Map

Map of all Temperate Deciduous Forests in the World

        Map of Temperate Deciduous Forests in Europe



Overview of Temperate Deciduous Forests

This biome can be found in the eastern United States, Europe, a portion of South America, in Asia, and in Eastern Australia. We specifically chose to focus on the European temperate deciduous forests. These forests are characterized by a climate of hot summers and cold winters. The precipitation ranges from 75 to 150 cm annually. The soil of a temperate deciduous forest consists of a topsoil that has organic material and a deep clay rich lower layer. The trees form a dense canopy, and the biome is covered with many shrubs. Temperate deciduous forests originally contained a variety of large mammals, like pumas, wolves, bison, which are now not there anymore. This is the result of many human impacts. Temperate deciduous forests were among the first biomes that were converted to agricultural use. In the twentieth century, with widely adopted intensive agricultural practices (also with overgrazing and deforestation) this has majorly contributed to the destruction of agricultural lands (1). 

Why we Chose this Biome

We chose the temperate deciduous forests in Europe as our biome because we believed that it was not only aesthetically pleasing, but it also plays a very important role in ecological cycles. In addition, we wanted people to understand that this biome is under a large deal of threat because there is so much human use such as logging, and colonization, which is slowly destroying this beautiful biome. We want to educate others that this great biome is being harmed. Because the soil of the temperate deciduous forests is so rich and can be easily converted to agriculture, there is a huge threat for much development and logging. These environmental crises can lead to acid rain and coal burning which can also contribute to negative environmental affects like global warming. This biome is unique in the fact that its extremely pretty, but it is also very beneficial. Because this biome is so beautiful, many humans want to live here which is why there is such a heavy human impact. It is a place where humans and animals can coexist peacefully, if humans can fix the negative impacts that they have been doing to this precious biome for many years.

The Historical State 

Temperate deciduous forests originally contained a variety of large mammals, like pumas, wolves, bison, which are now not there anymore (Visualizing Environmental Science). Logging, clearing land for farms, tree plantations, and construction of cities have destroyed a large amount of the original temperate deciduous rainforest. Before all of this human activity, the temperate deciduous forests were home to many trees and a rich species diversity (2). Also, there were a large variety of native trees that now no longer exist in the present day temperate deciduous forests.

Protected Areas

Upon researching protected areas for these European forests, we were shocked to find that even what many have rendered “protected zones” are being extremely uncared for. While logging is technically illegal in many of these areas, it is unfortunately not a very enforced law in Europe and we see it happening a lot more than it should be (3). Of the original Central European Temperate Deciduous forests, 75% are no longer around and of the remaining 25%, a mere 6.3% of these are protected areas. With that being said, an astounding 95% of the protected areas are zones less than 10 square kilometers. The statistics for this area are utterly horrendous! For a place that provides us with so much, we are doing so very little to care for and save these forests. The fact that areas that we are relying on to be “protected” are so badly endangered is very saddening. It is also worrisome to us because of how close we are to losing some incredible species diversity of both trees and animals. We must educate others about these areas in order to protect this area.

Benefits of the Temperate Deciduous Forests

Temperate deciduous forests play important parts in regional economies as a source of wood, provide ecological services, as well as play a major role in the global carbon cycle. We rely on oxygen from the trees in the temperate deciduous biome (4). Temperate deciduous forests provide food for other organisms in the ecosystem in addition to protection, shelter, and breeding grounds for bird species. The trees also provide habitat and food for wildlife. Humans benefit from this wildlife as they can harvest its resources. Without these vital temperate deciduous forests, we would have a lack of oxygen. Because there have been so many negative impacts from humans, these benefits are slowly disappearing (5). People need to understand that there are many vital benefits of the temperate deciduous forests, which is why people need to help stop negative impacts.

Human Impacts

The temperate deciduous forests of Europe, like many other forests worldwide, are undergoing an incredibly rough period right now because of how severely humans have impacted these areas. Not only do we exploit the priceless resources these forests provide us with, but we also are beginning to take over their land and abuse it for urbanizing purposes. In an area as populated as Europe, it is easy to see the need for more roads and highways; more means of travel is a perfectly reasonable way to handle a growing populace. However, the issue lies in the fact that these roads are being built right in the middle of forests without any thought as to how they might impact the wildlife (6). In reality, the construction of these roads not only leads to the clear cutting of trees to make space, but ultimately to the dying out of species. These infrastructures being erected act as a sort of barrier for plants and animals that, once they are no longer able to interact, will inevitably die out. It is incredibly heart- breaking to see that something we find so practical and convenient, something only built to help us, is actually indirectly going to harm us in the long run. Logging has been an especially prominent issue in the European Temperate Deciduous forests as of late. Even the zones legally rendered “protected areas” are constantly subject to clear cutting. We are using the wood from these trees for things like paper, fuel, and building materials- things that, while useful, are extremely detrimental to the well being of our forests. Because we have found so many uses for trees to bring us monetary gain, the human population seems to have forgotten the one priceless aspect to having a forest full of trees- oxygen. Besides their pleasing aesthetics, trees are also a huge source of life and it is sad to see such an invaluable gift being taken advantage of, especially since it is not an easily replaceable resource. Another problem Europe has been encountering is that the industrializing areas near forests (7). Since pollution is not tangible, it is often overlooked as an issue; however, it is a very damaging side effect to having a large population and an abundance of factories for these people to work in. The areas in which we may have been leaving trees peacefully untouched, the exhaust we continue to produce is inevitably finishing them off.

Table of Current Human Impacts
Source 10- Habitat Awareness Temperate Deciduous Forests

Impacts	Why its bad	What we can do
Logging	Cutting trees down, less oxygen	Minimize usage of papers
Overgrazing	Taking food sources away from animals	Educate others on the negative effects of overgrazing
Pollution	Affects air quality and kills trees	Make industrial areas separate from where forests are
Introduction of non-native species	Could lead to extinction of original species	Educate others that some non-native species can decimate native species

What We Can Do

With such a large issue at hand, it is difficult to believe that we can do anything to change the fate of these seemingly doomed European Temperate Deciduous forests- but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Because there are a variety of trees in the temperate deciduous forests, we need to protect them (8). Instead of cutting down trees to make room for roads, we can build roads around the forests so that we not only preserve the greenery and wildlife, but also provide commuters with quite a scenic drive. It seems that as the world comes up with better technology, we are slowly reducing the amount of paper we use. However, there are so many more simple steps we can take to lessen our footprint; little things like printing double sided and emailing rather than printing can make a huge difference. However there will only be a real difference if everyone does their part. Wood is also commonly used as a source of fuel, which is absolutely ludicrous given that it is such a precious resource and there are so many other renewable alternatives. When it comes to the issue of pollution, the best thing we can do is use the cleanest possible fuel source offered to us (9). Sometimes it means paying a small amount more for gas, but the fact of the matter is, a few dollars more is a small price to pay in comparison to the amount of life we are saving. It is amazing to think there are so many small changes we can be making in our daily lives. By making all of these changes, the next generation will thank us, and we will provide them with the beauty and wonderful benefits of the temperate deciduous forests.

Works Cited

1.Berg, Linda R., Mary Catherine. Hager, and David M. Hassenzahl. Visualizing Environmental Science. Pg. 135. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print.

2 Davis, Margaret B. "Quaternary History of Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America and Europe." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 70.3 (1983): 550-63. JSTOR. Web. 03 Dec. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/2992086?ref=no-x-route:bdbcbb1128f0c7480af278c46b7d0383>.

3."European Decidous Forest." European Decidous Forest. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

4."Temperate Deciduous Forest Biome." Animal Facts and Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

5. "Benefits of Biodiversity." Mission 2015: To Biomes. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

6. "The Forests of Europe." The Forests of Europe. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

7.Smith, Jeremy M.B. "Temperate Forest (ecology)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

8."Temperate Deciduous Forest : Mission: Biomes." Temperate Deciduous Forest : Mission: Biomes. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

9. "How to Help Stop Pollution." WikiHow. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.

10. "Habitat Awareness Temperate Deciduous Forest." Habitat Awareness Temperate Deciduous Forest.  Web. 04 Dec. 2014.