Temperate rainforest

Temperate rain forests are special forests that grow in cooler parts of the world where it rains a lot. You can find them in places like the Pacific Northwest of North America, parts of the United States, South America, New Zealand, Australia, northwest Europe, Japan, and near the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

These forests grow where the air is moist and there is lots of water. Because of this, the ground is covered with thick mosses and ferns, along with small bushes and berries. Temperate rain forests have tall trees, sometimes with needle leaves, or a mix of different kinds of trees with broad leaves.

These forests are important because they help keep the Earth healthy. They give homes to many animals and plants that need wet, cool places to live.

Definition

Temperate rainforests are special forests that get a lot of rain. In North America, a forest is a temperate rainforest if it gets more than 140 cm (55 in) of rain each year and the temperature stays between 4 and 12 °C (39 and 54 °F).

But in other places, like Australia, the rules are different. They look at how the trees grow. Their forests have tall trees that block most of the sky, and the trees can grow back even when it’s shady.

Canopy level

In forests, the canopy is the top layer made of tall tree tops. In temperate rainforests, these trees, often conifers, can grow very tall, over 100 metres. This top layer catches most of the rain and sunlight, like a roof over the forest.

Because the canopy blocks much light, plants on the forest floor must grow in shade. The leaves of canopy trees help the trees make food and energy through photosynthesis, which also helps many animals that live in the trees.

Distribution

Temperate rainforests are forests that get a lot of rain. They grow in cooler parts of the world. They can have coniferous trees, like pines, or broadleaf trees, like oaks.

These forests grow in many places around the world. In North America, they are along the Pacific coast from Alaska to northern California. In South America, they grow in southern Chile and Argentina. Small areas are in Europe, in places like Norway, Spain, and Britain. They also grow in parts of Asia, such as Japan, Taiwan, and Russia. In Oceania, they are in Australia and New Zealand.

The air in these forests is very moist. This creates a special understory layer of plants. This layer often has mosses, ferns, and small shrubs and berries. The cool, wet weather helps these plants grow.