Temperate rainforest

Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rainfall. Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rainfall. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Pacific Northwest as well as the Appalachian temperate rainforest of the Eastern U.S. Sun Belt; the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southwestern South America; the rain forests of New Zealand, Tasmania and southeastern Australia; northwest Europe (small pockets in the British Isles, Iceland, and larger areas in southern Norway and northern Iberia); southern Japan; and the eastern Black Sea-Caspian Sea region of Turkey, Georgia and northern Iran. The moist conditions of temperate rain forests generally support an understory of mosses, ferns and some shrubs. Temperate rain forests can be temperate coniferous forests or temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. For temperate rain forests of North America, Alaback's definition is widely recognized: However, required annual precipitation depends on factors such as distribution of rainfall over the year, temperatures over the year and fog presence, and definitions in other regions of the world differ considerably. For example, Australian definitions are ecological-structural rather than climatic: The latter would, for example, exclude a part of the temperate rain forests of western North America, as Coast Douglas-fir, one of its dominant tree species, requires stand-destroying disturbance to initiate a new cohort of seedlings. The North American definition would in turn exclude a part of temperate rain forests under definitions used elsewhere. For forests, canopy refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms (neophytes, lanais, arboreal animals, etc.). The canopy level is the third level of the temperate rainforest. The trees forming the canopy, conifers, can stand as tall as 100 meters or more. A variety of species survive in the canopy. The tops of these trees collect most of the rain, moisture, and photosynthesis that the rainforest takes in. They form a canopy over the forest, covering about 95% of the floor during the summer. The canopy’s coverage affects the shade tolerance levels of forest floor plants. When the canopy is in full bloom, covering about 95% of the floor, plant survival decreases. Some plant species have become shade tolerant in order to survive. The treetops take in the heavy amount of rain and keep the lower levels of the forest damp. The canopy survives through photosynthesis. The leaves provide energy and nutrients for the trees, which provide homes and food for the forest. Through satellite data, the radiation use efficiency(RUE) calculates the annual amount of photosynthesis that occurs in temperate rainforests. A diverse amount of photosynthesis occurs based on the location and microclimates of the forest.