North American Biomes
Lois Van Wagner
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In the northwest corner of the United States, in Washington and Oregon, there is an area with cool winters and mild summers and an incredible 100 to 200 inch annual precipitation. This is a rainforest of a different sort, a temperate rainforest. Here one would find tall conifers, mosses and ferns on the ground, and sitka spruce. These trees are among the largest in the world many with trunks ten feet in diameter and 300 feet tall. Some record setters are; western red cedar—diameter 21 feet, sitka spruce—diameter 13 feet, and douglas fir—diameter 14 feet. The fallen trees in the temperate rainforest are soon covered with mosses, ferns, fungi, and lichens. Hemlock and spruce seedlings sprout from the decaying wood. Over time the trees grow and the “nurse log” decays away leaving the new young trees on “stilts”. Some of the resisent animal life includes black bear, deer, Roosevelt elk, and marmots.
A terrarium can be set up to represent a rainforest biome. There are many plants that can be purchased at a nursery that are suitable for terrarium display, and various kinds of frogs and salamanders can be added to make the habitat more interesting. Directions can be found in Activity 4.