Temperate Biome
Sujata Shrestha
Temperate Biome
Geography-­‐‑ Above 30 degrees of North and South latitudes 21% of the Earth’s Land Area =13% Temperate Grasslands + 8% Temperate Forest
Temperature: average temperature is 500F, 4 season
Precipitation: 30-­‐‑60”
Temperate Forest Biome
Temperate Deciduous-­‐‑Mixed Forest
•  Geography-­‐‑Eastern North America, Asia, Europe, South America, Australia/New Zealand
•  Climate-­‐‑ 4 season, 950-­‐‑1500 mm precipitation, average 500F temperature.
Temperate Mixed-­‐‑Evergreen Forest
•  Geography-­‐‑ Southeast North America, Asia, South America, Australia/New Zealand
Temperate Forest Biome
Temperate Rain Forest
•  Geography-­‐‑
Northwestern North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Southeast Australia/New Zealand
•  Climate-­‐‑ Warm and cool season, precipitation is 1500-­‐‑5000mm, mild temperature.
Temperate Forest Types
Evergreens (Spruce)
Rain Forest (Coniferous)
Broadleaf and Mixed Deciduous Forest
Forest
Oak, Maple, Beech, Elm, Hemlock, Pine, Fir, Spruce, Redwood, Red Cedar etc. Temperate Animals
Raccoons, Birds, Bears, Deer, Squirrels, Owls, Cougars etc.,
tundra
Global Distribution of Vegetation 18,000 years ago
desert
conifers
grassland
woodland
Prentice, C.I., Guiot, J., Huntley, B., Jolly D. and Cheddadi, R., 1996, Reconstructing biomes from palaeoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka. Climate Dynamics 12:185-­‐‑194. taiga
Global Distribution of Vegetation 6,000 years ago
temperate deciduous
taiga
cold deciduous
tundra
conifers
grassland
desert
woods & scrub
Prentice, C.I., Guiot, J., Huntley, B., Jolly D. and Cheddadi, R., 1996, Reconstructing biomes from palaeoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka. Climate Dynamics 12:185-­‐‑194. Global Distribution of Vegetation -­‐‑ Present
tundra
taiga
temperate deciduous
warm mix
grassland
tropical R.F.
Prentice, C.I., Guiot, J., Huntley, B., Jolly D. and Cheddadi, R., 1996, Reconstructing biomes from palaeoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka. Climate Dynamics 12:185-­‐‑194. cold deciduous
Shifts in Terrestrial Habitat
•  18,000 years ago Spruce trees and oak trees filled small pockets of habitat – as climates warmed Spruce trees migrated into the Northern Hemispheres and the Oak trees expanded in to Southeastern U.S., Western Europe and Southern Europe
18 kya
18Kya
ice
ice sheet
oak
spruce
spruce
9 kya
6Kya
ice
spruce
ice
oak
Present
Present
spruce
ice
•  Shifts in vegetation occur slowly tree species were able to successfully expand into favorable regions
spruce
oak
oak
Distribution of spruce and oak forests in Northern Hemisphere since the Las
glacial period 18,000 kya
Why should we care about temperate forest biome in Climate Change era???
•  Temperature increase-­‐‑3-­‐‑5 0C by 2100 (Climate model)
•  Carbon sequestration
•  Disease outbreak/Pathogen ahack
•  Phenology change
Carbon Sequestration by Temperate Forest Biome
Keith et al. 2009 (Australian temperate evergreen forest-­‐‑ Eucalyptus) Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
•  Increase infestation decrease DBH and foliar •  Loss of foliar-­‐‑increase transmihance of solar radiation to forest floor
•  Direct effect on Carbon Sequestration-­‐‑ Arrested growth and development of tree-­‐‑ ultimately death of the tree
•  Indirect effect on Carbon Sequestration-­‐‑Increase rate of decomposition and mineralization of soil organic maher
Climate Change at Thoreau’s Walden Pond
“We determined that plants bloomed seven days earlier on average than they did in Thoreau’s times” Miller-­‐‑Rushing and Primack. 2008. Tracking of Phenology by Remote Sensing Techniques
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
Free-­‐‑Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) Experiment Plot
FACE Experiment Area
References:
Albani, M., P. R. Moorcroft, A. M. Ellison, D. A. Orwig, D. R. Foster. 2010. Predicting the impact of hemlock woolly adelgid on carbon dynamics of eastern United States forests. Canadian Journal for Forest Research. 40: 119-­‐‑133.
Keith, H., B. G. Mackey and D. B. Lindenmayer. 2009. Re-­‐‑evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world’s most carbon-­‐‑dense forests. PNAS. 106 (28): 11635-­‐‑11640.
Kurz et al. 2008. Mountain pine beetle and carbon feedback to climate change. Nature 452:987-­‐‑990. Miller-­‐‑Rushing and Primack. 2008. Global warming and flowering times in Thoreau’s Concord: a community perspective. Ecology 89:332-­‐‑341.
Prentice, C.I., J. Guiot, B. Huntley, D. Jolly and R. Cheddadi. 1996. Reconstructing biomes from palaeoecological data: a general method and its application to European pollen data at 0 and 6 ka. Climate Dynamics. 12:185-­‐‑194. Photo Credit
hhp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Temperate_rainforest_map.svg
hhp://news.mongabay.com/2009/0717-­‐‑forest_carbon.html
hhp://www.borealbirds.org/carbonreport.shtml
hhp://www.amaranthpublishing.com/TomBowling.htm
hhp://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01323/temp.html
hhp://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/tyk/2008/tyk11.html
Temperate forests. 2009. In UNEP/GRID-­‐‑Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved 17:49, December 5, 2011 from
hhp://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/temperate-­‐‑forests.
hhp://www.mbari.org/highCO2/bkgrd/face.htm