Temperate forests (temperate forests). Temperate continental climate: characteristics, flora and fauna Animals of temperate forests

The woods temperate zone- these are forests growing in temperate regions, for example, eastern North America, Western and Central Europe and Northeast Asia. Temperate forests are found at latitudes between approximately 25° and 50° in both hemispheres. They have a temperate climate and a growing season that lasts 140 to 200 days a year. Precipitation in temperate forests tends to be evenly distributed throughout the year. The temperate forest canopy is primarily composed of broadleaf trees. In the polar regions, temperate forests give way.

Temperate forests first appeared about 65 million years ago, during the beginning cenozoic era. At that time, global temperatures dropped and forests sprang up in more temperate regions above the equator. In these regions, the temperature was not only cooler, but also showed seasonal fluctuations. Plants evolved and adapted to climate change.

Today, in temperate forests that are closer to the tropics (where the climate has not changed so much), trees and other plant species are more reminiscent of vegetation from. Temperate evergreen forests can be found in these regions. In areas where climate change has been more intense, deciduous trees have evolved (they shed their leaves each year when the weather turns cold as an adaptation, allowing the trees to withstand seasonal temperature fluctuations in these regions).

Main characteristics of temperate forests

The following are the main characteristics of temperate forests:

• grow in temperate regions (at latitudes between about 25°-50° in both hemispheres);
• experiences distinct seasons, with a growing season that lasts 140 to 200 days;
• the forest canopy consists mainly of deciduous trees.

Classification of temperate forests

Temperate forests are divided into the following habitats:

• Temperate deciduous forests - grow in eastern North America, Central Europe and parts of Asia. They are characterized by temperature fluctuations from -30° to +30° C throughout the year. They receive about 750-1500 mm of precipitation per year. Vegetation widely deciduous forests includes a variety of broad-leaved tree species (eg oak, beech, maple, hickory, etc.) as well as various shrubs, perennial grasses, mosses and mushrooms. Temperate deciduous forests are found in mid-latitudes, between the polar regions and the tropics.
• Temperate evergreen forests - consist mainly of evergreen trees that renew their foliage throughout the year. Temperate evergreen forests are found in eastern North America and the basin mediterranean sea. They also include subtropical broadleaf evergreen forests in the Southeastern United States, southern China, and eastern Brazil.

Some of the animals that inhabit temperate forests include:

• The Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) is a species of chipmunk that lives in the deciduous forests of eastern North America. Oriental chipmunks are small rodents with red-brown fur adorned with dark, light and brown stripes that run along the back of the animal.
• The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is a species of deer that inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America. White-tailed deer have a brown coat and a tail that is white on the back.
• The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is one of three species of bears that live in North America, the other two and . Of these species, black bears are the smallest and timid.
• Robin (Erithacus rebecula) is a small bird from the flycatcher family (muscicapidae). The range of habitation of robins is quite extensive and includes: Northwest Africa from Morocco to eastern Tunisia and the Mediterranean coast, as well as most of the Eurasian continent.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Main tree species that form these forests are oak, linden, maple, ash, elm, beech and other broad-leaved trees.

In the north - in the tundra and even in the taiga - water is not a problem. Every spring melt water saturate the soil in excess. In these high geographical latitudes even in the very middle of summer the sun does not rise high and does not bake so hard that drought threatens the vegetation. Therefore, the structure vegetation zones it is not precipitation that determines it, but the temperature and duration of the growing season. That is why the tundra and taiga encircle the Arctic in two concentric bands.

To the south of the taiga strip, the next vegetation belt no longer forms a third concentric circle. It breaks up into several separate segments, differing various conditions humidity.

In a temperate climate, temperature is no longer the most important factor in the life of plants and animals. Here, the most important role begins to play humidity - the amount of water available to plants. At the same time, the distribution of precipitation by seasons during the year is especially significant.

Deciduous forest is the most demanding formation in terms of environmental conditions. temperate climate. For the life of this forest, a moderate temperature is needed - without severe frosts in winter and heat in summer. In addition, the deciduous forest needs a relatively large amount of precipitation - at least 500 millimeters per year, fairly evenly distributed over the seasons. Of course, such conditions can be found only in regions with maritime climate where the land is under the softening influence of the ocean and where winds from the sea bring frequent and heavy rains. For example, Europe is western shores which are washed warm current, and frequent northwest winds carry the Atlantic air deep into the mainland.

The zone of deciduous forests includes southern Norway, southern Sweden and all of Western and Central Europe. In the east, deciduous forests form a gradually narrowing strip that crosses European part Soviet Union and reaching the Urals.

Another area of ​​deciduous forests covers the Ussuri region in the Soviet Union, most of Japan and Korea, as well as China - approximately from Beijing south to the interfluve of the Yellow River and the Yangtze and a narrow strip stretching west from Chongqing to Tibet. This area is also under the strong softening and moisturizing influence of the ocean.

Finally, the third band of temperate deciduous forests is found in North America, where it occupies the eastern United States, ranging from the Great Lakes in the north to nearly Florida in the south, and from the Atlantic in the east to the Mississippi basin in the west.

Of course, one should not imagine that everywhere there is a sharp border, to the north of which there is a taiga, and to the south - a deciduous forest. Between these zones, a fairly wide border strip is formed, where animals and plants of both biomes meet and mix with each other.

The typical climate for this zone is well known to us - this is the climate of Eastern Europe: winter with frost and snow, trees lose their leaves, the growing season is long, covering the rest of the year, precipitation is distributed fairly evenly.

The animal population of deciduous forests is rather homogeneous everywhere. Naturally, in each area of ​​this zone we find species that are characteristic only for it, but on the whole, the composition and ecological appearance of the fauna are similar. Everywhere there are arboreal and terrestrial animals, herbivores and predators, while the ratio between them in different areas of the zone is similar. For example, let's take a look at the life of deciduous forests in Europe.

Reptiles and amphibians are especially sensitive to climate mitigation: after all, cold-blooded animals are especially sensitive to temperature. environment. In the zone of deciduous forests, the number of species belonging to these classes of animals doubles compared to the taiga. For example, in Poland we meet over twenty species of animals of these classes.

The next significant factor that determines the richness of the animal world is the diversity of vegetation. In deciduous forests it is much lighter than in the taiga, especially in early spring, when the leaves on the trees have not yet fully blossomed. The abundance of light determines rapid development undergrowth - young trees growing under the arch of the forest, undergrowth of shrubs and the lower tier of vegetation - various, sometimes lushly overgrown grasses. Thus, the forest has a distinct vertical layered structure.

It is easy to imagine how many new opportunities open up for animals, apart from those that the taiga gave them. Here you can live in the bush, and under it, in the grass cover. Food supplies are more diverse. In such forests, even the tree crowns themselves represent a large selection of food - already due to the diversity of species. To this we must add a lot of seeds, fruits (for example, nuts, acorns, beechnuts), the bark of young trees and shrubs - important food items available at any time of the year, as well as leaves, bulbs, rhizomes and herb greens.

The number of animals that find fertile conditions of existence here is great. The diversity of the environment and the milder climate mean that the fauna of invertebrates (insects, spiders, gastropods) and other groups are more complex and abundant than in the north. The same can be said about birds, of which songbirds are especially numerous both in terms of the number of species and the number of individuals. For example, the blackbird is characteristic of the deciduous forest zone. (Turdus merula), common in almost every city park Central Europe, western nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), a small brisk robin (Erithacus rubecula), brightly colored great tit (Parus major) and blue tit (P. coeruleus)

In every deciduous forest you will meet a finch (Fringilla coelebs) with conspicuous two white stripes on the wing and a very spectacular greenfinch in yellow-green plumage (Chloris chloris). It is impossible to pass over in silence the oriole (Oriolus oriolus): everyone knows her voice well, but few have seen this beautiful bird with a golden head and chest and black wings and tail. In the forests and in the depths of neglected parks, one can often hear the muffled voice of the wood pigeon. (Columba palumbus).

In deciduous forests, as well as in the taiga, live ermine, weasel, badger, fox, wolf, lynx and Brown bear- species characterized by high biological plasticity, which allowed them to spread widely throughout Europe (with the exception of the subtropics) and a significant part of Asia. Chipmunk is a taiga animal; it does not occur in the zone of European deciduous forests, but in the Far East it feels great in the deciduous forests of the Amur-Ussuri Territory.

Unfortunately, many species of animals in this zone have to be spoken of in the past tense. forest cat (Fells silvestris), once widespread throughout Europe, today almost exterminated; it survived only in the most deserted corners, such as the Polish Bieszczady or the mountains of northern Scotland. The ecological niche of the sable in Europe is occupied by three types of predators: the pine marten (Martes martes), leading mainly tree image life, stone marten (Martes foina) and ferret (Mustella putorius).

The abundance of plant foods in deciduous forests leads to a significant diversity of herbivores. In the deciduous forests of Europe, it is found and in some places still numerous. Noble deer (Cervus elaphus), and in the Far East - red deer (Cervus nippon). The chamois is also closely related to the deciduous forest zone. (Rupicapra rupicapra). The area of ​​its distribution almost completely coincides with the territory of this biome. Bison is very typical in this zone. (bos bonasus) who survived to our time only thanks to the caring care of nature lovers; until the 17th century, another wild bull- tour, now already exterminated everywhere.

Mention should also be made of the Central European horse, which is called the forest tarpan (as opposed to the real steppe tarpan). The forest tarpan was undersized, lightly built, of a mouse color. It was a very hardy and cold-resistant animal that died out in the first half of the last century. Bilgorai horses, common in the Polish Zamość, are probably very close to the wild horse, and it was possible to breed a breed from them that outwardly resembles a forest tarpan.

But another species of ungulates, the wild boar, is much more typical of the deciduous forest. (Sus scrofa). He is a consumer of acorns, beech nuts and hazelnuts and grass rhizomes. The crown layer is inhabited by squirrels and four types of dormouse: garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula), dormouse (glis glis) and hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius). These small pleasant animals are a bit like squirrels, but their muzzles are mouse-like, and their tails are not so fluffy. These dormice are widespread, but few people have met them, because they lead night image life.

The forest reservoirs of this zone are inhabited by those that have been greatly reduced at the present time and are valuable for their fur. large rodents- beavers. They build their huts from tree branches and trunks and build dams on streams and forest streams. The formed dams help the beavers to reach new coastal thickets and transport the trees cut by their powerful incisors through the water. The beaver feeds exclusively on young branches, buds and leaves of trees. This typical inhabitant of deciduous forests penetrates the taiga zone only along the rivers, where willows, aspens, birches and mountain ash grow along the banks.

The biocenosis of deciduous forests is extremely diverse and consists of many plant and animal components. There are whole groups of species with a very close way of life and with similar needs. These species replace each other in similar biocenoses. The natural forest is a balanced system. But the balance is dynamic: everything is in motion, someone devours someone, someone is born, someone dies in the struggle. Each organism takes its place in the biocenosis, maintaining the natural balance of the complex.

Artificial plantations created by man, for example, pine monocultures, as well as crops of grain crops, are biocenoses that are very poor in composition, having the same weakly differentiated structure as biocenoses. arctic tundra, moreover, unstable without constant human care.

The duration of the period with average monthly temperatures above 10°C is 2-4 months. The number of tiers in dark coniferous forests is usually two or three. Shrubs are solitary and do not form a pronounced layer. The forest floor decomposes slowly, so some herbaceous plants do not form chlorophyll and feed saprophytically. Herbs and shrubs usually reproduce by vegetative means. The transfer of many seeds is carried out by animals that eat the juicy pulp of fruits (blueberries, lingonberries, bearberries), high acidity berry juice prevents the development of seeds in the untouched berry. Also, the spread of seeds can occur when the seeds are pulled apart by ants, wind, birds.

There are few herd animals in the taiga, since the presence of a forest stand makes it difficult to visually warn of danger. Sometimes there are wild boars, wolves come in and reindeer. The main methods of hunting are stalking and hiding. Among birds of prey hawks are especially characteristic. A relatively small number of animals leave the taiga in winter. Many are able to eat branch foods (elk, hare). A number of species live on trees, feed on the ground (forest pipit, thrushes), others - on the contrary (black grouse, hazel grouse, capercaillie, black grouse). Some animals feed on seed food (squirrels, chipmunks, mouse-like rodents).

Of insects that eat needles, it is widely distributed gypsy moth; wood pests - longhorn beetles and their larvae, etc. In the direction from north to south, latitudinal subzones are distinguished in the taiga: northern, middle and southern taiga. The northern taiga is characterized by low-growing stands with a small crown density, which is a transition to tundra light forests. Under the sparse tree canopy, a layer of low-growing subarctic shrubs (birches, willows) is usually developed. The ground cover is formed by mosses and lichens. The plains are heavily swamped.

As we move south, the forest stand becomes taller, and the role of grass-shrub vegetation increases. Forests are gaining more complex structure, the crown density increases. The grass-shrub layer and the moss ground cover are well developed (there are few lichens). Broad-leaved species appear in the European southern taiga. The composition of the undergrowth and grass cover includes species characteristic of deciduous forests. Representatives: pine, larch (Siberian, Daurian), cedar.

46. ​​Characteristic features of vegetation and fauna of broad-leaved forests of the temperate zone.

Broad-leaved forests grow in a milder climate than coniferous forests. Broad-leaved trees, unlike most conifers, shed their leaves for the winter. Therefore, in early spring it is light under their canopy, many trees (beech, oak) bloom at the same time as the leaves bloom; shrubs (hazel, wolf's bast) - before the leaves bloom.

Powerful and loose bedding protects the soil from a sharp drop in temperature, winter freezing is negligible. In this regard, many types of herbaceous plants begin to develop at the end of winter (oak anemone, goose onion. Usually there are from one to three (oak forests) tiers of forest stand, two tiers of shrubs and two or three tiers of grasses.

Nutritious fruits of trees, as well as sprawling powerful branches and a large hollowness contribute to the spread of numerous mammals and birds. In many animal species, specialization in nutrition is observed (for example, the grosbeak consumes only the seeds of stone fruit trees and shrubs). Burrowing animals are active, for example, ants, which contribute to the development of the sod process. Due to the weakening of the wind in the forests, there are many insects with fluttering flight. There are many forest pests, including leaf-eating ones. Some types of trees are even forced to renew their foliage in summer.

Broad-leaved forests do not form a continuous band. In Europe, from west to east, chestnut forests are replaced by beech forests, and then oak forests. Oak, maple, maakia, eleutherococcus, aralia grow in the Far East; the undergrowth includes honeysuckle, lilac, rhododendron, privet, etc. In more southern regions Far East lianas (actinidia, etc.) and epiphytes are abundant. In the northeastern part of North America there are forests dominated by American beech and sugar maple, sometimes in the forests there are lianas - “wild grapes”.

An impressive part of Europe lives in a temperate continental climate. Its uniqueness is in the presence of only one hemisphere - the Northern. What features distinguish temperate continental What animals and plants are characteristic of it? Understanding this is quite easy.

Key Features

Moderate continental climate located only in the Northern Hemisphere. It is characteristic of both the Cordillera region and Central Europe. The temperate continental climate of Russia is manifested in Yakutia, the Magadan region, in Siberia and Transbaikalia. Moving inland, the air loses moisture, making the climate more severe. Therefore, the more distant the location of the region from the sea or ocean, the stronger the continentality of the climate will manifest itself.

winter months

The temperate continental climate is characterized by pronounced seasonality. The main seasons - summer and winter - should be considered separately. In the cold season earth's surface and the atmosphere cool down, leading to the formation of the Asian High. It extends to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and sometimes reaches the south of Eastern Europe. As a result, it happens harsh winter with strong air fluctuations within just a few days, when the thaw abruptly turns into frost down to minus thirty. the form of snow that persists in the areas east of Warsaw. The maximum height of the cover can reach ninety centimeters - such snowdrifts occur in Western Siberia. A large number of snow protects the soil from freezing and provides it with moisture when spring comes.

summer months

The temperate continental climate of Russia and Eastern Europe is characterized by a fairly rapid onset of summer. Increasing quantity solar heat warms coming to the mainland from the ocean. Average monthly temperatures in July are just under twenty degrees. Annual precipitation, most of which fall precisely on summer period, is in these regions from three hundred to eight hundred millimeters. The number changes only on the slopes of the Alps. There can be more than two thousand millimeters of precipitation. It is worth noting the decrease in their number in the direction from west to east. In North America, the situation is inversely proportional. In Asian areas, evaporation exceeds natural precipitation and droughts can occur.

Vegetation features

The temperate continental climate is deciduous forests. They consist of two tiers - trees and shrubs. grass cover is different large quantity species than other flora variants. In addition, it is also divided into several tiers. forests are branched with a dense crown. The seasons are not conducive to year-round vegetation. shed leaves - simple, serrated or lobed, thin and not able to tolerate either drought or frost. The temperate continental climate of the temperate zone can be distinguished by both broad-leaved and small-leaved species. The former include ash, maple, oak, linden, and elm. The second - aspen, alder and birch.

In addition, the forest can be divided into such types as monodominant and polydominant. The first are typical for Europe - a specific species prevails there. The latter are found in Asia, North America and Chile: the forest consists of many different species. In warm areas, among deciduous trees, there are evergreen species, as well as lianas - grape, legume, honeysuckle or euonymus. Despite the annual fall of leaves, the forests of these zones are characterized by underdeveloped litter: the temperate continental climate contributes to its rapid decomposition. This creates excellent conditions for bacteria and earthworms. At the same time, the layer of foliage becomes an obstacle to moss, which grows in such a forest only at the roots of trees and in places protruding from the soil. The earth in this climate is podzolic, brown, carbonate or gley.

characteristic animals

The fauna of the continental climate is located in the forests very homogeneously. This is a combination of arboreal, terrestrial, herbivorous, carnivorous animals. In the zones of deciduous forests there are a lot of amphibians and reptiles - there are twice as many of them as in the tundra. The abundance of light, dense undergrowth, lush grasses become excellent conditions for various animals. Here there are animals that feed on seeds and nuts - rodents, squirrels, numerous birds, such as blackbirds, western nightingales, small robins, great tits, blue tit. In almost every forest you can meet a chaffinch and greenfinches, an oriole, and in remote corners - a wood pigeon. Larger animals are represented by ermines, badgers, wolves, foxes, lynxes and bears. They live all over Europe and large area Asia. In deserted corners meet unique species - wild cats, pine martens, ferrets. The presence of herbivores - red deer is great, there are bison and chamois.

slide 1

slide 2

slide 3

slide 4

slide 5

slide 6

Slide 7

Slide 8