Temperate Deciduous Forest
Biotic Factors (9) / Abiotic Factors (10)Animal Adaptations / Plant Adaptations
Site 1:
Many Canadian songbirds fly ______in the fall, returning in the spring.
Chipmunks build a series of complex ______and spend the winter there, surviving on the storage of nuts, seeds, etc. collected during the time of plenty in summer and fall.
Some mammals such as bears and mice dig out a den or burrow, lowering their ______and sleep during the cold months, living off their ______reserves and emerging in the spring. Newts and salamanders depend upon entering into a state of ______during the winter.
Animals such as bats and opossums have adapted to be active during the ______, to reduce the possibility of being found by predators. Aquatic frogs tend to burrow down into the ______of rivers and ponds and enter a state of dormancy. / Site 1:
In the spring, deciduous trees begin producing thin, broad, light-weight leaves. This type of leaf structure easily captures the ______needed for food production (photosynthesis).
Cooler temperatures and limited sunlight are two climatic conditions that tell the tree to begin to cut off the supply of ______to leaves.
Most deciduous trees ______their leaves when they turn brown and dry.
Site 2: Deciduous trees generally have a thick ______to protect them during the cold winter months.
Most deciduous trees bear fruit or seed that is protected by a hard outer shell. The seeds are indigestible and pass through an animal’s ______intact; in this way, animals are a help plants by dispersing seeds far away from the parent tree.
Environmental Threats:
Invasive Insects: Invasive species are organisms that are not native to an area that have been introduced to an ecosystem often have an adverse affect on an area. Invasive insects have had a devastating effect on the temperate deciduous forest in North America. What two invasive insects have killed a large number of the temperate forests hemlocks and ash trees? ______and ______.
Overgrazing: Grazing animals like deer eat the leafy shoots of newly forming trees and lower canopy shrubs. When the population of grazing animals spikes from lack of predation, the result can be the overgrazing and destruction of forests.What causes this spike in population of grazing animals? ______
Invasive Plants: Many forests face the challenge of being outcompeted by species that are not native to the habitat. What two invasive plants have been introduced to the temperate deciduous forest and have caused problems for the oak and maple populations? ______and______
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