Forest facts for kids
A forest is a large area of land covered mostly with trees. Many animals need forests to live and find food. Forests are super important for our planet and grow in many places around the world. They are a big ecosystem that includes lots of different plants and animals living together.
Two main things help forests grow: how warm or cold it is (temperature) and how much rain falls. Some places are too cold or too dry for forests to grow well. Forests can be found from the equator (the middle of the Earth) all the way to near the polar regions. But different climates have different kinds of forests. In cold places, you'll mostly see conifers (trees with needles and cones). In warmer places, like temperate zones and tropical climates, forests are mainly made of flowering plants. Different amounts of rainfall also create different kinds of forests. You won't find forests in deserts, except for a few trees where their roots can reach water underground.
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Different Kinds of Forests
There are three main types of forests around the world. These are coniferous forests, deciduous forests, and tropical rain forests. Each type has its own special features and animals.
Coniferous Forests
Coniferous forests are found in cold places like Canada, Alaska, Northern Asia, and Northern Europe. The main trees here are evergreen conifers, which means they stay green all year. They also produce their seeds in cones.
Winters in these forests are very cold. When the snow melts in spring, some parts of the forest can become swampy. There aren't many different types of trees in coniferous forests because of the cold weather and poor soil. Things like fallen branches, needles, and dead animals don't break down quickly here. This is why the soil isn't very rich in nutrients. Only trees that can handle cold weather and poor soil survive. These trees have flexible branches that can hold heavy snow without breaking. Their needle-shaped leaves also help them save water.
Many coniferous trees create a lot of shade on the ground below them. This stops many other plants from growing there. Some animals that live in coniferous forests include pine martens, deer, bears, caribou, moose, lynxes, beavers, and birds like grey owls, crossbills, and marblers.
Deciduous Forests
Deciduous forests mostly grow in the temperate zones of North America, Europe, and Asia. These areas have four clear seasons: spring, summer, autumn (fall), and winter. They get at least 500mm of rain each year. Summers are warm, and winters are cold, but not as cold as the northern coniferous forests. In winter, snow covers the ground, and deciduous trees lose their leaves.
These fallen leaves break down and make the soil very rich in nutrients. Many insects, spiders, snails, and worms live in this rich soil. Wild flowers and ferns grow almost everywhere in the spring. New leaves on smaller plants sprout before the tall trees grow their leaves and block the sunlight.
During winter, many birds migrate to warmer places. Many small animals hibernate (sleep through the winter) or aestivate (slow down their bodies and sleep or stay in their burrows). Other animals just slow down and eat food they stored during summer and fall. In winter, the trees are bare. But when spring comes, leaves grow back, birds return, baby animals are born, and the forest becomes busy with life again. Animals you might see or hear in this forest type include bears, deer, raccoons, otters, beavers, foxes, frogs, squirrels, snakes, salamanders, and birds like woodpeckers, robins, owls, blue jays, and small birds called tits.
Some deciduous forests also grow in tropical areas. These places don't have a cold winter, but they do have a wet season and a dry season.
Rainforests
Tropical rainforests are found in places like South America, the Congo, Indonesia and nearby countries, Hawaii, and eastern Australia. They are called rainforests because it rains there almost every other day! The only season in a tropical rainforest is summer, so plants grow all year round.
Trees in the rainforest are very tall and grow so close together that their tops form a huge green "umbrella" called a canopy. This canopy blocks most of the sunlight from reaching the ground. The air below is often warm and humid as it filters through the thick tree cover. Only along river banks or in areas where trees have been cleared does enough sunlight reach the ground for plants to grow there.
Millions of different kinds of plants and animals live in the world's tropical forests. Life in the rainforest exists at different heights or layers in the trees. Each layer has a name, like 'emergent' (the very top), 'canopy' (the main tree layer), 'understory' (smaller trees and plants below the canopy), and 'forest floor' (the ground). Animals can be found living at all these different levels.
Related pages
Images for kids
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A conifer forest in the Swiss Alps (National Park)
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The Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York form the southernmost part of the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion, part of the world’s taiga biome.
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Forest on Mount Dajt, Albania
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Forest in the Scottish Highlands
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A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia
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Tywi Forest, Wales
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Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation
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A dry sclerophyll forest in Sydney, which is dominated by eucalyptus trees.
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Broadleaf forest in Bhutan
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Taiga forest near Saranpaul in the northeast Ural Mountains, Khanty–Mansia, Russia. Trees include Picea obovata (dominant on right bank), Larix sibirica, Pinus sibirica, and Betula pendula.
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Redwood tree in northern California redwood forest, where many redwood trees are managed for preservation and longevity, rather than being harvested for wood production
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Burned forest on Thasos
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Priest River winding through Whitetail Butte with lots of forestry to the east—these lot patterns have existed since the mid-19th century. The white patches reflect areas with younger, smaller trees, where winter snow cover shows up brightly to the astronauts. Dark green-brown squares are parcels
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Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality
See also
In Spanish: Bosque para niños
