Deciduous forests are located in regions such as eastern North America, Europe, and parts of Asia and South America, characterized by a moist climate with four distinct seasons. The forests feature five layers of growth, including tall trees, smaller saplings, shrubs, and ground cover, with diverse soil types that support rich plant and animal life. Additionally, various animals, like opossums, black bears, red squirrels, and raccoons, have adapted unique survival strategies to thrive in these environments.

1. DECIDUOUS RAINFORESTS

2. WHERE ARE THEY LOCATED?
o Deciduous forests can be found in the eastern
half of North America, and the middle of
Europe.
o There are many deciduous forests in Asia.
o Some of the major areas that they are in are
southwest Russia, Japan, and Eastern China.
South America has two big areas of deciduous
forests in southern Chile and Middle East coast
of Paraguay.
o There are deciduous forests located in New
Zealand, and South Eastern Australia also.
o These lie regions between 23° and 66° latitude.

3. CLIMATE
• In Temperate Deciduous Forests the climate is
moist.
• It has 4 distinct seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall
and Winter.
• Summer Months begin in early June and end
late in August.
• They have mild and wet summers ( average=
20 degrees)
• Winter months begin not before than
December. Temperature is cool, a little below
the freezing point.

4. …
• Precipitation measures up to 750-
1,500 mm throughout the year, with a
slight increase in precipitation during
the summer months.
• Almost all of the deciduous forest are
located near oceans i.e. this explains
the harsh changes in climate.

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF DECIDUOUS FOREST.
There are FIVE layers of growth forms:
o 1. A stratum with 60-100 feet high trees, which is
dominant in various types of vegetation (genera) ex: Maple
Tree , Oak, Chestnut and beech.
o 2. The second stratum is made of small trees (the
sapling layer), with younger specimens of the taller
trees which contain various specific plant species. Ex:
dogwood, redbud and shadbush.

6. • 3. Consists of a shrub layer which often has
the members of the heath family such as:
azaleas, huckleberries and mountain
laurel.
5. A ground layer that consists of lichens and mosses.
These are small bryophytes (which do not have a
vascular system i.e. they are small). They can also be
found both on this layer and on trees, as long as the
place is damp.
4. This is a herb layer of perennial
forbs that bloom mostly in spring.

7. …
• Apart from these five layers one can observe that there are other types of vegetation
such as:
• Lianas
• Poison ivy
• Virginia Creeper
• (These climb with the trees to absorb sunlight as much as possible to flower and
fruit high in the forest canopy)

8. SOIL
• Unlike Tropical Rainforests, the Temperate Rainforest has
long and wet season and an other dry and foggy season.
• The soil of the Temperate forest is dark and damp.
• It is more fertile than the soil of the Tropical Rainforests
because the trees roots of the vegetation in the Tropical
Rainforest spread their long roots and absorb all the
nutrients. This is because Temperate Forests are less
biodiverse.

9. • There are two types of soils. These are:
• Alfisols ( in cool areas)
• Ultisols (in warm areas)

10. ALFISOLS
• Alfisols, also known as brown forest soils have vegetation with broad
leaves such that the litter under this forest is not acidic. This is
because the broad leaves tend to be nutrient-demanding and their
leaves bind the major nutrient bases.
• I.e. Aluminium and Iron are not moved from the A horizon.
• The autumn leaf fall provides humus which is abundant and rich.
Being abundant and rich, the decaying process becomes faster.
• The humus gives its contents to Horizon A and B, which gives them a
dark brown colour.

11. ULTISOLS
• This type of soil replaces Alfisols in the
southern US. (King of the SE)
• Ultisols, like alfisols, support a high
fraction of the planet's population -- around
18 percent.
• They tend to be reddish or yellowish,
owing to a high content of oxidized iron.
• These are soils which have been weathered
away much further, that they are
completely leached.

12. DECOMPOSING SOIL
• Temperate forests have high nutrient soil. This is because many organisms die and
decomposers help them to decomposed and return to the soil.
• These decomposers are:
• Bacteria
• Fungi
• Insects
• The most important are the Fungi, because these are the only organisms which
breakdown the cellulose in dead plants.
• Rich soils cause abundant plant growth, which attracts a broad range of animals.
The animals will have a habitat with food and eventually they die, returning their
nutrients to the soil.

13. ROOT MATS
• Soil on the ground layer is dark (contains a lot of dead organic matter) and moist.
• Root mats in this type of Forest are less biodiverse (less developed) and so the roots
of the trees do not absorb nutrients that accumulate on the floor from further places,
which other trees might need.
• Competition

14. TEMPERATE FOREST TROPICAL FOREST

15. ERODING SOIL
• Timber operations and slash-and-burn farmers destroy temperate rainforest
ecosystems by stripping away essential plants.
• These plants prevent soil erosion both by blocking wind and by holding the soil in
place with their roots. Soil erosion causes the loss of many nutrients, which disrupts
and gradually destroys ecosystems, as plants can no longer grow and animals can no
longer find food.

16. NURSE LOGS
• These are logs that act as soil for plants on the forest
floor.
• These particular plants grow on these logs, which
provides them with the adequate nutrients they
need.
• Since they are not on the forest floor, these plants
are away from other competing plants and foraging
animals, thus eventually they die and decompose.
Leaving behind their material and help the Nurse
log to continuously give nutrients to other plants.

17. • Soils generally deep, dark, and rich.
• Most nutrients abundant and held in
loose cycles.
• Replenished each year by leaf fall and
weathering.
• Suitable for sustainable forestry and
agriculture.

18. DECIDUOUS PLANT ADAPTATIONS

19. • In the spring, deciduous trees
begin producing thin, broad and
light-weight leaves. This allows
the leaf to capture the sunlight
needed for food production. Also
known as photosynthesis.
Therefore the broad leaves are
very efficient when temperatures
are warm and there is plenty of
sunlight.

20. • In the Fall, the tree cuts off the supply of
water to the leaves and seals off the area
between the leaf stem and the tree
trunk. With limited sunlight and water,
the leaf is unable to continue producing
chlorophyll, the "green" pigment in the
leaves, and as the chlorophyll decreases
the leaves change colour and become red,
yellow and orange.

22. • In winter, deciduous trees and
plants go into dormancy. It is too
cold for them to protect their leaves
from the damage of freezing in the
winter, so they simply loose the
leaves and seal up the places where
the leaves attach to the branches.
Until the warmer spring days
signal to the trees that they can
grow new leaves again.

23. ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS

24. OPOSSUM
• Opossums have a flexible diet, which make
them successful survivors in diverse
locations and conditions. Opossums can be
found in deciduous forests of North
America. They are nocturnal and
opportunistic omnivores. Their varied diet
includes fruits, berries, insects, lizards,
snails and leftovers by other predators.
One peculiar characteristic of this animal
is that when threatened, they "play
possum", which means that they act dead
and also emit a foul smell of a sick or dead
animal.

25. BLACK BEAR
• The black bear is an animal that is well adapted for the temperate
deciduous forest biome.
• It has a heavy coat made of many layers of fur to deal with the
winter cold.
• Black bears have long claws that help them to climb trees. This is
an essential adaptation because black bears often live in hollowed
trees.
• Black bears are omnivores, so they eat plants and animals. Most
of their diet is composed of plant material, so their long claws are
useful to get their food from trees and shrubs.
• They also hibernate to avoid having to find food in the snowy,
frozen winter.

26. RED SQUIRREL
• They have strong teeth made to open pinecones and seeds.
• Food storage. is another adaptation. The nuts and seeds
that are plentiful during the summer are gathered by
squirrels and are stored in the hollows of trees for use
during the winter months. Cold temperatures help prevent
the decomposition of the nuts and seeds.
• Four toes on each foot with long, sharp claws to help it grab
bark when climbing trees.
• They can support their entire weight when climbing.
• The red squirrel has a long bushy tail used to balance its
weight while climbing a tree. To help the red squirrel keep
safe in its environment, it climbs quickly.

28. RACOON
• The main physical advantage the raccoon has
developed is an almost humanlike hand structure. A
raccoon's paws are like tiny versions of a human
hand, making them capable of complex tasks. These
agile, five-fingered paws help the animal search for
food in hard to reach places and are also efficient for
climbing almost anything that offers hand-holds.
• The animals live on fat reserves and can lose up to
half their body weight.
• The main defence the animal has in avoiding most
predators is its nocturnal lifestyle. The ability to
climb quickly also helps to escape ground-dwelling
carnivores. Even with avoidance and fighting back.

29. • In areas where it snows in the
winter, some animals, such as
rabbits and weasels, have a
change in fur color twice a
year. For most of the year, the
fur is brown, which blends in
with the colors of the forest
and helps the animal to hide
from predators. But in the
winter the fur is white so it
blends in with the snow. The
animals' fur color changes
automatically, and this
change is controlled by the
amount of daylight there is
per day.

31. OTHER ANIMALS