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Forests Tropical & Temperate
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What is a Forest? Large, continuous stands of trees Grows in moist areas with at least one warm season Two types of forests Tropical Temperate
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Forest Ecosystem Services
Absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere Maintain the balance of oxygen in the air Regulate stream flow by absorbing and slowly releasing precipitation Provide habitat for animals Create soil Tree roots prevent soil erosion and compaction Maintain moisture levels in atmosphere through transpiration
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Types of Tropical Forests
Tropical Moist Forests Tropical Dry Forests Tropical Cloud Forests Tropical Rain Forests
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Tropical Forests of the World
Tropical Forests are in ARCTIC CIRCLE TROPIC OF CANCER EQUATOR TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
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Tropical Rain Forests Found between Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
(23.5 N. and S. of equator) 80+ inches of rain annually 324 inches in the Choco of Columbia Humidity % Fairly constant temperatures 70 - 85 F Existed in more or less present form for million years
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Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Forest Floor
Soil Decaying matter Seedlings Shade-tolerant plants Very dark, less than 1% of light reaches floor
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Forest Floor Animals jaguar Photo by Mike Teller sunbittern bushmaster
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Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Understory
Drier and lighter than floor Small and young trees Shade tolerant plants Conical shape trees and plants with larger leaves Provides shelter for animal species tree fern katydid
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Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Understory
Epiphytes bromeliads orchids ferns lianas (woody vines) connect the lower levels to the upper levels epiphytes bromeliad
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Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Canopy
Open canopy greater variation in temperature and weather Most diverse level of the forest Majority of plant and animal species Trees up to feet tall Large flat crown up to an acre across Lianas make up 40% of canopy
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Canopy Animals toucan sloth howler monkey Photo by Dale Unruh
Photo by Dana Payne howler monkey Photo by Dana Payne
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Layers of the Tropical Rainforests: Emergent Layer
Trees reach feet Smaller crowns than canopy Vulnerable to the elements Many birds and primates find food in emergent and protection in canopy
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Common is rare and rare is common
Biodiversity Tropical rain forests make up approx. 6% of the earth’s land Estimated that tropical rain forests host half the world’s species of living things Approximately 25% of drugs prescribed in the US are derived from plants Common is rare and rare is common
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Major Threats to Tropical Forests
Commercial farming “Slash-and-burn” agriculture International logging Cattle pastures Road-building and dam-building
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Temperate Forest Temperate forests are:
forests that grow in regions of moderate (temperate) climates (between 2327 and 6633 north or south latitudes) weather changes between distinct warm/hot summer season and cool/cold winter season
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Temperate Forests of the World
Temperate Forests are in ARCTIC CIRCLE TROPIC OF CANCER EQUATOR TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
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Types of Temperate Forests
Temperate deciduous forests mainly broadleaf, deciduous trees found in eastern US, the UK, central Europe, eastern Asia Boreal forests (taiga) mainly needle-leaved, coniferous (cone-bearing) trees small trees due to short growing season Temperate evergreen forests same types of trees as boreal, but milder conditions Temperate rain forests high precipitation, mild winters found in Pacific NW, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and parts of Japan, U.K. and Norway
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Temperate Forests in Washington
Climate favors coniferous, evergreen trees over broadleaf, deciduous trees 90% of precipitation falls between September and May (often summer drought) Two types of temperate forests found in Washington state: Temperate Evergreen Forest inches annually east of the Cascades inches annually west of the Cascades Temperate Rain Forest averages up to 140 inches annually in Olympic Peninsula
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Temperate Forests in Washington
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Temperate Forest Characteristics
Dominated by evergreen, coniferous trees Layers of overlapping vegetation (forest floor, understory, canopy) Downed logs and old stumps that act as nurse logs and mother snags Thick layer of organic debris on ground Cool, wet, acidic soils Presence of epiphytes
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Temperate Forest Vegetation
Forest floor ferns, false lily of the valley, queen’s cup, twinflower redwood sorrel, trillium mosses, lichens, liverworts, club mosses Understory small trees: Pacific yew, Pacific dogwood, vine maple shrubs: huckleberries, red elderberry, devil’s club, salal epiphytes: as in canopy Canopy conifers: Douglas fir, western hemlock, western red cedar, true firs broadleaf: big leaf maple, black cottonwood, red alder epiphytes: mosses, lichens, liverworts, ferns and club mosses
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Temperate Forest Vegetation
fern & sphagnum moss sorrel calypso orchid trillium salal flowers
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Temperate Rain Forest: Forests of the Olympic Peninsula
Defining characteristics: trees that are long-lived and of great size abundance of epiphytes fog drip, networks of flowing water
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Temperate Forest Vegetation: Eastern Washington
Far drier than western Washington forests Lowest elevations bordering the steppe, drought-tolerant ponderosa pine dominates Higher elevations, Douglas fir dominates, mixed with lodge pole pine, grand fir and western larch Many shrubs and herbs found on forest floor and understory also grow in the steppe Most of wildlife found in east side forests are the same species that inhabit west side forests
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Temperate Forest Animals
INVERTEBRATES Canopy: mites, spiders, springtails, barklice Forest Floor: ants, termites, banana slug, millipedes, centipedes, beetles AMPHIBIANS Pacific tree frog Red-legged frog (W) Salamanders (W) REPTILES Garter snakes Northern Alligator Lizard BIRDS (species that rely on old growth forests) Winter wren Vaux’s swift Marbled murrelet (W) Pileated woodpecker Northern spotted owl (W) =primarily found in western Washington
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Temperate Forest Animals (cont.)
SMALL MAMMALS Forest floor: shrews, mountain beaver, deer mice, skunks Canopy/Understory: bats, flying squirrel, red squirrel (E), Townsend’s chipmunk (W), marten, fisher LARGE MAMMALS Rocky Mountain elk (E) Roosevelt elk (W) mule deer (E) black-tailed deer (W) coyote bobcat cougar black bear (W) =primarily found in western Washington (E) =primarily found in eastern Washington
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Temperate Forest Animals
striped skunk black-tailed deer black-tailed deer barred owl raccoon cougar cougar
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Temperate Forest: Fires
In Washington, fire plays a more significant role in forests east of the Cascades crest than in those of the west side Natural forest fires can: enhance the diversity of forest floor species by maintaining openness of forest provide food for animals by encouraging growth of forest floor plants initiate germination of some tree seedlings, such as lodgepole pine
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Forest Succession The process of organisms displacing one another in an ecosystem; occurs in sequence. A result of the survival strategies of plants: live fast, die young (energy expended in dispersal & fecundity) OR live long and strong (energy used for defense & put into storage) Disturbance = events, natural or human-caused, that cause changes in an ecosystem Climax = final stage of succession which results in a stable plant community that is in natural equilibrium
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Major Threats to Washington’s Temperate Forests
Urban sprawl Farming and agriculture Introduced species Road-building Unsustainable harvesting
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Temperate Forests vs. Tropical Forests
Slow decomposition One foot leaf litter Seven feet topsoil Temperatures vary widely Three layers of vegetation Trees mostly wind pollinated TROPICAL Rapid decomposition One inch leaf litter 2-3 inches topsoil Fairly constant temperatures Four layers vegetation Trees pollinated by animals Greater biodiversity
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Forest Connections
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Forest Research Methods of studying forest canopies:
platforms walkways towers hot air balloons climbing ropes canopy cranes Eleven canopy cranes around the world: Japan Venezuela Switzerland Germany (3) Panama (2) Malaysia Australia Washington state Wind River Canopy Crane Gifford Pinchot National Forest
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Forest Conservation What organizations are doing: forest certification
cooperative conservation projects that include protection and management, research, education and community involvement What you can do: look for certified forest products look for shade-grown coffee help students fall in love with forests get involved in local habitat projects reduce, reuse and recycle paper and other forest products
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Woodland Park Zoo 2011 www.zoo.org
All photos by K. Remine/M. White/J. Mears unless otherwise noted. All WPZ photos property of Woodland Park Zoo. All rights reserved.
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