Temperate Deciduous Forest

Presentation for people learning about Temperate Deciduous Forests etc.

1. TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FORESTTEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST
A2 World Biomes (Geography)

2. LOCATIONLOCATION
•Eastern third of the
North America
•western Europe
•China, Korea, Japan and
Australia
•southern tip of South
America

3. •Over the course of the year the climate will range from cold with
precipitation in the form of snow, to hot, with precipitation in the form of
rain. Precipitation may vary with the seasons as well, with some seasons
being wetter than others.
•temperature ranges up to about 20° C down to freezing.
•Precipitation ranges from around 50 cm yr-1 in the colder regions to over
200 cm/yr.
Climate

4. INDICATOR AND DOMINANT SPECIESINDICATOR AND DOMINANT SPECIES
•Oaks (Quercus sp.)
•Many of the dominant species
produce very large seeds; the
large seed contains enough
food to sustain the seedling as
it grows up through the leaf
litter into the shaded world of
the forest floor.
•Hickories, walnuts and
Chestnut (Before Chestnut
Blight)
•Maples, beech, sycamores as
well as a host of others

5. CHARACTERISTICSCHARACTERISTICS
•Broad large leaves to help absorb as much sunlight as possible
for photosynthesis before the leaves are shed
•Shed leaves to prevent unnecessary loss of water in the winter

6. LAYERSLAYERS
•The forest is made up of
three layers

7. TOP LAYERTOP LAYER
•Thickest layer
•Grows up top between
20m and 30m
•Thickest cover during
summer when there is
more sunshine

8. SECOND/ MIDDLE LAYERSECOND/ MIDDLE LAYER
•Made up of shrubs and smaller trees

9. THIRD/BOTTOM LAYERTHIRD/BOTTOM LAYER
•Forest floor
•Made up of grasses, ferns and mosses

10. THE DIFFERENT CLIMATESTHE DIFFERENT CLIMATES
•Spring – bulbs use the free light before trees go into leaf and
block the light out

11. SUMMERSUMMER
•Summer – Leaves block out light to forest floor made season
for photosynthesis

12. AUTUMNAUTUMN
•As temperatures drop, the tree cuts off the supply of water to the
leaves and seals off the area between the leaf stem and the tree
trunk.
•With limited sunlight and water, the leaves are unable to
continue producing chlorophyll causing them to change into
beautiful red, yellow and orange colours.

13. WINTERWINTER
•In WINTER, it is too cold for the trees to protect their leaves
from freezing
• Losing their leaves helps trees to conserve water loss through
transpiration.
•Before the leaves die, some of the food material they contain is
drawn back into the twigs and branches where it is stored and
used the following spring.

14. MORE CHARACTERISTICSMORE CHARACTERISTICS
•Less dense than
rainforests
•Widely spaced trees
•Only a few types of trees
such as Oak, Elm, Beech,
Ash and Sycamore
•Leaf litter increased
during autumn and
decomposes over the year.
•Seasonal Changes
•Animals have to adapt to
the changing seasons
•Migration and hibernation
are two adaptations
•Some animals store food
over the winter
•Rich soils good for
agriculture

15. THREATSTHREATS
•Human settlements are often found near these forests because of
their rich soils and were easily converted to agricultural land
•The climate is warmer than the boreal forest, yet not so warm as
the tropics
•Biggest threat to temperate forests is once again development
and agriculture
•Other threats include logging; most trees are hardwoods,
meaning they have a denser wood than most coniferous trees.
•They grow more slowly, meaning more pressure to cut the trees
to maintain volume at the sawmill
•Acid Rain from coal-burning is another threat, as is global
warming, which in particular may change rainfall patterns