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5.4.9: Temperate Deciduous Forests

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    34099

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    Learning Objective

    Recognize distinguishing characteristics of temperate forests & plant adaptations of the biome.

    Temperate deciduous forests are the most common biome in eastern North America, Western Europe, Eastern Asia, Chile, and New Zealand. This biome is found throughout mid-latitude regions and is the second most common biome in the world at 25% forest cover. Temperatures range between –30oC and 30oC (–22oF to 86oF) and drop to below freezing on an annual basis. These temperatures mean that temperate forests have defined growing seasons during the spring, summer, and early fall. Precipitation is relatively constant throughout the year and ranges between 75 cm and 150 cm (29.5–59 in). However, in the winter, the precipitation falls in the form of snow.

    Deciduous trees are the dominant plant in this biome with fewer evergreen conifers. Deciduous trees lose their leaves each fall and remain leafless in the winter. Thus, little photosynthesis occurs during the dormant winter period. Each spring, new leaves appear as temperature increases. Due to the dormant period, the net primary productivity and diversity of tree species is less than that of tropical rainforests. Yet, since deciduous trees lose their leaves during the drier part of the year, the sunlight that reaches the ground provides energy for the growth of wildflowers, ferns, mosses, and lichens. The thick layer of leaf litter on forest floors allows provides cover for invertebrates. Decay of leaf litter and the reduced leaching of nutrients by rainfall allows detritivores and decomposers to thrive, returning nutrients to the soil. The leaf litter also protects soil from erosion & insulates the ground (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)).

    Adaptations

    Deciduous trees in this biome begin to lose their leaves in autumn. As light levels are reduced, leaves stop receiving nutrients from the tree due to changes in hormone level and nutrients are instead stored in the root for future use. Chlorophyll molecules begin to break down within the leaves. This allows the carotenoid pigments, which are orange, red, and yellow, to become visible. By winter, the trees have shed their leaves completely. The thick bark of the tree will be protected from the cold as the tree stays dormant for the winter. However, as spring arrives, an increase in sunlight and liquid water from melted snow triggers new growth of leaves and the stored nutrients within the soil are used to begin leaf growth.

    A deciduous forest with tall and small trees, grasses, leaf cover. Sunlight hits the forest floor.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Deciduous trees are the dominant plant in the temperate forest. (credit: Oliver Herold)

    Attributions

    Curated and authored by Kammy Algiers using Terrestrial Biomes from Biology 2e by OpenStax (CC-BY). Access for free at openstax.org

    This page titled 5.4.9: Temperate Deciduous Forests is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Melissa Ha, Maria Morrow, & Kammy Algiers (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative) .