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Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Temperate coniferous forests
Temperate coniferous forests are a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. In most temperate coniferous forests, evergreen conifers predominate, while some are a mix of conifers and broadleaf evergreen trees and/or broadleaf deciduous trees. Temperate evergreen forests are common in the coastal areas of regions that have mild winters and heavy rainfall, or inland in drier climates or mountain areas. Many species of trees inhabit these forests including cedar, cypress, douglas-fir, fir, juniper, kauri, pine, podocarpus, spruce, redwood and yew. The understory also contains a wide variety of herbaceous and shrub species.
Structurally, these forests are rather simple, generally consisting of two layers: an overstory and understory. Some forests may support an intermediate layer of shrubs. Pine forests support an herbaceous understory that is generally dominated by grasses and herbaceous perennials, and are often subject to ecologically important wildfires.
Temperate rain forests only occur in seven regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest, the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southwestern South America, the rain forests of New Zealand and Tasmania, northwest Europe (small pockets in Ireland, Scotland, and Iceland), 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, ferns and some shrubs. Temperate rain forests can be Temperate coniferous forests or Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests.
The temperate coniferous rain forests sustain the highest levels of biomass in any terrestrial 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 Western 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.
Temperate coniferous forest ecoregions
| Australasia ecozone |
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Australasian mixed temperate rain forests (New Zealand, Tasmania, southeast Australia)
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| | Nearctic ecozone |
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Alberta Mountain forests (Canada)
Alberta-British Columbia foothills forests (Canada)
Arizona Mountains forests (United States)
Atlantic coastal pine barrens (United States)
Blue Mountains forests (United States)
British Columbia mainland coastal forests (Canada, United States)
Cascade Mountains leeward forests (Canada, United States)
Central and Southern Cascades forests (United States)
Central British Columbia Mountain forests (Canada)
Central Mexican Volcanoes forests (Mexico)
Central Pacific coastal forests (Canada, United States)
Colorado Rockies forests (United States)
Eastern Cascades forests (Canada, United States)
Fraser Plateau and Basin complex (Canada)
Great Basin montane forests (United States)
Klamath-Siskiyou forests (United States)
Middle Atlantic coastal forests (United States)
North Central Rockies forests (Canada, United States)
Northern California coastal forests (United States)
Northern Pacific coastal forests (Canada, United States)
Northern transitional alpine forests (Canada)
Okanogan dry forests (Canada, United States)
Piney Woods forests (United States)
Puget lowland forests (Canada, United States)
Queen Charlotte Islands (Canada)
Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests (Baja California, Mexico)
Sierra Madre Occidental forests (Mexico; southeast Arizona, US)
Sierra Madre Oriental forests (Mexico)
Sierra Nevada forests (United States)
South Central Rockies forests (United States)
Southeastern conifer forests (United States)
Wasatch and Uinta montane forests (United States)
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| | Neotropic ecozone |
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Valdivian temperate rain forests (Argentina, Chile)
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| | Palearctic ecozone |
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Alps conifer and mixed forests (France, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland)
Altai montane forest and forest steppe (China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia)
Balkan montane conifer forests (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro)
Caledonian conifer forests (United Kingdom)
Carpathian montane conifer forests (Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine)
Da Hinggan-Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests (China, Russia)
East Afghan montane conifer forests (Afghanistan, Pakistan)
Elburz Range forest steppe (Iran)
Helanshan montane conifer forests (China)
Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests (China)
Hokkaido montane conifer forests (Japan)
Honshu alpine conifer forests (Japan)
Khangai Mountains conifer forests (Mongolia, Russia)
Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia)
Northeastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests (China, India, Bhutan)
Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests (Armenia, Georgia, Turkey)
Nujiang Langcang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests (China)
Qilian Mountains conifer forests (China)
Qionglai-Minshan conifer forests (China)
Sayan montane conifer forests (Mongolia, Russia)
Scandinavian coastal conifer forests (Norway)
Tian Shan montane conifer forests (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan)
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External links
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