ABSTRACT
The temperate forest lies in the zone between the polar and sub-tropical climate zones, between approximately 25° and 50° latitude in the northern and southern hemispheres. The temperate forest can be divided into cold and warm types; the cold temperate or boreal forests are dominated by evergreen conifers and the warm temperate forests by broadleaf species (Box and Fujiwara 2015). Mixed broadleaf forests may contain lesser amounts of coniferous trees species. Regionally, the warm temperate forests are divided into many types based on composition and relative dominance of ubiquitous species. The climate of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests is decidedly seasonal with warm and cool seasons and sometimes a distinct dry season. Temperate broadleaf forests dominate the natural vegetation of New Zealand and are found in the southern cone of South America, southeastern Australia and Tasmania, southern China, Korea, Japan, mid-elevations of the Himalayas, eastern North America and northern Europe. Temperate deciduous forests are a subgroup of temperate broadleaf forests distinguished by their shedding of leaves in the autumn. Temperate deciduous forests occur in the Northern Hemisphere, primarily eastern North America, eastern Asia and northern Europe, but including the Hyrcanian forests of Iran and Azerbaijan that occur along the coast of the Caspian Sea and the northern slopes of the Alborz mountain range. The ancient fruit and nut forests of central Asia contain the wild ancestors of many domesticated species (Cantarello et al. 2014).
