Carolinian forest
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The Carolinian forest is a life zone in eastern North America characterized primarily by a predominance of deciduous, or broad-leaf trees. The term "Carolinian forest" is used primarily in Canada. Various terms, including "eastern deciduous forest" are used in the United States.
It extends from the Carolinas in the United States and finds its northern limit in southwestern Ontario, Canada, in the fertile ecozone of the Mixedwood Plains.
The region is of particular importance in Canada because it provides the country with its most distinctive and richest abundance of plant and animal life.
Trees such as various species of ash, birch, chestnut, hickory, oak, and walnut are found here. Tallest of all is the tulip tree. Raccoons and possums to the relatively rare southern flying squirrel, as well as nuthatches and chickadees also favour Carolinian forests.
While less than one percent of Canada's land mass is occupied by this ecozone, the same area is also home to one-quarter of the country's population.
It is estimated that 80 per cent of Canada's Carolinian forest has already been destroyed.The remaining portions, mostly scattered and disconnected, continue to be threatened by human development.
