The word forest is derived from Latin ‘Foris’ meaning outside, the reference being to village boundary fence, and must have included all uncultivated and uninhabitated land. Today a forest is any land managed for the diverse purposes of forestry whether covered with trees, shrubs, climbers, etc. The forest biomes include a complex assemblage of different kinds of biotic communities. Optimum conditions of temperature and ground moisture responsible for the growth of trees contribute greatly to the establishment of forest communities. In addition, 50 mm rainfall is a pre-requisite for the trees. The nature of soil, wind and air currents determines the distribution (abundance or sparseness) of forest vegetation. The temperate forest biomes are characterized by a moderate climate and broad-leaved deciduous trees, which shed their leaves in fall, are bare over winter and grow new foliage in the spring.

1. TEMPERATE FORESTS AND TROPICAL
RAIN FORESTS
ALEN SHAJI
P1914015
1 MSC BOTANY

2. FOREST
 The word forest is derived from Latin ‘Foris’ meaning
outside, the reference being to village boundary fence,
and must have included all uncultivated and
uninhabitated land.
 Today a forest is any land managed for the diverse
purposes of forestry whether covered with trees,
shrubs, climbers, etc.
 The forest biomes include a complex assemblage of
different kinds of biotic communities.
 Optimum conditions of temperature and ground
moisture responsible for the growth of trees contribute
greatly to the establishment of forest communities.

3.  In addition, 50 mm rainfall is a pre-requisite for the
trees.
 The nature of soil, wind and air currents determines
the distribution (abundance or sparseness) of forest
vegetation.

4. TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST
 The temperate forest biomes are characterized by a
moderate climate and broad-leaved deciduous
trees, which shed their
leaves in fall, are bare
over winter and grow
new foliage in the spring.
DISTRIBUTION
 These forests are the characteristics of North
America, Europe, Eastern Asia, Chile, part of
Australia and Japan.

5. CLIMATE
 Cold winter and an annual rainfall of 75—150 cm
and a temperature of 10—20°C.
 In these biomes the precipitation may be fairly
uniform throughout the year.

6. VEGETATION
 The predominant genera of this biome are maple
(Acer), beech (Fagus), oak (Quercus), hickory
(Carya), basswood (Tilia), chestnut (Castnea),
cottonwood (Populas), sycamore (Platanus), elm
(Ulmus) and willow (Salix).
 In some locations, coniferous vegetation may be
quite predominant and that incudes white pine
(Pinus strubos), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and red
cedar (Juniperus virginianus).
 In India, at elevations of 2743.2m-3655.6m in
Himalayas occur temperate vegetation including
pines, fir, yew and juniper trees with an
undergrowth of scrubby rhododendrons.

7.  Shrubs and herbs in the deciduous forest is typically
well-developed and richly diversified, with a
considerable portion of the photosynthesis and
flowering attuned to
the short day of the
spring season, prior to
the leafing out of and
consequent shading by
the tree canopy.
 Some species of
mosses, algae and
lichens growing on
tree trunks, and a few
vines, notably Vitis, the
grape.

8. ANIMAL DIVERSITY
 The animals originally present in temperate forests are deer,
bears, squirrels, gray foxes, bobcats, wild turkey and wood
peckers.
 Other common animals
of this region are
invertebrates such as
earthworms, snails,
millipedes, Coleoptera and
Orthoptera.
 Vertebrates like amphibians such as newts, salamanders,
toads, and cricket frogs.
 Reptiles such as turtles, lizards and snakes.
 Mammals such as racoon opossum, pigs, mountain lion, etc.
 Birds like horned owl, hawks, etc.

9.  Diversity of fauna is lower than in any of the rain
forests and a few species seems clearly to be
dominant.

10. ADAPTATIONS
 Soils of temperate
forests are podozolic
and fairly deep.
 Trees are quite tall—
about 40—50m in
Height and their leaves
are thin and broad.
 There are often two
separate herb assemblages.
One consists of spring
flowers, which bloom before the trees have expanded
their leaves and are gone by summer, and the other is
adapted to the low light levels of the forest floor and lasts
into the fall.

11.  Animals and plants show a profound seasonality.
 Some may even hibernate throughout the winter.
 The range of animal size and adaptations is wide.
 The largest animals include such forms as the deer
and black bear.
 The dominant carnivores are large, including the
wolf and mountain
lion, although
smaller carnivores
such as fox and
skunk are also
common.

12. TEMPERATE EVERGREEN
WOODLAND/CHAPARRAL
CLIMATE
 Mediterranean- type
climate with warm, dry
summers and cool, moist
winters.
VEGETATION
 Commonly inhabited by
low evergreen trees with
small hard needles or slightly
broader leaves.
 Trees are essentially lacking, although shrubs may range upto
3—4 m in height.
 Species diversity is roughly intermediate between that of a
temperate deciduous forest and a drier grassland.

13. DISTRIBUTION
 Most important area of tropical evergreen woodland in
North America is the ‘chaparral’ of the Pacific coast, the
Mediterranean ‘maquis’, Spanish ‘encinar’ and ‘melle
scrab’ on Australia’s South coast are the same type of
community.
ADAPTATIONS
 Fire is an
important factor in
this ecosystem, and
the adaptations of
the plants enable
them to regenerate
quickly after being
burned.

14. ANIMAL DIVERSITY
 Characteristic animals of temperate evergreen
woodland or
chaparral are mule
deer, brush rabbits,
wood rats, chipmunks,
lizards, wem-tits and
brown towhees.
 Small-hooved cursorial ungulates are the dominant
herbivores.
 Saltatorial (jumping) animals and many fast moving
ungulates are also common in this fauna.

15. TEMPERATE RAINFORESTS
CLIMATE
 Temperate rainforest is a colder ecosystem than any
other rainforest.
 Such a forest has a definite seasonality, with both
temperatures and
rainfall varying
throughout the year.
 Rainfall is high, but
fog maybe very heavy
and actually more
important as a source
of water than rainfall.

16. VEGETATION
 Diversity is much lower, both in plants and animals,
in comparison to warmer rainforests, yet it remains
still higher than other temperate forest types.
 Dominant trees (canopies) are coast redwood
(Sequoia sempervirens) of the Pacific coast of North
America and the alpine ash (Eucalyptus regnans) of
Australia and Tasmania, both of which reach more
than 100m in height.
 Epiphytes and lianas are common but are not
abundant like those of other rainforest.

17. ANIMAL DIVERSITY
 Animals of temperate rainforests are similar to
those of deciduous forests, but show a somewhat
higher diversity.

18. TROPICAL RAINFORESTS
DISTRIBUTION
 Occur near the
equator in Central
and South America,
Central and Western
Africa (Congo,
Zambesi river),
Southeast Asia (parts of India and Malaysia), Malaya,
Borneo, New Guinea and Northwest Australia.

19. CLIMATE
 Both temperature and humidity are high and
constant.
 The annual rainfall which exceeds 200 to 225 cm is
generally
evenly
distributed
throughout
the year.

20. VEGETATION
 Tropical rainforests are among the most diverse
communities on earth.
 Flora is highly diversified : a square mile may
contain 300 different species of trees, a diversity
unparalleled in any other biome.
 The extremely dense vegetation of the tropical
rainforests remains vertically stratified with tall
trees often covered with vines, creepers, lianas,
epiphytic orchids and bromeliads.
 Under the tall trees is a continuous evergreen
carpet, the canopy layer, some 25 to 35 meters tall.

21.  Lowest layer is an understory of trees, shrubs, herbs
like ferns and palms, all of which become dense
where there is a break in the canopy.

22. ADAPTATIONS
 Leaves of most plant are of moderate size, leathery
and dark green in colour.
 Their roots are often shallow and have swollen
bases or flying buttresses.
 Soils of tropical rainforests are red latosols, and
they may be exceedingly thick.
 The high rate of leaching makes these soils virtually
useless for agriculture purposes, but if they are left
undisturbed the extremely rapid cycling of nutrients
within the litter layer (due to decomposition) can
compensate for the natural poverty of the soil.

23. ANIMAL DIVERSITY
 Invertebrate density and abundance are very high in
tropical rainforests.
 While vertebrates are diverse, they are not as abundant
as in many other communities.
 Common invertebrates of these forests are worms,
snails, millipedes,
centipedes, scorpions,
isopods, spiders,
insects, planarians
and leeches.
 Amount insects,
heteropterans,
orthopterans, blattids, mantids, phasmids, bees, termites
and ants are most common.

24.  Common vertebrates of tropical rainforests are the
arboreal amphibian Rhacophorus malabaricus; aquatic
reptiles,
chameleons,
agamids, geckoes,
and many species of
snakes; many species
of birds, social birds
being predominant;
and a variety of
mammals.
 Nocturnal and
arboreal habits are most common in many mammals such
as insectivores, leopards, jungle cats, anteaters, giant
flying squirrels, monkeys and sloths.

25.  In the foot hills of the forest zone of peninsular
India covered with dense tropical vegetation, we
have the tiger (Panthera tigris), the elephant
(Elephas maximus), samber deer (Rusa unicolor),
muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak), the gaur (Bibos
gaurus), the chital
or spotted deer
(Axis axis), and the
swamp deer
(Rucervus duraucelli)
as the major ground
dwelling mammals.

26. REFERENCE
1. Sharma PD [1997] Environmental Biology, Rastogi
Publications, New Delhi.
2. Verma PS [1974] Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular
Biology, Evolution And Ecology, S Chand
Publications, New Delhi.

27. THANK YOU