Page 198 - Super Earth Encyclopedia

SEASONAL

RICHES

TEMPERATE FOREST

Between the tropics and the icy polar regions lie
parts of the world that have warm summers, mild but
frosty winters, and regular rain. Where there is enough
rain for trees to grow well, the natural vegetation is
temperate forest. Some of the trees in these regions
are evergreen, with small, tough leaves that can survive
freezing in winter. But most have broader, thinner
leaves that fall from the trees in autumn, leaving bare
twigs. These deciduous trees stay dormant all winter
and grow new leaves in spring. The fresh leaves are
more efficient at soaking up sunlight than tough
evergreen ones, and this enables them to make all
the food the trees need to grow and reproduce.

AROUND THE WORLD

Temperate deciduous forests
NORTH EUROPE are found in the eastern US,
AMERICA ASIA western Europe, and eastern Asia.
Similar regions that do not suffer
frosty winters develop evergreen
AFRICA
temperate rainforests. They
Equator
SOUTH include parts of the western
AMERICA
AUSTRALASIA USA, southern South America,
Australia, and New Zealand.

SUMMER VISITOR
When new leaves appear
on the trees in spring, this
triggers a mass hatching of
LIVING EARTH attract migrant birds such as
leaf-eating insects. These

this European redstart, which
flies north from the tropics to
nest and feed its young on
the insects. In autumn, the

196 birds fly back to Africa.

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