1

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_forest.htm

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: BiomesHabits", http://www.zoomwhales.com/biomes/tempdecid/tempdecid.sht
ml, 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).

Climate:
Moist Continental Climate (Cf)
Deciduous forests are in Kppen's C climate category. The corresponding biome is
the Deciduous Forest, or Temperate Forest biome. The latitude range is anywhere
from 23 north to 38 south.
One thing that is interesting about this biome and its climate is that it has four
distinct seasons; spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Most deciduous forests have
mild summers averaging about 70 F. Summer months usually begin in early June
and end in late August. Winter months don't begin until December. Winter
temperatures are fairly cool with an average temperature of a little below freezing.
Almost all of the world's deciduous forest is located by an ocean. The ocean and the
wind are two big factors of why the temperature and climate change so much in this
biome.
Climate is a mix of temperature and precipitation. Deciduous forests have almost 14
inches of rain in the winter months and more than 18 inches of rain in the summer.

I hope you enjoyed my report on the climate of a deciduous forest and that you
learned a few things from it. Just remember that next time you look out your
window you could be looking at a deciduous forest.
Perry D. 2000

Bibliography:
"Mid-Latitude Deciduous Forest"
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/climo5.html, (June '00)
1998 "Deciduous Forest" The New Book of Knowledge p.206-207

Deciduous https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deciduous
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deciduous forest in autumn

Deciduous forest in winter

Mixed deciduous forest in spring

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity"[1] or "tending to fall off",[2] and it is typically used in order to refer
to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally (most commonly during autumn) and to the shedding of other
plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe. In a more general sense, deciduous means "the
dropping of a part that is no longer needed" or "falling away after its purpose is finished". In plants it is the result
of natural processes. "Deciduous" has a similar meaning when referring to animal parts, such as
deciduous antlers in deer[3] or deciduous teeth, also known as baby teeth, in some mammals (including humans).

Botany[edit]
In botany and horticulture, deciduous plants, including trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials, are those that
lose all of their leaves for part of the year.[4] This process is called abscission.[5] In some cases leaf loss coincides
with winter namely in temperate or polar climates.[6] In other parts of the world, including tropical, subtropical,
and arid regions, plants lose their leaves during the dry season or other seasons, depending on variations
in rainfall.

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The converse of deciduous is evergreen, where foliage is shed on a different schedule from deciduous trees,
therefore appearing to remain green year round.[7] Plants that are intermediate may be called semi-deciduous;
they lose old foliage as new growth begins.[8] Other plants are semi-evergreen and lose their leaves before the
next growing season, retaining some during winter or dry periods.[9] Some trees, including a few species of oak,
have desiccated leaves that remain on the tree through winter; these dry persistent leaves are
called marcescent leaves and are dropped in the spring as new growth begins.

Like many deciduous plants, Forsythia flowers during the leafless season
Many deciduous plants flower during the period when they are leafless, as this increases the effectiveness
of pollination. The absence of leaves improves wind transmission of pollen for wind-pollinated plants and
increases the visibility of the flowers to insects in insect-pollinated plants. This strategy is not without risks, as
the flowers can be damaged by frost or, in dry season regions, result in water stress on the plant. Nevertheless,
there is much less branch and trunk breakage from glaze ice storms when leafless, and plants can reduce water
loss due to the reduction in availability of liquid water during cold winter days. [10]
Leaf drop or abscission involves complex physiological signals and changes within plants. The process of
photosynthesis steadily degrades the supply of chlorophylls in foliage; plants normally replenish chlorophylls
during the summer months. When autumn arrives and the days are shorter or when plants are drought-stressed,
[11]
deciduous trees decrease chlorophyll pigment production, allowing other pigments present in the leaf to
become apparent, resulting in non-green colored foliage. The brightest leaf colors are produced when days grow
short and nights are cool, but remain above freezing. [12] These other pigments include carotenoids that are
yellow, brown, and orange. Anthocyanin pigments produce red and purple colors, though they are not always
present in the leaves. Rather, they are produced in the foliage in late summer, when sugars are trapped in the
leaves after the process of abscission begins. Parts of the world that have showy displays of bright autumn
colors are limited to locations where days become short and nights are cool. In other parts of the world, the
leaves of deciduous trees simply fall off without turning the bright colors produced from the accumulation of
anthocyanin pigments.
Further information: Autumn leaf color
The beginnings of leaf drop starts when an abscission layer is formed between the leaf petiole and the stem.
This layer is formed in the spring during active new growth of the leaf; it consists of layers of cells that can
separate from each other. The cells are sensitive to a plant hormone called auxin that is produced by the leaf
and other parts of the plant. When auxin coming from the leaf is produced at a rate consistent with that from the
body of the plant, the cells of the abscission layer remain connected; in autumn, or when under stress, the auxin
flow from the leaf decreases or stops, triggering cellular elongation within the abscission layer. The elongation of
these cells break the connection between the different cell layers, allowing the leaf to break away from the plant.
It also forms a layer that seals the break, so the plant does not lose sap.
A number of deciduous plants remove nitrogen and carbon from the foliage before they are shed and store them
in the form of proteins in the vacuoles of parenchyma cells in the roots and the inner bark. In the spring, these
proteins are used as a nitrogen source during the growth of new leaves or flowers. [13]

Function[edit]
Plants with deciduous foliage have advantages and disadvantages compared to plants with evergreen foliage.
Since deciduous plants lose their leaves to conserve water or to better survive winter weather conditions, they
must regrow new foliage during the next suitable growing season; this uses resources which evergreens do not
need to expend. Evergreens suffer greater water loss during the winter and they also can experience greater
predation pressure, especially when small. Losing leaves in winter may reduce damage from insects; repairing
leaves and keeping them functional may be more costly than just losing and regrowing them. [14] Removing leaves
also reduces cavitation which can damage xylem vessels in plants. This then allows deciduous plants to have
xylem vessels with larger diameters and therefore a greater rate oftranspiration (and hence CO2 uptake as this
occurs when stomata are open) during the summer growth period.

Deciduous woody plants[edit]

The deciduous characteristic has developed repeatedly among woody plants. Trees include maple,
many oaks, elm, aspen, and birch, among others, as well as a number of coniferous genera, such as larch and
Metasequoia. Deciduous shrubs include honeysuckle, viburnum, and many others. Most temperate woody vines
are also deciduous, including grapes, poison ivy, Virginia creeper, wisteria, etc. The characteristic is useful in
plant identification; for instance in parts of Southern California and the American Southeast, deciduous
and evergreen oak species may grow side by side.
Periods of leaf fall often coincide with seasons: winter in the case of cool-climate plants or the dry-season in the
case of tropical plants,[15] however there are no deciduous species among tree-like monocotyledonousplants,
e.g. palms, yuccas, and dracaenas.

Regions[edit]

Lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) dominated deciduous woodland in early spring.

Forests where a majority of the trees lose their foliage at the end of the typical growing season are called
deciduous forests. These forests are found in many areas worldwide and have distinctive ecosystems,
understory growth, and soil dynamics.[16]
Two distinctive types of deciduous forest are found growing around the world.
Temperate deciduous forest biomes are plant communities distributed in North and South America, Asia,
Southern slopes of the Himalayas, Europe and for cultivation purposes in Oceania. They have formed under
climatic conditions which have great seasonable temperature variability with growth occurring during warm
summers and leaf drop in autumn and dormancy during cold winters. These seasonally distinctive communities
have diverse life forms that are impacted greatly by the seasonality of their climate, mainly temperature and
precipitation rates. These varying and regionally different ecological conditions produce distinctive forest plant
communities in different regions.

Dry-season deciduous tropical forest

Tropical and subtropical deciduous forest biomes have developed in response not to seasonal temperature
variations but to seasonal rainfall patterns. During prolonged dry periods the foliage is dropped to conserve
water and prevent death from drought. Leaf drop is not seasonally dependent as it is in temperate climates, and
can occur any time of year and varies by region of the world. Even within a small local area there can be
variations in the timing and duration of leaf drop; different sides of the same mountain and areas that have high
water tables or areas along streams and rivers can produce a patchwork of leafy and leafless trees. [17]

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Deciduous Forest
The mid-latitude deciduous forest biome is located between the polar regions and the tropics.
Because of its location, air masses from both the cold polar region and the warm tropical
region contribute to the changes of climate in this biome. Photo 2000-www.arttoday.com

Mid-latitude deciduous forests have both a warm and a cold season (see climograph).
Precipitation ranges from 30 to 60 inches and is evenly distributed throughout the year. Much
of the human population lives in this biome. Although evergreens are found in this biome, this
biome is characterized by an abundance of deciduous trees.
"Deciduous" means to fall off, or shed, seasonally. Just as the name implies, these deciduous
trees shed their leaves each fall. Lying on the forest floor, the leaves decay. As the leaves
decompose, the nutrients contained in the leaves are absorbed by the soil. For this reason,
the soils of this biome tend to be very fertile. Because this biome has fertile soil and a long, 5
to 6 month, growing season, many deciduous forests have been converted into agricultural
regions.

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/dforest.html

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Valuable Timber and Rich Soil

People cut down forests for houses, ships, furniture, and paper. The land
beneath healthy forests is often very rich and good for farming. So farmers
cut them down to make space for their farms. It is a benefit for them, but not
necessarily good for the forests. The farmers get amazing quality crops, but
the forests may never grow back. People also value paper and books for
writing on. People couldn't really live without paper, but we could try to cut
down less trees.
Redwood trees can be found in California. They are the tallest trees and
among the largest living organisms. They are also worth ten-million dollars
and make amazing lumber wood. One way that redwoods are like humans
other than the fact that they are alive, is that when you cut them down, it
looks like they are bleeding. Sadly, these gorgeous trees are not protected
by law.

Nature's Cleaning

ecosignal.org

Clean air and water is absolutely necessary for our environment and a
healthy biome, and it is partially up to you to keep it clean. In every country,
protection of any biome is critical for healthy water. In clear-cut forests, the
soil loses nutrients and therefore becomes less potential for a growing

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environment. Over time, if there are no trees to keep the soil rich, few plants
can grow and the land looks like a desert.
There are other ways that the deciduous forests are slowly dying. Usually, when
factories are done with their chemicals, they have nothing else to do with
them except dump them in the river. A long time ago, the rivers were so
polluted that they started turning different colors and all the living creatures
in the rivers died.

Acid Rain
Acid rain is one of the most destructive types of pollution. Coal burning
power plants, car fuel, and other sources mix with rain and over time, the
rain kills trees and other plants. It can cause major environmental harm on
not only trees and plants but on living organisms in ponds and lakes.

HOW CAN YOU HELP PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT?

We hope you have learned how important the environment is from reading
about deciduous forests. You have probably also learned that they are not
protected properly and that there is a lot of pollution going on around us.
Here are a few ways you can help protect our beloved home. One thing is
that you can encourage your parents to drive less often, go biking, and get
more exercise. One major way to help our environment grow is to plant more
trees...EVERYWHERE! You and a small group of people could go around
and clean up the rivers and ponds around our forests. Another way you can
help is to recycle your paper when you are done with it instead of throwing it
away in the trash. Try to buy recycled items as often as you can so they can
easily decompose into the environment again. A great thing to do to help
and make the forests feel appreciated is to responsibly spend more of your
free time in the forest, smell it, discover it's secrets, and watch the seasons
change. To reduce the use of paper towels, clean up spills with a cloth. No
matter what you think you can make a big difference in the world just by
cleaning it up.

Easy Ways To Help The Environment

Encourage your parents to drive less often, go biking, and get more exercise

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Plant more trees...EVERYWHERE

Clean up the rivers and ponds around our forest

Recycle your paper

Buy recycled items as often as you can

Responsibly spend more of your free time in the forest

Clean up spills with a cloth

IMPORTANT VOCABULARY:

Potential: having or showing the capacity to become or develop

Succession: second growth on any old land

Regeneration: regrowth

Organisms: an individual plant or animal

http://deciduousforest3.weebly.com/human-impacts.html

Environmental Problems in Temperate Deciduous

Forests
The Cost of Acquiring Lumber
If you cut down trees for a living, you may create conditions that have mild to
devastating effects on life in an ecosystem. As NASA reports, "In addition to the
species lost when an area is totally deforested, the plants and animals in the
fragments of forest that remain also become increasingly vulnerable, sometimes
even committed, to extinction." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA's) Western Ecology Division in Corvallis Oregon reports that slowing
deforestation can also help sequester or conserve large amounts of carbon that
can lead to environmental warming.

Fire and Pathogen Threats

Parasites and pathogens can have large scale effects on life forms of all types
including deciduous forests. For example, the EPA reports that a chestnut blight
once "completely restructured North American temperate deciduous forests."
Pathogens may also cause the loss of some or all members in a native species.

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Wildlife recreation and other human activities near forests may lead to fire which
could cause pathogen levels in forests to increase.

Climate Change Changes Things

Thirty three percent of the country's land consists of forests. Climate change
affects the growth of those forests and can impact their productivity. Warming from
higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels can make growing seasons longer and
cause some areas to experience more droughts. Warmer weather may also change
the rate at which insect infestations, and cause destructive storms occur. While
some forests may recover from these types of problems others may not. Wild fires
resulting from warmer weather are also a threat, especially during drought.

Deciduous Forest Facts

In addition to deforestation and overgrazing, agricultural practices have deciduous
forests exist around the world. They were also some of the first forests that people
converted to agricultural use. Broad leaves on trees in temperate deciduous
forests help provide shade for shrubs and other plants on the ground. While a wide
variety of animals and birds found homes in these forests, their populations
dwindle as humans continue to remove the trees and use the land for other
purposes.

http://education.seattlepi.com/environmental-problems-temperatedeciduous-forests-4683.html