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The boreal forest/taiga supports a relatively small variety of highly specialized and adapted animals, due to the harshness of the climate. Canada's boreal forest includes 85 species of mammals, 130 species of fish, and an estimated 32,000 species of insects. [37] Insects play a critical role as pollinators, decomposers, and as a part of the ...
Fungi are the primary decomposers in most environments, illustrated here Mycena interrupta. Only fungi produce the enzymes necessary to decompose lignin, a chemically complex substance found in wood. A decaying tree trunk in Canada's boreal forest. Decaying wood fills an important ecological niche, providing habitat and shelter, and returning ...
There are four main types of forest ecosystems in the Valdivian ecoregion. Deciduous forests. At the northern end of the ecoregion are deciduous forests, dominated by deciduous species of southern beech, including rauli (Nothofagus alpina) and roble . This is a transitional zone to the Mediterranean-climate region to the north.
Decomposer. Fungi acting as decomposers of a fallen tree branch. Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. [1] Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic material to get their ...
The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex. The combination of climate, topography, moisture, and soils influences the distribution of ecological communities across an elevation gradient from 500 to 14,500 feet (200 to 4,400 m). Biotic zones range from scrub and chaparral ...
Plant litter, mainly western hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla, in Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, United States. Litterfall is characterized as fresh, undecomposed, and easily recognizable (by species and type) plant debris. This can be anything from leaves, cones, needles, twigs, bark, seeds/nuts, logs, or reproductive organs ...
The Canadian boreal forest is a very large bio-region that extends in length from the Yukon-Alaska border right across the country to Newfoundland and Labrador. It is over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) in width (north to south) separating the arctic tundra region from the various landscapes of southern Canada. The taiga growth (as defined in North ...
Spring in temperate deciduous forests is a period of ground vegetation and seasonal herb growth, a process that starts early in the season before trees have regrown their leaves and when ample sunlight is available. Once a suitable temperature is reached in mid- to late spring, budding and flowering of tall deciduous trees also begins.