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Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests include four layers. The upper most layer is the canopy which is composed of tall mature trees. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade tolerant understory. The top layer of the understory is the sub-canopy which is composed of smaller mature trees, saplings, and suppressed juveniles canopy layer trees awaiting an opening in the canopy. Below the sub-canopy is the shrub layer, composed of low growing woody plants. Typically the lowest growing (and most diverse) layer is the ground cover or herbaceous layer.
Characteristic dominant broadleaf trees in this biome include oaks (Quercus spp.), beeches (Fagus spp.), maples (Acer spp.), and birches (Betula spp.).[1] The term "mixed forest" comes from the inclusion of coniferous trees as a canopy component of these forests. Typical coniferous trees include: Pines (Pinus spp.), firs (Abies spp.), and spruces (Picea spp.). In some areas of this biome the conifers may be a more important canopy species than the broadleaf species.
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests occur in areas with distinct warm and cool season, which give it a moderate annual average temperature (5.5-15.6 Celsius). These forests occur in relatively warm and rainy climates, sometimes also with a distinct dry season. A dry season occurs in the winter in East Asia and in summer on the wet fringe of the Mediterranean climate zones. Other areas have a fairly even distribution of rainfall, annual rainfall is typically over 600 millimetres (24 inches) and often over 1500 millimetres (60 inches). Temperatures are typically moderate except in parts of Asia such as Ussuriland where temperate forests can occur despite extremely harsh conditions with very cold winters.
[edit] Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregions
| Palearctic Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests edit |
| Appenine deciduous montane forests |
Italy |
| Atlantic mixed forests |
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany. Netherlands |
| Azores temperate mixed forests |
Portugal |
| Balkan mixed forests |
Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey |
| Baltic mixed forests |
Denmark, Germany, Poland, Sweden |
| Cantabrian mixed forests |
Portugal, Spain |
| Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests |
Azerbaijan, Iran |
| Caucasus mixed forests |
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia Turkey |
| Celtic broadleaf forests |
Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Central Anatolian deciduous forests |
Turkey |
| Central China loess plateau mixed forests |
China |
| Central European mixed forests |
Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland |
| Central Korean deciduous forests |
North Korea, South Korea |
| Changbai Mountains mixed forests |
China, North Korea |
| Changjiang Plain evergreen forests |
China |
| Crimean Submediterranean forest complex |
Russia, Ukraine |
| Daba Mountains evergreen forests |
China |
| Dinaric Mountains mixed forests |
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia |
| East European forest steppe |
Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine |
| Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests |
Turkey |
| English Lowlands beech forests |
United Kingdom |
| Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests |
Georgia, Turkey |
| Hokkaido deciduous forests |
Japan |
| Huang He Plain mixed forests |
China |
| Madeira evergreen forests |
Portugal |
| Manchurian mixed forests |
China, North Korea, Russia, South Korea |
| Nihonkai evergreen forests |
Japan |
| Nihonkai montane deciduous forests |
Japan |
| North Atlantic moist mixed forests |
Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Northeast China Plain deciduous forests |
China |
| Pannonian mixed forests |
Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine |
| Po Basin mixed forests |
Italy |
| Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests |
Andorra, France, Spain |
| Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests |
China |
| Rodope montane mixed forests |
Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia |
| Sarmatic mixed forests |
Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Sweden |
| Sichuan Basin evergreen broadleaf forests |
China |
| South Sakhalin-Kurile mixed forests |
Russia |
| Southern Korea evergreen forests |
South Korea |
| Taiheiyo evergreen forests |
Japan |
| Taiheiyo montane deciduous forests |
Japan |
| Tarim Basin deciduous forests and steppe |
China |
| Ussuri broadleaf and mixed forests |
Russia |
| West Siberian broadleaf and mixed forests |
Russia |
| Western European broadleaf forests |
Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Switzerland |
| Zagros Mountains forest steppe |
Iran |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ World Wildlife Fund: Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest Ecoregions
