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| 1.Deciduous forests can be found in the eastern half of North America, and the middle of Europe. There are many deciduous forests in Asia. Some of the major areas that they are in are southwest Russia, Japan, and eastern China. South America has two big areas of deciduous forests in southern Chile and Middle East coast of Paraguay. There are deciduous forests located in New Zealand, and southeastern Australia also. The average annual temperature in a deciduous forest is 50° F. The average rainfall is 30 to 60 inches a year. |
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Definition
In deciduous forests there are five different zones. The first zone is the Tree Stratum zone. The Tree Stratum zone contains such trees as oak, beech, maple, chestnut hickory, elm, basswood, linden, walnut, and sweet gum trees. This zone has height ranges between 60 feet and 100 feet.
The small tree and sapling zone is the second zone. This zone has young, and short trees. The third zone is called the shrub zone. Some of the shrubs in this zone are rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurel, and huckleberries. The Herb zone is the fourth zone. It contains short plants such as herbal plants. The final zone is the Ground zone. It contains lichen, club mosses, and true mosses. |
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| The deciduous forest has four distinct seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In the autumn the leaves change color. During the winter months the trees lose their leaves. The animals adapt to the climate by hibernating in the winter and living off the land in the other three seasons. The animals have adapted to the land by trying the plants in the forest to see if they are good to eat for a good supply of food. Also the trees provide shelter for them. Animal use the trees for food and a water sources. Most of the animals are camouflaged to look like the ground. |
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Definition
The plants have adapted to the forests by leaning toward the sun. Soaking up the nutrients in the ground is also a way of adaptation.
A lot of deciduous forests have lost land to farms and towns. Although people are trying to protect the forests some poachers are trying to kill the animals in the forests. The animals are losing their homes because of people building their homes. |
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| The term deciduous forest is used to describe a type of forest in which the dominant species of trees and other woody vegetation that make up the forest are those species that shed their leaves during the cold months of the year and re-grows new leaves the next spring in time for the growing season. |
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Definition
| Deciduous forests occur in several regions throughout the world including eastern North America, the British Isles, eastern Europe, New Zealand, eastern Australia, and northeast Asia. These regions though diverse, share some characteristics. They all experience seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation. As a consequence, the trees found in deciduous forests are specially adapted to withstand these environmental changes throughout the year. |
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| The tree species that occur in deciduous forests vary by region, but generally include species such as oak, beech, elm, walnut, sweet gum, linden, maple, chestnut, and hickory. Deciduous forests grow in areas where rainfall is sufficient to support tree growth (areas where too little rainfall occurs result in drier habitats such as grasslands and scrublands). |
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Definition
| Deciduous forests are well suited to dealing with the extremes of temperate regions. After losing leaves in winter (when growing is restricted by the harshness of the climate), the trees enter a period of dormancy until the warmer weather returns and the growing season is once again underway. |
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Term
| The term deciduous forest is used to describe a type of forest in which the dominant species of trees and other woody vegetation that make up the forest are those species that shed their leaves during the cold months of the year and re-grows new leaves the next spring in time for the growing season. |
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Definition
| Deciduous forests occur in several regions throughout the world including eastern North America, the British Isles, eastern Europe, New Zealand, eastern Australia, and northeast Asia. These regions though diverse, share some characteristics. They all experience seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation. As a consequence, the trees found in deciduous forests are specially adapted to withstand these environmental changes throughout the year. |
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| The word "deciduous" means exactly what the leaves on these trees do: change color in autumn, fall off in the winter, and grow back again in the spring. This adaptation helps trees in the forest survive winter. |
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Definition
| If you look at the graph to the left, you'll see that next to the rainforest, the temperate deciduous gets the second-most amount of rainfall per year. In the winter, precipitation (rainfall) is in the form of sleet, snow, and hail. The average rainfall is 30 to 60 inches per year. The average temperature of the forest is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. |
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Like all living things, deciduous trees and plants have special adaptations to stay alive.
Summer is a busy time for deciduous trees. Their broad leaves capture energy from the sun and convert it to food by photosynthesis. Some of the food is used for growth and some is stored in the roots for next spring. |
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Definition
| During the shorter days and cooler weather of autumn, green chlorophyll in the leaves begins to decompose, revealing brilliant oranges, yellows, and reds. Actually, these colors were present in the leaves all year long, but had been hidden by the green pigment of the chlorophyll. |
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| During the shorter days and cooler weather of autumn, green chlorophyll in the leaves begins to decompose, revealing brilliant oranges, yellows, and reds. Actually, these colors were present in the leaves all year long, but had been hidden by the green pigment of the chlorophyll. |
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Definition
| To prepare for winter, deciduous trees and plants become dormant. They lose their leaves and seal the places where leaves were attached with a protective covering called a leaf scar. If they kept their leaves, the water in the leaves would freeze into ice, damaging the leaves and leaving the plant vulnerable to bacteria or fungi. Plants also make a concentrated sugar solution to stop water from freezing in their stems. |
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| The four seasons happen because of the tilt of the Earth's axis. At different times of the year, the sun's rays hit different parts of the globe more directly. The angle of the Earth's axis tilts the Northern Hemisphere towards the sun during the summer. |
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Definition
| Without the tilt of the earth's axis, we wouldn't have seasons. Instead, the areas around the equator would receive the most sun and the northern and southern hemispheres would be stuck in a gradual gradient of hot to cold. The seasons would not change, it would be about the same temperature year round and there would be no seasons. |
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| Precipitation in the temperate deciduous forest falls throughout the year. However, during the winter months it is usually frozen and less is available for animals to drink. Animals living within this biome must adjust to cold winters and hot summers by hibernating, migrating, or keeping active all winter. Leaves fall off trees here in the fall, leaving animals with less cover to hide themselves from predators. |
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Definition
A large, powerful species, the rat snake tolerates a variety of habitats in wet and dry situations. There are 6 or more subspecies, which occur in one of three main color patterns: plain, blotched or striped. It is an agile snake, good at climbing, and hunts rodents and other small mammals, birds and lizards in trees and in barns or ruined buildings. Usually active during the day, it may tend to be nocturnal in summer. In much of its range, it hibernates throughout the winter. Rat snakes mate in spring and autumn. The female lays 5 to 30 eggs in leaf debris or under a rock or log. The eggs hatch in 2 to 4 months, depending on the temperature: the warmer the weather, the quicker they hatch.
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