DECIDOUS FOREST

 

Deciduous forests Weather Regions of rainy weather with warm summers and cold winters, but more temperate than those of the boreal zone. The average temperature of the coldest month is between -5 and +5 ºC. The precipitations are quite abundant, from 200 to 1 500 mm. There is humidity throughout the year

Floor They are mostly brown soils, with a humus that is mineralized fairly quickly (mull or moder), with sufficient humidity and good aeration thanks to the large number of earthworms that usually contain. For all these properties are soils particularly favorable to vegetation. Also, during the cold season they only freeze in the most superficial layer.

Flora

Trees like beech, oak, poplar and chestnut trees predominate. Among them grow different shrubs, such as the bramble and herbaceous plants.The trees grow very well in spring and summer, when both humidity and temperature are adequate. When the unfavorable cold season arrives, they paralyze the growth and lose the leaves, since they will not carry out photosynthesis and only serve to lose water and would be damaged by frost.

Fauna The fauna is more varied than that of the boreal forests. It is formed by small rodents, such as squirrels and mice; herbivores, such as deer and wild boars, and carnivores, such as martens, badgers, foxes and lynxes, among others. In winter, the forest changes a lot. Birds migrate to warmer areas, reptiles paralyze their activity and bears hibernate and survive thanks to the fat they store during summer and autumn.

The destruction of the deciduous forest In the last time, this forest has gradually been destroyed by the intervention of man. The forests of Europe and Asia have been eliminated in large proportions, basically to allocate the land to agricultural tasks. Thus, what remains is mainly a semi-natural forest (half native and half managed for forestry). The exception to this scenario is made up of some areas of the mountainous regions of Central Europe. In contrast, in North America there are some areas of native deciduous forest, despite logging, fires and road construction. Another problem, whose cause it is still unknown, it is the forest recession, that is, the increase of the mortality of several trees of the deciduous forest. A disproportionate number of sugar maples (Acer saccharum) is in regression, with some areas experiencing mortality of up to 59%. Other trees in recession are beech trees, red maples and American ash trees.