Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Biome}}

{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}

[[File:Biome_map_04.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.8|Extent of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests]]

[[File:La Mauricie NP 39.jpg|thumb|right|An example of temperate broadleaf and mixed forest in [[La Mauricie National Park]], [[Quebec]].]]

'''Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest''' is a [[temperate climate]] terrestrial [[habitat (ecology)|habitat type]] defined by the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]], with [[broadleaf tree]] [[ecoregion]]s, and with [[conifer]] and broadleaf tree [[mixed coniferous forest]] ecoregions., <ref name=wwf/> and include [[temperate rainforest]]s.

These forests are richest and most distinctive in central China and eastern [[North America]], with some other globally distinctive ecoregions in the [[CaucasusHimalayas]], the[[Western Europe|Western]] and [[HimalayasCentral Europe]], the southern coast of the [[SouthernBlack EuropeSea]], [[Australasia]], Southwestern [[South America]] and the [[Russian Far East]].<ref name=wwf/><ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Zhao|editor-first1=Ji|editor-last2=Zheng|editor-first2=Guangmei|editor-last3=Wang|editor-first3=Huadong|editor-last4=Xu|editor-first4=Jialin|year=1990|title=The natural history of China|publisher=McGraw-Hill Publishing Company|___location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Martin|editor-first1=WH|editor-first2=SG|editor-last2=Boyce|editor-first3=AC|editor-last3=Echternacht|year=1993|title=Biodiversity of the southeastern United States: Lowland terrestrial communities|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|___location=New York}}</ref>

==Ecology==

The typical structure of these forests includes four layers. <ref name=wwf>{{CC-notice|bysa3}} {{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401124425/http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/about/habitat_types/selecting_terrestrial_ecoregions/habitat04.cfm|archive-date=2011-04-01|url=http://wwf.panda.org:80/about_our_earth/ecoregions/about/habitat_types/selecting_terrestrial_ecoregions/habitat04.cfm|author=World Wide Fund for Nature|title=Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest Ecoregions|access-date=2019-05-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* The uppermost layer is the [[canopy (forest)|canopy]] composed of tall mature trees ranging from {{convert|100|to|200|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} high. Below the canopy is the three-layered, [[shade-tolerant]] [[understory]] that is roughly {{convert|30|to|50|ft|m|0|abbr=on|order=flip}} shorter than the canopy.

* The top layer of the understory is the sub-canopy composed of smaller mature trees, [[sapling]]s, and suppressed juvenile canopy layer trees awaiting an opening in the canopy.

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==Trees==

In the Northern hemisphereHemisphere, characteristic dominant [[broadleaf tree]]s in this biome include oaks (''[[Quercus]]'' spp.), beeches (''[[Beech|Fagus]]'' spp.), maples (''[[Maple|Acer]]'' spp.), or birches (''[[Betula]]'' spp.).<ref name=wwf/> The term "mixed forest" comes from the inclusion of coniferous trees as a canopy component of some of these forests. Typical coniferous trees include pines (''[[Pinus]]'' spp.), firs (''[[Abies]]'' spp.), and spruces (''[[Picea]]'' spp.). In some areas of this biome, the [[conifer]]s may be a more important canopy species than the broadleaf species. In the Southern Hemisphere, endemic genera such as ''[[Nothofagus]]'' and ''[[Eucalyptus]]'' occupy this biome, and most coniferous trees (members of the [[Araucariaceae]] and [[Podocarpaceae]]) occur in mixtures with broadleaf species, and are classed as broadleaf and mixed forests.

==Climate==

Temperate [[Broadleaf forest|broadleaf]] and mixed forests occur in areas with distinct warm and cool seasons, including climates such as [[humid continental]], [[humid subtropical]], and [[Oceanic climate|oceanic]], that give them moderate annual average temperatures —: {{convert|3|to|23|C|F|0}}. 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, such as central eastern North America, have a fairly even distribution of rainfall; annual rainfall is typically over {{convert|600|mm|in|abbr=on}} and often over {{convert|1500|mm|in|abbr=on}}, though it can go as low as {{convert|300|mm|in|abbr=on}} in some parts of the Middle East and close to {{convert|6000|mm|in|abbr=on}} in the mountains of New Zealand and the Azores. Temperatures are typically moderate except in parts of Asia such as [[Ussuriland]], or the [[Upper Midwest]], where temperate forests can occur despite very harsh conditions with very cold winters.

The climates are typically humid for much of the year, usually appearing in the northern fringe of the [[humid subtropical climate]] without summer being extremely hot and winterin verythe mild, and in[[humid continental climate]] zones to the south of [[tundra]] and the generally [[subarctic climate|subarctic]] [[taiga]]. In the [[Köppen climate classification]] they are represented respectively by ''[[humid subtropical climate|Cfa]]'', ''[[humid continental climate|Dfa/Dfb]]'' southern range and ''[[oceanic climate|Cfb]]'',<ref>{{Citation|last=F|first=Beck, H. E. , Zimmermann, N. E. , McVicar, T. R. , Vergopolan, N. , Berg, A. , & Wood, E.|title=English: Köppen–Geiger climate classification map.Français: Carte de classification climatique de Köppen–Geiger.|date=2018-11-06|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:K%C3%B6ppen-Geiger_Climate_Classification_Map.png|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Terpsichores|title=English: Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests|date=2012-10-28|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biome_map_04.svg|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref> and more rarely, ''[[Mediterranean climate|Csb]]'', ''[[semi-arid climate|BskBSk]]'' and ''[[Mediterranean climate|Csa]]''.

==Ecoregions==

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| [[Western Himalayan broadleaf forests]]

| [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Pakistan]]

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable" style="width:70%; margin: 0 auto;"

|-

! colspan="2" style="background:lightgreen;" | [[Palearctic realm|Palearctic]] temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

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|-

| [[Sarmatic mixed forests]]

| [[Russia]], [[Sweden]], [[Norway]], [[Denmark]], [[Finland]], [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], [[Belarus]]

|-

| [[Sichuan Basin evergreen broadleaf forests]]

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===Americas===

{{Nearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests}}

{{NeotropicalNearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forestsforest ecoregions}}

{{NearcticNeotropical temperate broadleaf and mixed forestsforest ecoregions}}

==See also==