Mekaled 1 Jamal Mekaled Geography Mr.

C 10 June 2013 Ecology of Temperate Rainforests Temperate rainforests are beautiful biomes that are very nearby and common to the western side of Canada and the United States. A temperate rainforest is a coniferous or broad leaf forest with high rainfall, meaning it is very wet. This biome receives up to 200 inches of rainfall every year and occupies only 75 million acres of the worlds surface area. Like its tropical counterpart the temperate rainforest has layers. The temperate rainforest has three main layers: canopy, understory, and undergrowth. In the canopy conifers dominate because of their ability to grow very tall. Commonly, coastal redwoods (Sequoia Sempervirens) occupy the canopy layer because they grow up to 300 feet, but generally only grow in California, the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) is in the canopy because it holds the record for second tallest growing conifer (280 feet), in third place the Sitka spruce (Picea Sitchensis) with 230 feet, and in fourth the western red cedar (Thuya Plicata). Under that is the understory which is full of shade tolerant small trees or large shrubs such as pacific dogwood (Cornus Nuttallii) or vine maple (Acer Circinatum). The lowest layer is the undergrowth that has low growing lichens (a combination of algae and fungus), wildflowers, and grasses. Although the temperate rainforests biodiversity is not as wide as that of the tropical rainforest it has its fair share of diverse organisms. These animals include beavers, raccoons, black bears, cougars, elk, deer, and several species of birds. Amongst the most important are the

Mekaled 2 elk because their foraging and trampling of the foliage around the forest helps implantation when grazing. Depending on which temperate rainforest youre talking about the types of birds that live in these forests change. The temperate rainforest only has two seasons, one very long wet season when the temperatures hardly ever reach freezing weather and one short dry season when temperatures rarely exceed 26 degrees Celsius. It also contains loads of fog which attributes to rain for about 7 to 12 inches a year. This suggests that it is very wet and humid throughout the summer and colder and wet during the winter. These types of forests can be found in northern coastal California, Oregon, Washington, Canada, Alaska, and some places in South America, Europe, Asia, and even Australia .The temperate rainforest is a very interesting environment that I wish to explore further after this assignment. Full of beautiful flora and fauna this biome is a whole world on its own.