Talk:Temperate rain forest

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Does it snow in these?

I think in some of the forests, depending on lattitude. But the snow doesn't last as long, and it probably does not penetrate to the forest floors most of the time.

When you say southwestern Japan where do you mean? I live there,(Fukuoka). Are bamboo forests temperate rain forests? Or are you talking about further south in Kagoshima? Andycjp 3rd August 2005

The enclaves of warm temperate rainforest in Kagoshima and Yakushima are probably the best examples. Tom Radulovich 06:09, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

Fukuoka is too cold for a temperate rainforest.

Would the mountain mixed forests of Taiwan such as Mount Ali or Yushan Park be considered like temperate rainforests, or montane temperate rainforests? Some of these forests have lots of ferns...and stuff. Taiwan's mountains have some huge old-growth cypress trees. I think southwestern Japan has these too.

Would the mountain mixed forests in the Himalayan Mountains and Sichuan be considered in this category too?

How about New Zealand's North Island Kauri forests?

• Remember, temperate simply means "with four seasons" - in it's original use. Thus, all regions not tropical and not polar are temperate - if we are to use the original definition. It certainly can snow in temperate rain forests, but they are rarely or never extremely cold, because they are located near temperate oceans. The interior of the continents, although at the same latitude, might experience extreme winter temperatures, and these interior areas are much drier, with no rainforests - but often with forest. Orcaborealis 18:30, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] definition of temperate rain forest

As a biologist, chemist and resident of the Northwestern U.S. (with a considerable amount of geography, geology and meteorology under my belt, formally studied) I strongly disagree that temperate rain forests are defined with proximity to the ocean as a requirement. No mention of the sea is in the term 'temperate rain forest.' A temperate rain forest, according to the USGS, National Geographic Society and several English language dictionaries is simply a forest that is 1) a rainforest and 2) temperate --having four or more seasons, not tropical nor polar; in the middle latitudes. According to the precip requirement at this wikipedia listing, several forests in Montana would be considered temperate rain forests; 2,000 mm (200 cm) is the same as 78 inches of precipitation/year. Several forests in Montana, Northern Idaho and the interior of British Columbia (as well as Washington and Oregon; not only is the Olympic Forest a temperate rainforest in WA) meet this requirement, with 80 to 100 or more inches of precipitation yearly. For example, please see the map at

http://www.ocs.orst.edu/pub/maps/Precipitation/Total/States/MT/mt.gif

These forests are also 'temperate' in the more specific geographic and climactic connotations of the word (mentioned above) as well as temperate in the less specific, more colloquial 'mild summers and winters' sense of the word. Giant cedar trees, covered in moss and surrounded by ferns grow in these very wet, mild forests of Montana. Glacier National Park is well known for having this vegetation (as well as 1,000 species of plants and other eco zones). The giant cedar forests of NW Montana and the proximal forests of Northern Idaho and SE B.C. are never or rarely very cold. The Pacific Ocean moderates their climates, although they are not proximal to the sea.

Also, parts of Japan, especially from the Kansai south and westward are not temperate rain forests but are subtropical. Camphor trees and other subtropical plants grow, especially at lower latitudes. These are subtropical broadleaf (but not deciduous) forests. It does not snow in Kumamoto.

In sum, not all of Japan is temperate rain forest as the incorrect map suggests, and, more of the U.S.--including more of Washington, California, and Oregon as well as parts of B.C, Montana and Idaho--are actually temperate rain forest. Making distance to large bodies of salt water a deciding factor in this delineation of 'temperate rain forest' is too restrictive and illogical.

Great post. Let's start getting some good references --Duk 01:38, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

As long as there is an abundance of rain in the growing season, a rainforest can grow further from the ocean. This might be the case in areas in the USA, as mentioned above, even if winters are pretty cold. In the Russian far east (around Ussuri, near Vladivostok) is an area with high rainfall in summer due to persistent onshore winds and fairly warm summers, but very dry and cold winters (something like an average of -12 Celsius in mid-winter). Orcaborealis 20:13, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Isn't the Great Smoky Mountains a temperate rainforest? ~200 cm avg annual rainfall Sushirabbit 20:42, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

There is an asumption in dealing with north western Europe that the current state of vegetation limits its classification as "temperate rain forest". However, it can clearly be argued that an ability to sustain such as climax vegetation defines the area better than human useage. Wales should , thus, carry the definition as having a temperate rain forest climate and the potential to be restored to such vegetation. This could be extended to other areas of the globe.

Some TRF's are in subtropical climate areas, such as the California coast, SW Japan, the mountains of Taiwan, Tristan da Cunha, SE Australia, and areas of New Zealand's North Island. Examples of both coniferous and deciduous TRF's exist around the world. Heff01 18:19, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eastern US and other possible TRF's

I'm from eastern Pennsylvania and am unaware of the Pocono temperate rain forest. What specific areas should I look in? I could buy the possibility of TRF in areas of the Great Smoky Mountains and SW Virginia. Also, we should look towards the western Alps, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the southern ocean islands of Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island, the Prince Edward Islands, the French Southern Territories, and New Zealand's outlying southern islands for other areas of possible TRF. Is there documentation for the TRF areas in the northeast US? Heff01 16:34, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

I looked at the TRF map and saw areas on the south side of the Himalayas, the Iranian side of the Caspian Sea, the north coast of Spain, the Dinaric Alps, and SE China that are not yet discussed in the article. Heff01 18:14, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I did further research on the southern ocean islands and found that the Prince Edward Islands and the French Southern Territories have no forests, despite very high rainfall totals, due to the harsh windy conditions, terrain, and great distances for flora to spread from Africa, Asia, and Australia. There is the strong possibility of New Zealand's outlying southern islands having TRF's, since the flora only needs to spread 300-400 miles from South Island or 1000 miles from Tasmania. Ocean currents and the prevailing westerlies could have transported forests from Tasmania long before these islands were discovered by man.

I knew that Pennsylvania has no TRF, because no place there averages more than 60 inches of rain a year. Although the highest mountain shadows of northern New England have very high totals, that doesn't mean that TRF's exist there. Keep in mind how cold the climate is there, how much of the precipitation is snow, that the snow cover persists the majority of the year, and winds are strong, particularly on Mount Washington (the only mountain in the US east of the Rocky Mountains with alpine tundra.) Heff01 00:18, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Northeastern U.S. TRFs? U.S. Gulf Coast?

I'm from Connecticut, but have spent a lot of time in Vermont and New Hampshire, including making many treks up Mt. Washington. I would say that not all of the highest elevations that receive at least 2000mm of rainfall contain solely alpine tundra. On Mt. Washington, the treeline is just above 4000 feet, with alpine tundra on the top 2,000 or so feet of the mountain. However, about 30 miles south of Mt Washington is another range of the White Mountains that overlooks Franconia Notch. These mountains are generally between 4000 and 5000 feet with the higher elevations receiving precipitation that meets the criteria for temperate rainforests to thrive. Unlike Mt. Washington, the mountains around Franconia Notch have trees and various other vegetation going all the way to their summits.

The Green Mountains of Vermont range between 3000 and 4000 feet in elevation, and some of the highese elevations here also receive enough annual precipitation to support temperate rainforests.

Summers are generally warm to occasionally hot in Vermont and New Hampshire, and winters are cold and snowy; there are four distinct seasons in these regions which also fulfills another prerequisite for temperate rainforests.

Another important factor is that most of the weather systems that track across the United States converge on New England, which is why this region has a reputation for having some of the worst weather in the world.

Shifting south to the Gulf Coast I noticed looking at climatology maps for Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana that annual precipitation in the southern portions of these states comes very close to the 2000 mm required for temperate rainforests, and the areas are indeed thickly forested with a variety of primarily evergreen species. With the Gulf coast being far enough south to have more of a subtropical influence, how would we treat this region? Wxstorm 07:35, 30 March 2007 (UTC)