Shannon_and_Danielles_Biome

**Deciduous Forest**


====The deciduous forest is a terrestrial biome. The average annual temperature in a deciduous forest is 50° F. The average rainfall is 30 to 60 inches a year. Precipitation may vary with the seasons, with some seasons being wetter than others. Precipitation ranges from around 50 cm yr-1 in the colder regions to over 200 cm/yr. They get rain or snow in the late fall and winter, depending on where in the state one is. The soils are rich and easily converted to agriculture. ====

====Rich loamy soils are usually found in flat or low lying areas. The soil is a blackish or black-brown color and is rich in organic matter (humus). The soil is home to a wealth of fungi and soil invertebrates who convert the organic matter into nutrients and aerate the soil in the process. Nutrients are rich and the aeration of the soil promotes the retention of water. ==== ====Some of the most magnificent of our deciduous forests are found on rich loamy soils. If the forest is old, some of the trees may be majestic in size and height. Mature forests on these soils are often open and easy to walk through beneath the closed canopy. ====

====Deciduous biomes are located primarily in the eastern half of the United States, Canada, Europe, parts of Russia, China, and Japan. Most deciduous forests are found in Eastern North America somewhere around 35-48° N, and Europe and Asia around 45-60° N. There are some deciduous regions in the southern hemisphere but their plants and animals are different from those of the northern deciduous forests. The altitude of these forests is about 58 ft. ====



There is a lot of diversity in deciduous forests,

Producers lie at the bottom of every food chain. In a deciduous forest, producers include ferns, berry bushes, fruit trees and fungi on rotting logs. The seeds, fruit, flowers and leaves from these producers sustain insects and small, herbivorous mammals. Since they support the rest of the deciduous forest biome, producers are the most numerous members of the food chain.

====Consumers branch out into several different categories, all of them herbivorous. The smallest are the insects. These scuttling creatures feed on leaves, twigs, fungus and moss. Some even eat rotting tree bark. Insects help break down organic matter, creating more fertilizer for the environment. Warm-blooded consumers include small rodents and birds. Mice, rats, squirrels, songbirds and cardinals feast almost solely on seeds and fruits. Last on the list of consumers are the large herbivorous mammals. Deer, moose and elk crop grass, strip bark from trees and consume the soft tips of tree branches. ====

====The small predators of the deciduous forest are mid-sized mammals like raccoons, possums and skunks as wells as birds like blue jays, ravens and crows. Blue jays, possums and skunks feast mostly on insects, which feed on plants. However, these small predators may also eat seeds and berries, meaning they eat both consumers and producers. Foxes, hawks and owls eat birds and rodents, like finches, cardinals and mice. These birds and rodents eat insects, which eat producers. This is a case of predators eating other predators rather than predators eating only consumers. ====

====Deciduous forest predators in the larger category include mountain lions, bears and wolves. These predators hunt large game like deer and elk, as well as smaller game like rabbits. Bears will also consume producers, or plants, like berries and bark as well as insects like grubs, making them omnivores. Large predators live only in small numbers in the deciduous forest, but they're so large and powerful that they sit on the top of the food chain or web. ====

====Various kinds of fungi, soil bacteria and invertebrates are only a few of the deciduous forest's decomposers, those that break down organic matter. Even a secondary consumer, like a red fox or a goshawk, will eventually be processed by these essential organisms. ====

Humans have often colonized areas in the temperate deciduous forest. They have also harvested wood for timber. As a result, less than one quarter of original forests remain. Temperate forests have also been used for farming. Clearing land for use in agriculture and clear cut logging have destroyed and continue to destroy millions of trees in the deciduous forest! Only in remote, mountainous areas, where farming and logging were impractical, are forests untouched. Mining involves stripping off the forest to get to the rock underneath. The acres and acres of land used in mining are damaged to the extent that forests do not regrow on the damaged and depleted soils.

__ [] __ [] [] __ [] __ [|http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/images/deciduous/deciduous_500.jpg] [] [] [|http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/tempded.htm] [] [] []