Temperate Deciduous Forest

Although the temperate region is technically located between of the Polar rings and the Tropics (Cancer and Capricorn), when we refer to the temperate forests we usually mean an area that occupies the mid-Atlantic and north-eastern portions of the United States into Canada, as well as parts of Europe, Russia, Japan, eastern China, N.W. Zealand, S.E. Australia, S. Chile, as well as the east coast of Paraguay.

The dominant and obvious flora in this biome is large, deciduous, broad-leafed (flowering) hardwood trees. Coniferous trees occur in mixed stands in some areas, but tend not to dominate. The understory is a mix of saplings, understory trees, and shrubs. The forest floor is covered with springtime flowering perennials, ferns, mosses, and fungi. More than 600 species of trees and shrubs extend from Canada down to sub-tropical areas of the United States. Some trees like red maple (Acer rubrum) can be found in every state in the USA.

Climate

5-7 month growing season
Four distinct seasons: summers are active and warm; autumn is cool and dry and a time of preparation; winters are dormant and cold with frost; and spring is cool, wet, and active

Rainfall

75 - 220 cm/yr (28-85 in/yr) of precipitation all year.

Temperature

Annual average between 5°-17°C
The average annual temperature is 10° C.

Regional Expressions

Eastern North America, parts of Europe, eastern China, Japan, Russia, NW Zealand, SE Australia, So. Chile, as well as the east coast of Paraguay

Above: A Whittaker Graph showing where temperate deciduous forests occupy this abiotic space, based on precipitation and temperature

Soils

Autumn leaf fall provides for an abundant and rich humus which begins to decay rapidly in spring
Brown forest soils (alfisols) form in cool to hot humid areas from the Mississippi River through the Appalachians
Ultisols: in the humid southeast United States, which are intensely weathered and support more southern conifers

Flora & Fungi

Tree canopy: The canopy contains mature trees such as oak, beech, maple, hickory, elm, sweet gum and tulip trees.
- This zone has height ranges between 60 and 100 feet. Many insects and birds as well as some mammals live in the canopy.
- e.g. Quercus, Acer, Fagus, Carya, Ulmus, Tilia, Juglans and Liquidambar
Understory: The understory contains saplings of canopy trees, shrubs, as well as shade-adapted trees that are naturally small in stature
- Some of the shrubs in this zone are witch hazels, rhododendrons, viburnums, and blueberries. Common small trees are sassafras and dogwoods.
Herb layer: The herb layer, an area a few feet above the ground, contains soft, green, mostly perennial plants
- This zone is dominated by spring-flowering plants, even when snow is still present. During the summer and fall, ferns and other forest perennials proliferate in this zone.
Forest floor: The forest floor contains small plants such as lycopods and mosses, as well as fungi, lichens, protists, and bacteria
- The soil of these forests is frequently moist to wet with many small to microscopic insects.
- The forest floor is home to many amphibians and mammals.

Adaptations

Deciduous leaves: avoid desiccation in drying winter
Sun and shade leaves
Autumn color change - e.g. using secondary pigments for photosynthesisEarly flowering herbs, called spring ephemerals
Wind-pollinated trees with catkins (e.g. oaks, ashes, birches, etc.)
Shrubs with bracts to attract pollinators (e.g. dogwoods)
Spring ephemeral plants with bulbs or corms
Shade-tolerant shrubs and understory plants

Additional Resources

AI pinpoints aspens and standing dead trees in forests using aerial imagery (Phys.org 10Dec2025)

├Dual-task learning for dead tree detection and segmentation with hybrid self-attention U-Nets in aerial imagery (Rahman et al., 2025)

└Mapping large European aspens (Populus tremula L.) using national aerial imagery and a U-Net convolutional neural network (Chowdhury et al., 2025)

The northern migration of the temperate forest isn't proceeding as expected (The Conversation, 16Oct2025)
How Indigenous fire stewardship continues to shape North American forests (Phys.org 10Sep2025)

└Larson et al. (2025) Indigenous fire stewardship shaped North American Great Lakes forests

Bark beetle outbreaks raise forest temperatures, but deciduous trees offer cooling effect (Phys.org 5Sep2025)

└Greiser et al. (2025) Bark beetles as microclimate engineers – thermal characteristics of infested spruce trees at the canopy surface and below the canopy

Restoring nature beyond forests: A new map for rethinking ecological conservation (Phys.org 18Jul2025)

└Bastin et al. (2025) Global alternatives of natural vegetation cover

New study reveals consistent nitrate preference across temperate forest tree species in Northeast China (Phys.org 26Jun2025)

└Qu et al. (2025) Paired 15N labeling reveals that temperate broadleaved tree species proportionally take up more nitrate than conifers

How archaeologists use hazelnuts to reconstruct ancient woodlands (Phys.org 29Feb2024)

└ Styring et al. (2024) Carbon isotope values of hazelnut shells: a new proxy for canopy density

The Badass Spring Ephemeral (In Defense of Plants, 2016)

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