Alternative site for the Global ecosystem typology with additional information for ecosystem profiles and indicative maps.
This site is maintained by jrfep
Temperate-boreal forests and woodlands biome include moderate to highly productive tree-dominated systems with a wide range of physiognomic and structural expressions distributed from warm temperate to boreal latitudes. Although generally less diverse than Tropical-subtropical forests (T1) in taxa such as flowering plants, primates and birds, these Temperate-boreal forests exhibit greater temporal and spatial variability in productivity, biomass, phenology and leaf traits of trees. Temporal variability is expressed primarily through seasonal variation in water balance and/or temperature which regulates the length and timing of growing and breeding seasons. Interannual variation is usually less important than in some other biomes (e.g. T5), but nonetheless may play significant roles in resource availability and disturbance regimes (fire, storms). Gradients in minimum temperatures, soil nutrients and fire regimes differentiate ecosystem functional groups within this biome. These influence traits such as leaf form (broadleaf – needleaf), leaf phenology (evergreen – deciduous), ecophyiological and morphological traits promoting nutrient acquisition and conservation, and morphological traits related to flammability, fire resistance and recovery. The dominant photoautotrophs (trees) engineer habitats and underpin trophic webs. Resource gradients exert strong bottom-up controls on trophic processes, but in some temperate forests, fires are significant top-down consumers of biomass, as well as influencing flammability feedbacks and timing of life-history processes, such as reproduction and recruitment.