Flora
Most of the areas of North American deciduous forest are dominated by oaks (several species of Quercus) and/or beech (Fagus grandifolia), with maples (Acer) and species of hickory and linden or basswood (Tilia) also widespread. Beech and basswood are rare in other North American vegetation types, but oaks, hickories, and maples are more widespread.
In addition to these widespread species, many other trees are important components of the North American deciduous forests on a local scale. The rich, mixed mesophytic (adapted to environments that are neither too dry nor too wet) forest type found north of the Appalachians includes buckeye and tulip tree (Liriodendron), while the southern floodplain forest of the Mississippi valley is made up of oaks mixed with sour gum and the evergreen conifer swamp cypress (Taxodium). Southward and eastward of the Appalachians, oaks and hickories mingle with another conifer, pine (Pinus), while east of the Great Lakes, beech mix with maples, birch (Betula), and hemlock (Tsuga). Elsewhere, ash (Fraxinus), hop hornbeam (Ostrya), poplar (Populus), elm (Ulmus), and, until its decimation by fungal infection, chestnut (Castanea), are also important. A wide range of understory shrubs and small trees includes dogwood (Cornus), holly (Ilex), Magnolia species, and serviceberry (Amelanchier).
Fragments of the North American deciduous forest also occur on mountains in Mexico and Guatemala, where many of the same trees—e.g., Fagus, Fraxinus, Juglans (walnut), Liquidambar, Quercus—occur as identical or closely related species. Commonly these trees are accompanied by an understory of evergreen shrubs of tropical affinity.
In Japan, Korea, and China, north of the evergreen broad-leaved forests there is a gradual transition to deciduous forests. In Japan deciduous forests are dominated by beech (Fagus crenata and F. japonica), oak (Quercus crispula), and maple (Acer carpinifolium and other species); other trees mingle with these, including cherries (several species of Prunus), ash, Magnolia, and, in the east, the evergreen conifer fir (Abies). The leaves of many deciduous trees in Japan, like those in North America but unlike most in Europe, turn to bright shades of red and yellow before they are shed in autumn, the maples being particularly spectacular. Below the trees a dense layer of dwarf bamboo (Sasa) commonly grows; it may be so thick that it prevents the canopy trees from regenerating from seedlings. Thus, rapid, dense regrowth by dwarf bamboo may seriously interfere with reforestation after logging. Many small flowering herbs such as Aconitum, Shortia, Mitchella, and Viola grow at ground level. Much of the area of Chinese deciduous forests is dominated by various oaks, frequently mixed with other trees including maples, alder (Alnus), ash, walnut, poplar, and many others. A varied understory includes many small trees or shrubs such as hornbeam (Carpinus), dogwood, service-tree (Sorbus), and the shrubs Acanthopanax and Aralia, which are relatives of ivy. Deciduous forests of birch fringe the oak forests at their northern and montane margins.
The dominant trees of the European deciduous forests are generally closely related to their equivalents in North America and Asia, consisting of different species of common genera. In well-drained areas, such as those on sloping ground or permeable soils, most deciduous forests are dominated by European beech or by one of a few species of oak. Beech is overwhelmingly dominant across large areas that have an oceanic climate; these regions are damper and milder than most other regions in which deciduous forests grow because of the influence of prevailing winds from the Atlantic Ocean. Eastward from Britain and western France through central Europe into Russia there is a progressive decrease in this oceanic influence. Along this gradient the forest flora changes. For example, beech, durmast oak (Quercus petraea), and European hornbeam (Carpinus betula) all reach their eastward limits in the area north of the Carpathian Mountains, while linden (Tilia cordata) is typical of a small number of deciduous forest trees that extend east beyond Moscow.
Places subject to seasonal waterlogging in European deciduous forests—and which are also nutrient-rich—often are dominated by alder (Alnus glutinosa), growing above a rich ground flora including ferns (Athyrium and Dryopteris), sedges (Carex), and forbs (Caltha and Filipendula).
The only significant temperate deciduous forests in the Southern Hemisphere occur in a small area of Chile around Valdivia, between about 36° and 41° S. Forests here are dominated by a deciduous species of beech, Nothofagus obliqua, which usually grows amid evergreen trees more typical of the broad-leaved forests bordering this area to the south.
The milder environments that support temperate evergreen forests generally lie closer to the Equator than do areas with temperate deciduous forest. They have richer biotas than the sclerophyllous or deciduous forests that grow in more stressful environments at similar latitudes, although they are less rich than the tropical rainforests where environmental stress is at a minimum throughout the year.
In the southernmost regions of Japan and Korea, which enjoy a warm, wet climate, the natural vegetation is evergreen broad-leaved forest dominated by oaks and their near relative Castanopsis cuspidata and by the laurel Machilus thunbergii. Camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), figs (Ficus retusa), pandans (Pandanus boninensis), palms (Livistona subglobosa), and other plants that require year-round warmth also occur in the warmest places, whose vegetation is described as subtropical by some authorities and as warm temperate forest by others. Shrubs in these forests include species of Aucuba, Camellia, and Eurya, and orchids and ferns are commonly found at ground level.
Similar forests in southern China, now almost completely replaced by farmland or tree plantations, had an even richer flora, with oaks, members of the laurel family, and the tea relative Schima being prominent examples of a large diversity of trees. The remnants of these Chinese evergreen broad-leaved forests extend west to the foothills of the Himalayas, where similar forests at lower altitudes include many trees such as Alcimandra, Castanopsis, Machilus, Magnolia, and Mallotus. At higher altitudes there are more sclerophyllous forests that contain fewer species and are dominated by oaks.
In Australia a variety of temperate broad-leaved forests occur, usually as small patches in moist, sheltered, and fire-protected areas in mountainous and coastal terrain along the east coast. They are described as temperate rainforests owing to similarities with the flora, structure, and ecology of tropical rainforests that are found in similar environments to the immediate north. The warm temperate rainforests of milder, more northern areas display a high diversity of trees, including coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum), crab apple (Schizomeria ovata), and yellow carabeen (Sloanea woollsii). Palms are often present, as are various climbing plants and epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants but that derive moisture and nutrients from rain), although not to the extent that they occur in tropical rainforests. Ferns are typically abundant, and many large, graceful tree ferns grow there.
A similar warm temperate rainforest grows in northern parts of New Zealand; it contains a mixed broad-leaved canopy of trees such as Elaeocarpus, Metrosideros, and Weinmannia, which is frequently penetrated and overtopped by tall conifers, including the massive kauri (Agathis australis). Palms (Rhopalostylis sapida) and various lianas are often present.
Cool temperate evergreen broad-leaved forests in the southernmost areas of eastern Australia, particularly Tasmania, and in New Zealand and the southern portion of South America are usually dominated by evergreen species of beech (Nothofagus), with different species occurring in each region. Few other trees typically coexist with Nothofagus in these cool forests, which also lack climbers and vascular epiphytes, although they may have a great abundance of mosses on tree trunks, branches, and sometimes leaves. In Australia other trees that may be present include sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum), Elaeocarpus holopetalus, and leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida), while in New Zealand conifers in the plum pine family (Podocarpaceae) commonly emerge above the broad-leaved canopy, especially on sites with a history of natural disturbance such as landslides. In Chile other trees growing with Nothofagus, or in some cases forming temperate evergreen forests without it, include Eucryphia, Chilean laurel (Laurelia), and Persea, with bamboos (Chusquea) becoming abundant at some sites after forest disturbance.
South of the European deciduous forests lie areas that were occupied by temperate sclerophyllous forests before the effects of human manipulation of the environment were felt. These areas extend as a narrow ring around the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Typical evergreen trees are oaks (several species including the cork oak, Quercus suber) and the pistachio relative Pistacia lentiscus, commonly mixed with various deciduous species near their northern limits and with pines elsewhere. Forests similar to the Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests extend east, discontinuously, as far as the western slopes of the Himalayas, although throughout their range they have been extensively altered by human activities and nowhere are considered to be in their natural state.
Temperate sclerophyllous forests are most widespread in Australia. It is remarkable that across the major portion of a very large area, the most common trees are various species of one genus, Eucalyptus. About 500 species are known of this archetypal Australian tree, which occurs naturally in few other regions. However, gum trees, as they are often called, are well known in many regions to which they have been introduced. Two other diverse and widespread trees in these forests are Acacia and Casuarina. Many other trees, shrubs, and grasses occupy subordinate positions. A sharp boundary separates the temperate sclerophyllous forests from the tropical and temperate rainforests of moister sites in the east. This abrupt transition is maintained by fire, which prevents or reverses invasion of the sclerophyllous forest by rainforest plants. However, where fires are infrequent, especially in southern regions, rainforest vegetation can form an understory beneath the Eucalyptus canopy. To the north, temperate sclerophyllous forests grade into similar tropical savanna and sclerophyllous forests; inland they merge into shrublands and deserts.