Temperate Forests

Climate

• Named for their occurrence at Mid-Latitudes

• Extreme fluctuations in daily and seasonal temperatures and precipitation

Forest Biotic Structure

• Upper Canopy Layer Dominant Trees

• Lower Canopy Layer Saplings & Understory Trees

• Shrub LayerWoody Shrubs

• Ground LayerHerbs, Ferns, and Mosses

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

Symbiosis & the Forest

• MycorrhizaeFungi that have developed beneficial relations with the tree roots providing them water and nutrients for sugars

• LichensFungi and algae that live on tree bark

Forest Abiotic Factors

• Sunlight, Temperature, and Humidity change seasonally

• These factors may effect the stomatal densities of forest plants

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

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

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

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

Human Impacts

• Lumber and Paper• Cleared for

Agriculture• Mining• Human

Development• Global Warming