Productivity of Temperate, Deciduous and Evergreen Forests

Abstract

For the purposes of this discussion, temperate forest is regarded as occurring in broad latitudinal bands between the taiga towards the poles and the mediterranean flora towards the equator. Within these bands temperate forest occurs at moderate elevations below the altitudinal extremes of climate and associated alpine vegetation and away from the continental extremes of temperature and dryness. Temperatures are moderate, usually not falling below about -15 °C in winter, and the soil freezes for less than 3 months. In summer temperatures rarely exceed 35 °C, precipitation exceeds ca. 400 mm and is fairly uniformly distributed through the year so that a dry season lasts for less than ca. 3 months. A more exact definition can be found in Walter (1970).