Most trees are broad-leaved trees such as oak, maple, beech, walnut and chestnut trees. There are also several different types of plants, such as mountain laurel, azaleas and mosses, that live on the shady forest floor, where only small amounts of sunlight pass through. Oak, beech, birch, chestnut, poplar, elm, maple and linden trees are the dominant trees in mid-latitudes deciduous forests. They vary in shape and height and form dense growths that allow relatively little light to pass through the leafy foliage.
Shrubs are mainly found near clearings and forest edges, where more light is available, and herbaceous flowering plants abound in the forest in spring, before the trees reach their leaves. Deciduous forests are home to trees such as oak, birch, beech, aspen, elm and maple. Tropical and subtropical forests also have teak trees, palm trees and bamboo. Plants found in these forests include flowers, ferns, mosses, and grasses.
In addition, tropical and subtropical forests have flowers such as orchids and numerous vines called lianas. A deciduous forest is a type of forest dominated by trees that lose their foliage at the end of the growing season. This contrasts with an evergreen forest, where most trees remain “green” all year round because they lose their leaves not according to the season, but at various times of the year. In a deciduous forest, there is a complete seasonal loss of leaves followed by the production of new foliage.
The term deciduous means “temporary” or “prone to falling” (from the Latin dēciduus, which means “to fall”). Examples of mammals that usually inhabit this type of forest are mice, moles, squirrels, rabbits, weasels, foxes and deer. Based on the four geological and topographic areas described above, the forests in each NCRN park have somewhat different types of forests and tree species. In mid-latitudes deciduous forests, the dominant trees are oak, beech, birch, chestnut, poplar, elm, maple and linden trees.
Mice, rabbits, foxes, deer, otters, bears and humans are just a few examples of mammals that live in deciduous forests. This great abundance of deer can change the composition of the forest community, since deer feed preferentially on some species of trees, such as oaks and walnut trees. Deciduous forest, vegetation composed mainly of broad-leaved trees that lose all their leaves during a season. Tropical deciduous forest trees lose their leaves in the dry season and grow back in the rainy season.
Deciduous trees in temperate forests lose their leaves in the fall and grow them again in the spring. Examples of birds commonly found in deciduous forests are warblers, owls, thrushes, vireas, woodpeckers, and falcons. Snails, slugs, insects and spiders are common inhabitants of the deciduous forest, and many cold-blooded vertebrates, such as snakes, frogs, salamanders and turtles, are also present. In summer, plants in temperate deciduous forests grow the most, driven by the hottest temperatures and the highest levels of rainfall throughout the year.
