Introduction

When you visit one of the United State’s many forests, you are enjoying one of Earth’s vast temperate forests.

The types of trees and animals that live in a forest are dictated by the climate. Forests in temperate climates experience summers that are mild to hot, and winters ranging from cool to cold. Unlike the taiga, temperate forest producers enjoy six months of warmth and sunlight to grow, as well as more precipitation.

Some temperate forests are almost entirely composed of evergreens, or conifers, with just a few deciduous trees sprinkled throughout.

Many are located along coastlines, like the Pacific coast of North America.

Because of the presence of the ocean water, the winters here are milder with no ice, and sometimes no rain. However, fog from the ocean is a common source of water for plant life.

Because of the long growing season in these temperate coniferous forests, the trees grow fast and tall. These redwood trees are some of the tallest in the world, reaching heights of 300 feet.

This sequoia tree, named General Sherman after the American Civil War general, William Sherman, is the largest living tree on Earth.

Standing 275 feet tall with a diameter of 36 feet, this living giant calls Sequoia National Park in California its home.

Sequoia trees, like pine trees, are evergreen trees. With waxy, needle-like leaves, evergreens are generally inedible for most primary consumers.

Remember that, as energy passes from one feeding level in a food chain to the next, it decreases significantly. Because evergreen forests provide little producer energy, animal life is scarce.

As primary consumers, deer will munch on many different types of producers, including many types of evergreens. This adaptation allows them to inhabit evergreen forests year-round. A variety of snakes also inhabit evergreen forests and feed on smaller organisms.

Although snakes may not be on everyone’s favorite animal list, they are vital for controlling the populations of small animals and insects in the forest.

Insects like bark beetles and moths can wreak havoc on evergreen trees if their populations are left unchecked.

Each organism within an ecosystem has a specific niche, or role, within the community. For example, fungus act as decomposers within their community. Without them, the atoms of the bodies of dead organisms would not enter back into the soil to make new life. Ecosystems are delicately balanced, and a change in the number of organisms within a population can have a ripple effect throughout the entire ecosystem.

One might not think that removing one species of snake from a forest food chain would make much of a difference, but that snake’s absence could cause the destruction of trees due to an increase in insects.

All life is connected in some way. You rely on snakes in the forest to maintain the trees that canopy the forest for all to enjoy.

Like all of Earth’s forests, temperate coniferous forests are at risk from logging, fueled by the neverending need for resources by the rapidly growing human population.

The fate of the forests is in our hands.