Deciduous Forest Facts

By: BD Editors

Last Updated: April 24, 2019

The two main types of deciduous forests on Earth are temperate deciduous forests and tropical/subtropical deciduous forests. Here are 10 key facts about each of them.

Temperate Deciduous Forest Facts

  • Some common trees found in these forests are maple, beech and oak. Temperate forests are those in regions that are neither too hot or too cold. The largest temperate deciduous forest is in the eastern part of North America, which was almost completely deforested by 1850 for agricultural purposes. Temperate deciduous forests are organized into 5 zones based on the height of the trees. From tallest to shortest they are the tree stratum zone, the small tree and sapling zone, the shrub zone, the herb zone and the ground zone. The coldest temperatures in temperate deciduous forests range from about 37°F to 64°F. Deciduous trees in these forests drop their leaves in fall and regrow them in spring. The trees in temperate deciduous forests are angiosperms, meaning they have flowers and produce seeds. Besides the eastern part of North America, the other largest areas of temperate deciduous forest are in Europe, East Asia, the Near East and South America. Aside from farming, fungal diseases currently pose the greatest threat to these forests, and humans are almost always the cause of their introduction and transmission in an area. The color change of the leaves on deciduous trees in fall is due to the death of chlorophyll, the pigment that makes the leaves green. The leaves show their true colors once the masking of the green color is removed.

The image above shows the autumn color change in a temperate deciduous forest near Ashville, North Carolina.

Tropical/Subtropical Deciduous Forest Facts

The image above shows the Ulva Island rainforest located near New Zealand.

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