Natural Vegetation: Temperate forests

This blogpost is based on the lesson we had on the 27 July 2011.

Miss J went through the temperate forests with us as we have covered the tropical rainforest. There are basically two types of temperate forests: the coniferous forest and the deciduous forest. Now, lets see the differences between the tropical rainforests and the temperate deciduous forests. It is not so hot all-year round in temperate forests. They experiences the four seasons, has lesser rainfall and are located in the Northern hemisphere. They are widely found in Japan, China, Europe, North America and New Zealand. They are on the higher latitudes of 60 to 70 degrees North and South of the equator. Some examples of their leaves will be: the oak leaves, sycamore leaves and the maple leaves. However, the tropical rainforests have more rainfall, does not experience four seasons and are located in countries nearer to the equator, like Singapore. They are 23.5 degrees North and South of the equator.

Deciduous leaves fall on in the seasons of winter and autumn. Do you know why? It is due to their adaptation to the climate where they shed their leaves to prevent water loss due to transpiration. They also have very large, broad leaves(large surface area) to get more sunlight in summer and spring. Moreover, we also learnt a new term called "evergreen". It denotes a plant that retains its green leaves throughout the year. Then, Miss J asked us for the meaning of density. It is about the amount of trees that are growing and how close they are from each other(packed). And when we talk about "diversity", the first thing that will most likely come to your mind will be types or variety. Next, we came to the difference between coniferous forests and tropical rainforests. They reach higher altitudes of 70 to 80 degrees North and South of the equator. It usually contains cone-shaped trees so that the snow will slide easily so it does not cover the trees. They also have needle-like leaves(small surface area)

and supple branches for flexibility so the pressure of the snow will not cause it to break or collapse. Furthemore, they are evergreen. They are only three or four varieties in an area.