Temperate coniferous forest is aterrestrialbiome defined by theWorld Wide Fund for Nature. Temperateconiferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needleleaf trees dominate, while others are home primarily tobroadleafevergreen trees or a mix of both tree types.[1] A separate habitat type, thetropical coniferous forests, occurs in more tropical climates.
Temperate coniferous forests are common in the coastal areas of regions that have mild winters and heavy rainfall, or inland in drier climates ormontane areas. Many species of trees inhabit these forests includingpine,cedar,fir, andredwood. The understory also contains a wide variety of herbaceous and shrub species. Temperate coniferous forests sustain the highest levels ofbiomass in any terrestrial ecosystem and are notable for trees of massive proportions intemperate rainforest regions.[1]
Structurally, these forests are rather simple, consisting of 2 layers generally: anoverstory andunderstory. However, some forests may support a layer ofshrubs. Pine forests support an herbaceous ground layer that may be dominated bygrasses andforbs that lend themselves to ecologically importantwildfires. In contrast, the moist conditions found in temperate rain forests favor the dominance byferns and some forbs.[1]
Forest communities dominated by huge trees (e.g., giant sequoia,Sequoiadendron gigantea; redwood,Sequoia sempervirens), unusual ecological phenomena, occur in western North America, southwestern South America, as well as in the Australasian region in such areas as southeastern Australia and northern New Zealand.[1]
TheKlamath-Siskiyou ecoregion of western North America harbors diverse and unusual assemblages and displays notable endemism for a number of plant and animal taxa.[1][2]
There are small, temperate conifer forests in New Zealand.[3][4]
This article incorporates text available under theCC BY-SA 3.0 license.World Wide Fund for Nature."Temperate Coniferous Forest Ecoregions". Archived fromthe original on 2011-01-02.
Media related toTemperate coniferous forests at Wikimedia Commons
