Mt.Halla - Temperate Deciduous Forest

Previously, I mentioned beautiful Mt. Halla.
This time I would like to talk about what type of biome Mt. Halla is classified as, and what the general characteristics of the biome are.

Some parts of the Earth share some similar climatic, geographic, biotic, and abiotic characteristics. These similarities spread over a huge area and create a typical ecosystem. This major ecosystem is called a "biome". There are 9 types of biomes on earth, and Mt. Halla is classified as a biome called "Temperate Deciduous Forest".

Temperate deciduous forests are spread almost throughout the world. As you can see on the map below, temperate deciduous forests are located in East America, West Europe, China, Japan, Korea, South Chile, New Zealand, and Tasmania.

Distribution of biomes on the earth

http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/biomemap.htm

Most of the deciduous forests are located near the oceans, and the oceans and wind have significant impact on the climate of deciduous forests. Generally, the climate in Temperate Deciduous Forests is hot and humid in the summer and cold in the winter. Precipitation varies from 75cm to 126 cm per year. Most importantly, deciduous forests have four seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter).

"Deciduous" means that leaves on trees fall down annually. Literally, temperate deciduous forests mostly consist of plants that lose their leaves in certain periods, such as magnolias and maples. So Temperate Deciduous Forests look different for each season. During fall, leaves start to fall from their trees. You can think of trees with yellow, orange and brown leaves.

Scenery of Mt.Halla in the fall

http://www.hallasan.go.kr/hallasan/bd.php?page=1&ebcf_id=photo

In the winter, the leaves are all gone and only bare branches are left.

Scenery of Mt.Halla in the winter

http://www.hallasan.go.kr/hallasan/bd.php?page=1&ebcf_id=photo

The leaves start to grow again in the spring. You can see colorful flowers during this period.

Scenery of Mt.Halla in the spring

http://www.hallasan.go.kr/hallasan/bd.php?page=1&ebcf_id=photo

In the summer, the forest looks green, covered with green broad leaves.

Mt. Halla is classified as a temperate deciduous forest, and it changes its appearance as seasons alter.
But has Mt. Halla always been a deciduous forest? Next time I would like to talk about how Mt. Halla looked a long time ago.
Thank you!


<References>

"Biome." wikipidia.org. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 14 November. 2012. Web. 15 November. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome>

Pillai, Maya. “Deciduous Forest Biom.” buzzle.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 October. 2012.

<http://www.buzzle.com/articles/deciduous-forest-biome.html>

Woodward, Susan. “Temperate Broadleaf Deciduous Forest / Biomes of the World.” radford.edu. Department of Geospatial Science, Radford University, n.d. Web. 27 October. 2012.

<https://php.radford.edu/~swoodwar/biomes/?page_id=94>