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Temperate Zone Forests

Temperate zone forests can be found in all continents. Their accurence depends geographical location or on altitude in warm zones. Usually it is very easy to explore this type of forest.


Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a temperate and humid ecosystems. 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 ecosystem include oaks (Quercus spp.), beeches (Fagus spp.), maples (Acer spp.), and birches (Betula spp.). 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 ecosystem 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. Lesy mírného pásma

The temperate coniferous forest includes areas such as the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southwestern South America, the rain forests of New Zealand and Tasmania, northwest Europe (small pockets in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Iceland and a somewhat larger area in Norway), southern Japan, and the eastern Black Sea-Caspian Sea region of Turkey and Georgia to northern Iran. The moist conditions of temperate rain forests generally support an understory of mosses, ecosystem and are notable for trees of massive proportions, including Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron gigantea), Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis), Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) and Kauri (Agathis australis). These forests are quite rare, occurring in small areas of North America, southwestern South America and northern New Zealand. The Klamath-Siskiyou forests of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon is known for its rich variety of plant and animal species, including many endemic species.

Taiga is an ecosystem characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway and Russia (especially Siberia), as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States (Northern Minnesota, Michigan, Upstate New York, New Hampshire, and Maine), northern Kazakhstan and Japan (Hokkaid?), the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial ecosystem. Boreal forest is the term used to refer to the southern part of this ecosystem, while "taiga" is used to describe the more barren northern areas of the Arctic tree line.

Since North America and Eurasia were formerly connected by the Bering land bridge, a number of animal and plant species (more animals than plants) were able to colonize both continents and are distributed throughout the taiga biome (see Circumboreal Region). Others differ regionally, typically with each genus having several distinct species, each occupying different regions of the taiga. Taigas also have some small-leaved deciduous trees like birch, alder, willow, and aspen; mostly in areas escaping the most extreme winter cold. However, the deciduous larch tolerates the coldest winters on the northern hemisphere in eastern Siberia. The southernmost part of the taiga also has trees like oak, maple, elm and tilia scattered among the conifers.

Albatros Travel and Expeditions can provide you many trips directed into areas of temperate zone forests. These trips are usually easy. Even not trained  people can take part in such journeys. There is a list of countries where temperate zone forests can be visited:

Sri Lanka - rarely in central and eastern part of the country

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Chile - most of the national parks in the central and southern part of the country

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Tanzania - only two isolated parks in the North

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