GEOGRAPHY

1. coniferous forests GEOGRAPHY Nekelle De Coteau

2. What is a coniferous forest? • Coniferous forests also called Boreal forest • Coniferous forests is a forest that is made up of mostly cone-bearing or coniferous trees. • The leaves are small and needle like or scale like. • Coniferous forests are mostly evergreen. • The northern coniferous forests are called taiga (Russian name) • They are softwoods and are able to survive in cold temperatures and acidic soils. • In conclusion a coniferous forest is a forest that is made up of trees that survive in cold temperatures, acidic soils, leaves that are small and needle like and cone bearing trees.

3. What kinds of trees are found in coniferous forests? • Pine trees • Spures • Hemlocks • Firs • Lypresses • Cedar • Redwood

4. Where are coniferous forests found? • They are found between 55° and 66° where winters are long and very cold summers are short and warm and annual precipitation is around 600mm. • Coniferous forests are found mainly in the Northern Hemisphere • Some are found in Southern Hemisphere • They cover large areas of the North America • Ranges across Northern Europe, Scandinavia • Asia, Russia • NorthenChina, Northern Japan

5. Map of the distribution of coniferous forest

6. Characteristics of coniferous trees and forests • The trees are of a conical shape • Leaves are needle like which have waxy cuticle that prevents water loos • The branches are soft and flexible and usually points downwards, so that snow slides of them easily • The trees are evergreen

7. Climate of coniferous forests • The climate is a cool climate or cold continental climate • Rainfall is low, 2500 mm per year with no real seasonal pattern • Snowfall is frequent and frost occur in summer • Summer temperature maximum is 10-15 degrees celcius • Winter temperature remains below freezing up to six months • The growing season is limited to six to eight months • Long hours of daylight in summer (16-20 hrs), to allow photosynthesis

8. Forest floor of the coniferous forest • Little light can penetrate through the canopy of trees to reach the forest floor • Because of the gloom only ferns and few herbaceous plants grow there • Mosses, liverworts and lichens are also found on the forest floor and tree trunks and branches • There are few flowering plants

9. Soils of coniferous forests • The soils of coniferous forests are podzol • Precipitation is greater than potential evapotranspiration • Leaching occurs due to snow melt • There is a raw acidic humus with a pH of 4.5-5.5 • The acidic water releases ion and aluminum oxides and moves them down the soil • Few earthworms, due to the acidity of the soil • Thick litter layer develops, due to low temperatures and resistant acidic nature of soils

10. Vegetation of coniferous forests • Coniferous vegetation occurs in the stands of one species • Pine favours sandy soils; spurcefavours damper soils • Ground vegetation is limited because it too dark • Biomass is 20kg/m (much woody matter) due to structure of trees

11. Adaptions to the environment and organisms found in coniferous forest • Being evergreen enables photosynthesis when temperature rise above 3°C • The conical shape enables trees to shed snow and reduce rocking by wind • Needle-like leaves have a small surface area therefore, water loss is reduced • Animal species are dominated by insects and seed-eating rodents; larger animals include deer, bear and wolves

12. References • Oxford Dictionary of Geography • Earthobservatory.nasa.gov • Kellyspage11.tripod.com • En.wikipedia.org • Wwf.panda.org • Advanced Geography Nagle • Geography an Integrated Approach by David waugh