T2.4 Warm temperate laurophyll forests

Biome: T2. Temperate-boreal forests and woodlands biome

Contributors:
(texts)

With a patchy warm-temperate distribution, laurophyll forests are extensive in some regions, but more typically occupy topographic refugia in a matrix of drier, more fire-prone ecosystems. They have glossy- or leathery-leaved dense evergreen canopies, with moderate tree diversity. A mild climate, and more acid soils, distinguish them from oceanic cool temperate forests (T2.3). Primary productivity is high, but can be limited by mild summer drought. Decomposers such as invertebrates, fungi, and microbes on the forest floor are critical to nutrient cycling. Insects are the major consumers of primary production and a major food source for birds and bats, which can be important seed-dispersers and pollinators. Vertebrate herbivores are relatively uncommon.

Key Features

Simple, closed-canopy mostly evergreen forests in warm environments with modest summer rainfall deficits; moderate diversity and endemism.

Overview of distribution

Patchy warm temperate-subtropical distribution at 26–43° latitude, north or south of the Equator.

Profile versions

• v1.0 (2020-01-20): DA Keith; NA Brummitt; D Faber-Langendoen
• v2.0 (2020-08-24): DA Keith; NA Brummitt; D Faber-Langendoen; RT Corlett; MS McGlone
• v2.01 ():
• v2.1 (2022-04-06): DA Keith; NA Brummitt; D Faber-Langendoen; RT Corlett; MS McGlone Full profile available at official site

Main references

Selected references for this functional group:

• Mucina L (2018) Vegetation survey and classification of subtropical forests of southern Africa Springer International Publishing DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-67831-3

• Grubb PJ, Bellingham PJ, Kohyama TS, Piper FS Valido A (2013) Disturbance regimes, gap-demanding trees and seed mass related to tree height in warm temperate rain forests worldwide Biological Reviews 88: 701–744 DOI:10.1111/brv.12029

• Corlett RT Hughes AC (2015) Subtropical Forests Handbook of Forest Ecology pp. 46-55. Routledge

Diagrammatic assembly model

Diagrammatic assembly model of T2.4 Warm temperate laurophyll forests. See general notes on diagrams. Open image full size.

Maps

Maps are indicative of global distribution patterns are not intended to represent fine-scale patterns. The maps show areas of the world containing major (coloured red) or minor occurrences (coloured yellow) of each ecosystem functional group. See general notes on maps.

There are 2 alternative versions of the indicative map for this functional group, please compare description and sources below.

T2.4.IM.orig_v2.0

Datasets

Map references

T2.4.web.orig_v2.0

Terrestrial ecoregions containing major or minor occurrences of this ecosystem functional group were identified by consulting available ecoregion descriptions (Dinerstein et al. 2017), global and regional reviews, national and regional ecosystem maps, locations of relevant examples, and proofed by expert reviewers. Consequently they are coarse-scale indicative representations of distribution, except where they occupy small ecoregions. Ecoregions were mapped at 30 arc second spatial resolution. Open image full size.

Datasets

• Resolve-Ecoregions-2017

Map references

• Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

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