The Forest Ecosystem

The Forest Ecosystem Created by: Parker Thiessen, Phoebe Tran, Jensen Flowers, Andrea Ramirez

Where They’re Located • Located in eastern North America, southern South America, most of Europe, eastern Asia, and eastern Australia • One fourth of forests are deciduous • Growing season in these forests is about 6 months

Physical Features • Mountains • Hills • Plains • Trees

Forest Pictures

Why Forests Are Decreasing • We use products made of trees to survive • We cut down trees to make more space for buildings

Climate in Deciduous Forests • The latitude range is anywhere from 23F north to 38F south. • Most deciduous forests have mild averaging about 70F, Winter temperatures are a little below freezing. • The ocean and the wind are two big factors of why the temperature and climate change so much in this biome.

Precipitation and Seasons in Deciduous Forests • Deciduous forests have almost 14 inches of rain and snow in the Winter months (December, January, February, March, April, and May), and 18 in Summer months (June, July, and August). • deciduous forests get between 30 and 60 inches of precipitation a year. • Precipitation in this biome happens year round.

Summer months and Winter months

Cardinals and Black Bears • Males colors are red while the female is buffy brown. • It also has a reddish tinge on its wings and chest. • They even have a red bill. • Cardinals really fight for their food. • They feed on the ground and in trees for seeds and berries and in the trees. • It’s important to the ecosystem because we won’t get to hear them sing. No more beautiful songs. • Fruit, berries, nuts, roots, and honey are their diet eats. • Insects, rodents, and other small mammals. • Go from glossy, black to dark brown, reddish brown or almost white. • Often has a small white patch on chest. • It’s important to the ecosystem because we would have a whole bunch of rodents and I know people hate rodents.

White-Tailed Deer • It grazes on grass, weeds, shrubs, twigs, fungi, nuts, and lichens. • It has a white band across its nose and a white patch on the throat. • They are very shy. • It has a long tail. • Young females usually produce only a single offspring, but older females may have litter of 2 to 3. • It’s important to the ecosystem because fungi and lichens would be everywhere.

Raccoons and Turkeys • Raccoons have thick, gray fur and a bushy tail. • Its diet foods are frogs, fish, birds, turtle eggs, nuts, seeds, fruit, and corn. • Eyes are open at 3 weeks old. • A liter of 3 to 6 young is born in spring in about 65 days. • It’s important to the ecosystem because it keeps the food chain going. • Turkeys eat plant matter, such as seeds, nuts, and berries. • Their meat eats are insects and small reptiles. • Each female lays her eggs in a shallow, leafy nest on the ground. • The female gives heat to the clutch of 8 to 15 eggs for about 28 days. • It’s important to the ecosystem because if what they eat don’t get eaten they will be ruling the world.

White Oaks • Has whitish, gray bark, seeds are acorns • Grows 80 to 100 FT tall • When seedling, has taproot to get H2O during a drought, disappears later w/ age, grows a fibrous root system w/ tapered laterals • Squirrels, chipmunks, & deer mostly eat the seeds (acorns)

White Birch • Has white bark that peels easily • Grows 70 to 80 FT tall • Flowers (nutkins) has little wings, flies away from parent tree so no competition for food & H2O • Moose & deer eat leaves, porcupines eat bark, rabbits eat seedlings & saplings, yellow-bellied sapsuckers eat sap, humming birds & squirrels eat sap from sap wells sapsuckers made

Shagbark Hickory • Ashy, gray bark, bark separates into long strips • Grows to 100 FT tall • Has long taprooms that goes straight into the ground for extra H2O when drought • Squirrels, chipmunks, black bears, red & gray foxes, & ducks eat the nuts

Bibliography • http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep8c.htm • www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/tempdecid/tempdecid.shtml • www.blueplanet • www.google.com

The Forest Ecosystem