Temperate Deciduous Forest

The spreading branches of the trees meet each other above the ground forming the canopy. If the trees in a forest are growing close together they will prevent a lot of the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. This means that only a few plants will be able to grow under the tree canopy. The forest will be dark and damp. You would expect to find many fungi (singular : fungus) growing on rotting wood and other decaying organisms.

If the trees are not growing so close together then more light will reach the forest floor. More plants will be able to grow. Those which grow close to the ground, such as mosses and ground ivy, make up the ground layer vegetation. The taller plants, such as bramble and dog's mercury, make up the field layer. This type of forest will be lighter and will not feel very damp.

Many of the forest animals will use the air to move from tree to tree. Birds and insects, some of them herbivores and some of them carnivores, will be plentiful. You might expect to find spiders' webs between the branches of some of the bushes. Snails and ants would be found in large numbers in the field layer. You could be lucky enough to see a deer or a squirrel.

In the Autumn the trees of a deciduous forest lose their leaves. These fall to the forest floor and make up the leaf litter. In the winter the forest looks bare. Many of the animals will have made a warm nest to sleep in through the cold weather. Other animals will spend much of their time scraping through the frozen soil to find food. Carnivores will find it harder to locate their prey. Many land habitats are effected by the seasons and the animals need to adapt their behaviour in order to survive through the cold weather.

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© Paul Billiet, Shirley Burchill, Alan Damon and Deborah James 2009