A forest in the usual sense for us is a place where many trees, shrubs and herbs grow. And there are also representatives of wild fauna: birds, insects, animals, etc.d. In a broader sense, the forest is the most complex biological system, without which life on the planet would hardly be possible. All forests differ from each other depending on the climate zone and other factors. There are many divisions based on different signs, consider some of them.
Deciduous forests
The deciduous forest consists of species of trees with leaves. There are no pines or firs, instead of them aspen, willow, wild apple tree, oak, maple, etc.D. But the most common tree for this type of forest in Eurasia is birch. It is very unpretentious, capable of growing on various types of soils and has a life expectancy of up to 150 years.
The most widely deciduous forests are common in the northern hemisphere. In places of their growth, a moderate climate and a clear climatic change of seasons of the year are characteristic. There are several tiers in this type of forest: trees of various heights, then shrub and, finally, herbal cover. In most cases, the number of types of herbs here is more than species of trees.
A characteristic sign of deciduous forest is the discharge of leaves before the onset of the cold season. During this period, branches of trees become naked, and the forest “transparent”.
Widelyfaced forests
This group is a division of deciduous forest and consists of trees with wide sheet plates. The area of growth gravitates to the territories with a wet and moderate-humid climate. For a broadleaved forest, uniform distribution of temperature during the calendar year and, in general, a warm climate is important.
Smallleaved forests
This group is made up of forests in which trees with narrow leaf plates prevail. As a rule, this is birch, aspen and alder. This type of forest is common in Western Siberia, in the Far East.
The smallleaved forest is the lightest, since the leaves do not create significant interference with the passage of sunlight. Accordingly, there are fertile soils and a wide variety of vegetation. Unlike conifers, smallleaved trees are not demanding on habitat, therefore often arise in the places of industrial cutup and forest fires.
Coniferous forests
This type of forest consists of coniferous trees: spruce, pine, fir, larch, cedar, etc.D. Almost all of them are evergreen, that is, they never drop all the needles at the same time and the branches do not remain naked. The exception is larch. Despite the presence of coniferous needles before winter, they dumps them in the same way as deciduous trees.
Coniferous forests grow in cold climate, in some territories going beyond the polar circle. This species is also available in a moderate climatic zone, as well as in the tropics, but is presented in a much less extent.
Coniferous trees are distinguished by a dense crown, which shades the surrounding area. On the basis of this feature, darkskinned and lightcoil forests are distinguished. The first species is characterized by high clinic clinics and weak illumination of the Earth’s surface. There is rough soil and poor vegetation here. Lighthaired forests have a more sparse canopy, which allows the sunlight to penetrate the ground more freely.
mixed forests
A mixed forest is characterized by the presence of both deciduous and coniferous tree species. Moreover, the status of mixed is assigned in the presence of more than 5% of one or another type. Mixed forest, as a rule, is common in areas with warm summers and cold winters. The species diversity of grasses here is much greater than in coniferous forests. This is due, first of all, to a large amount of light that penetrates through the crowns of trees.
Rainforests
The distribution area of this type of forest is tropical, equatorial and subequatorial belts. They are also found almost along the entire equator of the Earth. The tropics are distinguished by a huge variety of vegetation. There are thousands of species of herbs, shrubs and trees. The number of species is so great that it is rare to find two identical plants growing side by side.
Most tropical forests have three tiers. The upper is the giant trees, the height of which reaches 60 meters. There are quite a few of them, so the crowns do not close, and enough sunlight penetrates to the next tiers. On the “second floor” there are trees up to 30 meters high. In some areas, their crowns form a dense canopy, so the plants of the lowest tier grow in conditions of lack of light.
larch forest
This type of forest is coniferous, but differs from similar ones in the ability to shed needles in winter. The main type of tree here is larch. This is a strong tree that can grow even on poor soils and in severe frost conditions. Reaching a height of 80 meters, larch has a gentle crown, so it does not create a serious obstacle to sunlight.
Larch forests have very fertile soil, many species of shrubs and herbs grow. There is also often a undergrowth in the form of low deciduous trees: alder, willow, shrub birch.
This type of forests is widespread in the Urals, the territories of Siberia, up to the polar circle. A lot of larch forests are available in the Far East. Often larchs grow in places where other trees physically cannot exist. Thanks to this, they form the basis of all forests of these regions. Very often in this type of forest there are rich hunting grounds, as well as tracts with a large number of berries and mushrooms. In addition, larch has the ability to clean the air well of harmful impurities of industrial production.
