Our Living World: Earth's Biomes - Volume 7: Forests

92 Pages·2004·8.99 MB·English

by  Barbara A. Somervill

volume
7
OUR LIVING WORLD: EARTH’S BIOMES
B a r b a r a A .
Forests S o m e r v i l l
T R A D I T I O N B O O K S ® , M A P L E P L A I N , M I N N E S O T A
A N E W T R A D I T I O N I N C H I L D R E N ’ S P U B L I S H I N G TM
Forests
In gratitude to George R. Peterson Sr. for introducing me to the beauty of creation
®
—George R. Peterson Jr., Publisher, Tradition Books
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Published in the United States of America by Tradition Books® and distributed to the school
Barbara A. Somervill is the author and library market by The Child’s World®
[ACKNOWLEDGMENTS]
of many books for children. She loves For Editorial Directions, Inc.: E. Russell Primm, Editorial Director; Dana Meachen Rau, Line
Editor; Katie Marsico, Associate Editor; Judi Shiffer, Associate Editor and Library Media
Specialist; Matthew Messbarger, Editorial Assistant; Susan Hindman, Copy Editor; Lucia
learning and sees every writing
Raatma, Proofreaders; Ann Grau Duvall, Peter Garnham, Deborah Grahame, Katie
Marsico, Elizabeth K. Martin, and Kathy Stevenson, Fact Checkers; Tim Griffin/IndexServ,
project as a chance to learn new Indexer; Cian Loughlin O’Day, Photo Researcher; Linda S. Koutris, Photo Selector
For The Design Lab: Kathleen Petelinsek, design, art direction, and cartography;
information or gain a new under- Kari Thornborough, page production
[PHOTOS]
standing. Ms. Somervill grew up in
Cover/frontispiece: Darrell Gulin/Corbis.
Interior: Claudia Adams/Dembinsky Photo Associates: 30; Animals Animals/Earth Scenes: 31
New York State, but has also lived in (Studio Carlo Dani), 32 (Erwin & Peggy Bauer), 49 (Patti Murray), 52 (Michael Fogden), 57
(Scott W. Smith), 58 (Gerard Lacz), 60 (Peter Weimann), 61 (McDonald Wildlife Photography),
69 (Juergen and Christine Sohns), 70 (Manoj Shah), 72 (ABPL/Martin Harvey), 76 (John
Toronto, Canada; Canberra, Australia; Anderson), 81 (OSF/Lon Lauber); Corbis: 8 (Robert Pickett), 22 (Kevin Schafer), 24 (Terry
Whittaker; Frank Lane Picture Agency), 28 (Jim Zuckerman), 33 (Layne Kennedy), 41 (Peter
Johnson), 48 (W. Perry Conway), 53 (Matt Brown), 66 (Tom Brakefield), 75 (Tim Zurowski),
California; and South Carolina. She
78 (Patrick Bennett), 82 (Stuart Westmorland), 91 (Buddy Mays); Corbis Sygma: 84 (Ron
Garrisson), 88 (Herve Collart); E. R. Degginger/Color-Pic: 62; Digital Vision: 10, 38, 40, 64, 85,
currently lives with her husband in 86; Michael & Patricia Fogden/Corbis: 11, 34, 44, 46; Gallo Images/Corbis: 15 (Roger De La
Harpe), 43 (Anthony Bannister), 71 (Martin Harvey); Getty Images/Brand X Pictures: 55, 80;
Martin Harvey/Corbis: 50, 74; Wolfgang Kaehler/Corbis: 36, 51, 77; Robert Maier/Animals
Simpsonville, South Carolina. Animals/Earth Scenes: 4, 42, 89; Photodisc: 6, 17, 18, 20, 21, 26, 35, 37, 73; Galen
Rowell/Corbis: 9, 56; Keren Su/Corbis: 65, 83; Uwe Walz/Corbis: 29, 45.
[L IBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA]
CIP data available
CONTENT ADVISER
Susan Woodward, Professor of
Geography, Radford University,
Radford, Virginia
✹
Table of Contents
[ C h a p t e r O n e ]
4 Defining Forests
[ C h a p t e r T w o ]
17 Focus on Key Species
[ C h a p t e r T h r e e ]
30 Predators
[ C h a p t e r F o u r ]
42 Prey
[ C h a p t e r F i v e ]
49 Flora
[ C h a p t e r S i x ]
58 Herbivores
[ C h a p t e r S e v e n ]
65 A Cycle of Life
[ C h a p t e r E i g h t ]
75 The Old-Growth Forest
[ C h a p t e r N i n e ]
83 The Human Touch
9 2 [ C h a r t o f S p e c i e s ]
9 3 [ I n d e x ]
✹
Table of Contents
[ C h a p t e r O n e ]
1
above, a crossbill pecks seeds
Defining from a cone. A black wood-
pecker drills the bark in
Forests search of wood ants. Red deer
browse on grasses in a nearby
✹ Beneath a silver fir tree, valley. A sparrow hawk
a pine marten catches a red shrieks as it glides above the
squirrel. In the branches treetops. Chatters, squeaks,
4
Defining Forests
[ D e f i n i n g F o r e s t s ]
and trills fill Germany’s Black
Forest with sounds of life.
This is an old forest, with
thick groves of spruce and G E R M A N Y
silver fir. Willows drape over
streams, and silver birches
rise tall above green-gray Black Forest
juniper. In grassy meadows,
Germany’s Black Forest
pink rhododendrons turn
toward the summer sun. greens bear cones. Magnolias,
Heather carpets a hillside holly, and boxwood are ever-
with purple. This is a forest greens without
with a long history. One can cones. Cedars, ? WORDS TO KNOW . . .
only hope it will have an spruce, cypress, and broadleaf evergreen (BRAWD-
equally long future. redwoods produce leef EV-ur-green) evergreen
cones. Broadleaf tree with broad leaves instead
Types of Forests
trees include of needles
✹ Forest is land covered with maples, birches, coniferous (kuh-NIF-ur-uhss)
closely spaced trees. The trees aspens, elms, oaks, bearing cones
may be coniferous, broadleaf beeches, and hicko- deciduous (di-SIJ-oo-uhss)
evergreen, or deciduous. ries. Deciduous annually dropping leaves or
While many coniferous trees broadleaf trees paint needles
are evergreen, not all ever- autumn forests with
A pine marten slips beneath the trees in a German forest.
5
Red, gold, and yellow color the leaves of a deciduous forest in the fall.
bright yellows, reds, and ture hot summers and cold
oranges. winters. Precipitation ranges
from 10 to 30 inches (25 to
Temperate Forests
76 centimeters) yearly.
✹ Temperate climates fea- Temperate forests appear
? WORDS TO KNOW . . .
precipitation (pri-sip-i-TAY-
shuhn) all the rain, snow, sleet,
hail, or other moisture falling Tropic of Cancer
on a region Equator
Tropic of Capricorn
The Tropic of Cancer, the equator, and the Tropic of Capricorn
6
[ D e f i n i n g F o r e s t s ]
in North America, South Cancer in the Northern
America, Europe, Asia, and Hemisphere. In the Southern
Africa. On a map, these Hemisphere, they lie between
forests lie between the Arctic the Tropic of Capricorn and
Circle and the Tropic of the Antarctic Circle.
150˚W
N
45˚N
135˚W
N O R T H Atlantic
Ocean
A M E R I C A
Temperate
30˚N
Forest
Pacific
Ocean Gulf of Mexico
15˚N
0 500 Miles
0 500 KM
120˚W 105˚W 90˚W 75˚W 6
North America’s temperate forests
7
oak, birch, maple, elm, or hick-
ory are common. There are a
multitude of these broadleaf
deciduous trees in temperate
forests. Elk, deer, moose, and
wisent (European bison) live in
temperate forests. Raccoons,
squirrels, rabbits, weasels,
foxes, and beavers also make
homes there.
Taiga is a Russian word
that refers to the marsh-filled
forests of Siberia. Taiga—also
called boreal (“northern”) for-
est—is found in Russia but is
Wisent (European bison) live in forests, while
American bison prefer the open grasslands.
located in northern Asia and
Temperate deciduous for- North America, too. These
ests grow in eastern North forests have coniferous trees
America, western Europe, and as well as broadleaf deciduous
eastern Asia. Areas of temper- trees. They also contain moose,
ate deciduous forests usually deer, wolves, and bears.
have only two or three main Temperate rain forests are
kinds of trees. Large stands of fascinating. These forests
This Roosevelt elk cow and her calf graze in a meadow near Eureka, California.
8
[ D e f i n i n g F o r e s t s ]
receive much more yearly rain- needleleaf trees. They contrast
fall than other temperate with broadleaf trees. Common
forests. Temperate rain forests trees in temperate rain forests
stretch from west-central include Douglas fir, sitka,
California to southern Alaska. spruce, western hemlock, and
They are also found in south- redwoods. Moss and lichen
ern Chile. These forests receive grow on tree trunks. Ferns are
more than 80 inches (203 cm) common on the forest floor.
of precipitation each year. Eagles, spotted owls, cougars,
They have tall conifers found and Roosevelt elk
nowhere else on earth. travel among the ! WOULD YOU BELIEVE?
Conifers are cone-bearing tall, ancient trees. Redwoods can grow in “fairy
rings.” When a mature tree is
cut down, new trees sprout
from the stump. They form a
circle of saplings—a fairy ring—
from which new trees develop.
to the equator. Temperatures
do not change much through-
out the year. Rainfall averages
6.5 to 17 feet (2 to 5 meters)
yearly. The climate is warm
and wet. There are also decid-
uous sections of the tropics
where there is a short dry
season. The trees shed their
leaves in the dry season.
Both tropical rain forests and
tropical dry forests have
broadleaf trees. Tropical rain
Plant growth in a rain forest is so thick that forests support incredible
little sunlight reaches the forest floor.
numbers of plants and ani-
READ IT! mals. There are so many trees
Tropical Forests
Read all about the strange and that two of the same species
fascinating world of rain forests ✹ Tropical rain rarely grow next to each
in Toni Albert’s book The forests are found in other. Most trees are
Remarkable Rain Forest: An Australia, Asia, broadleaf and evergreen.
Active-Learning Book for Kids South America, and The tallest trees form a
(Trickle Creek Books, 1996). Africa. Tropical canopy that rises high above
rain forests lie close the forest floor. The topmost
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