledon conifer forests United Kingdom
Carpathian montane conifer forests Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine
Da Hinggan–Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests China, Russia
East Afghan montane conifer forests Afghanistan, Pakistan
Elburz Range forest steppe Iran
Helanshan montane conifer forests China
Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests China
Hokkaido montane conifer forests Japan
Honshū alpine conifer forests Japan
Khangai Mountains conifer forests Mongolia
Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests Algeria, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia
Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests China, India, Bhutan
Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests Turkey
Nujiang Langcang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests China
Qilian Mountains conifer forests China
Qionglai–Minshan conifer forests China
Sayan montane conifer forests Mongolia, Russia
Scandinavian coastal conifer forests Norway
Tian Shan montane conifer forests China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan


Cedrus deodara in the Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests,
Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests Bhutan, India, Nepal
Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests India, Nepal, Pakistan

North America

A temperate coniferous forest ecosystem in Petroglyphs Provincial Park, Ontario.
More information Nearctic ...

See also


References

  1.  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license. World Wide Fund for Nature. "Temperate Coniferous Forest Ecoregions". Archived from the original on 2011-01-02.
  2. Kauffmann, Michael (2012). Conifer Country. Kneeland: Backcountry Press. ISBN 978-0-578-09416-8.
  • Waring, Richard H (2002). "Temperate coniferous forest" (PDF). Volume 2, The Earth system: biological and ecological dimensions of global environmental change. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. pp. 560–565. Retrieved April 18, 2012.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Temperate_coniferous_forest, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.