Deciduous Forest Review

Deciduous

Forest

Emma, Myana, Heidi

Climatogram

The temperature can vary from season to season with cold
winters and hot summers.

Latitude or Angle of Insolation

The deciduous forests are between approximately 25 ° and 50 °
latitude. They get about 12 hours of sunlight everyday during the
year, 16 hours in summer, and 8 in the winter.

Proximity to Coastline

The temperate rainforests of South America are located on the
Pacific coast of southern Chile, on the west-facing slopes of the
southern Chilean coast range, and the Andes Mountains in both
Chile and Western Argentina down to the southern tip of South
America, and are part of the Neotropical realm. The wind action
results in a redistribution of growth such that the trees are shorter
with more tapered trunks on the edge of the woods. The ocean
currents keep temperatures warmer.

Topography

The terrain in the Temperate Deciduous Forest varies. A few of the
terrain types are: crags, cliffs, mountains, valleys, plateaus, and
rolling hills. Lower elevations of a mountain may be warmer and
receive more precipitation while higher elevation may be colder and
receive less precipitation.

Amount of Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life. Deciduous forests have high
levels of biodiversity with rich soils and a moderate climate allowing
for various plant and animal species. Deciduous trees dominate,
providing leaf litter that enriches the soil and habitats for
invertebrates and predators.

Major Plant adaptations

Broad leaves can capture a lot of sunlight for a tree. Many trees have
thick bark to protect against the cold winters in the temperate
deciduous forest. In the autumn, deciduous trees drop their leaves to
minimize water loss. Their leaves change color from green in the
summer to red, orange, or yellow in the winter so they can survive.

Major Animal Adaptions

Migration and hibernation are two adaptations used by the animals
in the Deciduous forests. Migrations is a seasonal movement of
animals from one region to another, while hibernation is when an
animal slows its heart rate to save energy and survive the winter
without eating much.

Migration animals - cardinals, chickadees, owls, hawks, blue jays, and
sparrows.

Hibernation animals - raccoons, skunks, deer, bear, foxes, chipmunks,
and squirrels.
deer, bears, and wolves.

Keystone, Endangered, and Bioindicator species

Keystone species is a species that influences the survival of many other
species in an ecosystem. Some examples of keystone species in the
deciduous forest biome are deer, bears, and wolves.

Endangered species is an animal species that is in danger of becoming
extinct. Some endangered animals in this biome are the bald eagle, grey
wolf, the whooping crane, otters, the Indiana bat, and the peregrine falcon.

The Bioindicator species is a species that is so closely associated with
particular environmental conditions that its presence is indicative of these
conditions in a particular environment. One example of a bioindicator
species that lives in the deciduous forest is the woodpecker.