TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM: Forest

COMPONENTS:
1. Producers: Photosynthesizing organisms
 Producers are any kind of green plant. Green plants make their food by taking sunlight and
using the energy to make sugar. The plant uses this sugar, also called glucose to make many
things, such as wood, leaves, roots, and bark.
 Example:
Trees, such as they mighty Oak, and the grand American Beech
An Oak tree seeds, known as acorns, which are food for deer, bears, and many other
forest species.
2. Consumers: any organism that can’t make its own food
 Consumers have to feed on producers or other consumers to survive.
 Examples:
Deer are herbivores, which means that they only eat plants (Producers).
Bears are another example of consumers. Black bears are omnivores and scavengers, like
skunks and raccoons, which means that they will eat just about anything. In a forest
community, Black Bears will eat blueberries, bugs, acorns, and many kinds of nuts.
3. Decomposers: An organism that primarily feeds on dead organisms or the waste from living
organisms
 Decomposers are the garbage men of the animal kingdom; they take all the dead animals and
plants (consumers and decomposers) and break them down into their nutrient components so
that plants can use them to make more food. Decomposers in the forest come in many
different shapes and sizes.
 Example:
Shelf fungus is a fungus that grows on the sides of trees. It grows into the tree and
decomposes it slowly.
TYPES:
1. Tropical rainforests
 Hugely dense, lush forest with canopies preventing sunlight from getting to the floor of the
forest.
 All year high temperatures and abundant rainfall.
  Located near the equator.
 A vital storehouse of biodiversity, sustaining millions of different animals, birds, algae and fish
species.
2. Sub-tropical forests
 Located in the south and north of the tropical forests.
 Trees here are adapted to resist the summer drought.
3. Mediterranean forests
 Located in the south of the temperate regions around the coasts of the Mediterranean,
California, Chile and Western Australia.
 The growing season is short and almost all trees are evergreen, but mixed with hardwood and
softwood.
4. Temperate forests
 Located in Eastern North America, Northeastern Asia, and western and eastern Europe.
 A mix of deciduous and coniferous evergreen trees.
 Usually, the broad-leaved hardwood trees shed leaves annually.
 There are well-defined seasons with a distinct winter and sufficient rainfall.
5. Coniferous forests
 Located in the cold, windy regions around the poles.
 They come in both hardwoods and conifers.
 The hardwoods are deciduous.
 The conifers are evergreen and structurally adapted to withstand the long drought-like
conditions of the long winters.
6. Montane forests
 Known as cloud forests because they receive most of their precipitation from the mist or fog
that comes up from the lowlands.
 Usually found in high-elevation tropical, subtropical and temperate zones.
 Plants and animals in these forests are adapted to withstanding the cold, wet conditions and
intense sunlight.
 Trees are mainly conifers.
7. Plantation forests
 Has around 7% of global forest cover (140 million hectares).
  Produces more sustainable timber and fiber than natural forests.
 Plantations produce around 40% of industrial wood.
 Plantation forests are on the increase.

LAYERS OF FOREST:
Emergent layer
The tallest trees are the emergent,
towering as much as 200 feet above the
forest floor with trunks that measure up to
16 feet around.   Most of these trees are
broad-leaved, hardwood evergreens.
Sunlight is plentiful up here.  Animals found
are eagles, monkeys, bats and butterflies.
Canopy layer
This is the primary layer of the forest and
forms a roof over the two remaining layers.
Most canopy trees have smooth, oval
leaves that come to a point. It's a maze of
leaves and branches.  Many animals live in
this area since food is abundant.   Those
animals include: snakes, toucans and
treefrogs.
Understory layer
Little sunshine reaches this area so the
plants have to grow larger leaves to reach
the sunlight.   The plants in this area
seldom grow to 12 feet.  Many animals live
here including jaguars, red-eyed tree frogs
and leopards.  There is a large
concentration of insects here.
 Forest floor
It's very dark down here.  Almost no plants
grow in this area, as a result.  Since hardly
any sun reaches the forest floor things
begin to decay quickly.  A leaf that might
take one year to decompose in a regular
climate will disappear in  6 weeks.   Giant
anteaters live in this layer.

IMPORTANCE OF FOREST:
1. Forests provide jobs and incomes
2. Forests host 80 % of all terrestrial biodiversity
3. Forests are vital to our health
4. Forests give us oxygen
5. Forests account for 75 % of freshwater resources worldwide
6. Forests regulate precipitation worldwide
7. Trees and forests are natural cooling systems
8. Forests slow down global warming
9. Forests protect us from disasters
10. Forests and trees grow on more fertile soils
11. Forests purify soil, water and air
12. Forests contribute to our well-being

SOURCES:
http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/forsite/2004presentations/Taylor/forsite/forsite.html
http://eschooltoday.com/forests/types-of-forests.html
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/whlayers.html
https://www.glo-be.be/index.php/en/articles/12-reasons-why-forests-are-important