Ecosystem, Temperate Forests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ecosystem, Temperate Forests - Essay Example The animals that live in this type of forest generally include squirrels, rabbits, skunks, birds, deer, mountain lion, bobcat, timber wolf, fox, bears, foxes and other wildcats although most of the larger predators have been killed off or displaced by the human population. The climate goes through well-defined seasonal changes, trending toward long warm summers, moderately cold winters and an evenly spread level of precipitation throughout the year, providing the trees and other plants with sufficient moisture year round for growth while not drowning them. This seasonal shift causes the trees to drop their leaves in the fall, becoming dormant in the winter, only waking in the spring with a new crop of fresh leaves. The process of dropping the old leaves in the fall results in the brilliantly colorful displays of reds, oranges and yellows that characterize this time of year. Many other plants in the temperate forest will also go dormant during the colder months of the year and many of the animals devote their summers preparing for a winter hibernation period. These types of trees require a high level of soil fertility to grow, requiring soils high in nutrients for the development of a new crop of leaves every year. The annual drop of leaves in the fall provide many of these nutrients as they begin to decay and the leaf litter covering the forest floor also serves to reduce the amount of runoff during spring rains, allowing more of the precious nutrients to remain where the tree roots can get them. Where the soil nutrients are reduced in areas such as the more weathered soils of the Southwest or the sandy soils of coastal plains, the trees are characterized by less showy species with narrower leaves or pines. Isolation of these forests leads to a prevalence of only a few types of tree species and a specialized set of characteristics among the animal-life, such as a dominance of black bears in one region and brown bears in another,