Friends of Clayoquot Sound: About Clayoquot Sound: What Is Temperate rainforest?

What Is Temperate Rainforest?

As their name indicates, temperate rainforests occur in temperate (cool) latitudes and get a lot of rain. The coastal forest of British Columbia, Canada, including Clayoquot Sound, is an example of this forest type.

Temperate rainforests occur under the following conditions:

geographically restricted to about 38-56 degrees South latitude and 38-61 degrees North latitude
occur in narrow strips along coastlines that are backed by mountains, where the prevailing wind drops large amounts of moisture on the windward side of the mountains
precipitation is at least 2,000 millimetres (80 inches) per year and occurs in all seasons
fire is virtually absent or very infrequent, due to wetness
summers are cool and overcast and winters are relatively snow-free.

Temperate Rainforests occur along coastlines - Photo: A. Dorst

Because the geographic and climatic conditions required to create temperate rainforests are so specific, these forests are naturally rare. Temperate rainforests originally occupied only a fraction of one percent of the earth's land surface. About 55% of the world's temperate rainforest has been destroyed, so these forests are now even rarer.

Today, temperate rainforests occur only along the west coast of the United States and Canada (from northern California to southern Alaska), in Chile and Argentina, Tasmania, and New Zealand.

Temperate rainforests used to be present in Iceland and several coastal areas of Europe (Scotland, Ireland, Norway, and along east shore of Black Sea in Russian Georgia), but have been eradicated by logging.

What are temperate rainforests like? They are very wet and green, are dominated by huge trees, and have a lush, complex structure. Abundant moisture and absence of fire allow trees to grow tall and massive and to live for centuries, even millennia. These same factors create a complex forest structure. There are many canopy layers; a wide range of tree sizes and ages (from huge 2,000 year-old trees to saplings); an abundance of epiphytes (plants that live on surfaces of other plants) such as hanging lichens, mosses and ferns; a dense shrubby understorey; and an accumulation of dead wood on the forest floor. North American temperate rainforests consist mostly of conifers (trees with needles); temperate rainforests in South America and Oceania contain mainly broadleaf trees.

Because of the rarity of temperate rainforests and the logging pressures they face, temperate rainforests are one of the most endangered forest types on earth. Click on one of the following to learn more about ancient and old-growth forests:

Why Protect Clayoquot Sound?

Why is Old-Growth Forest Important?

Amazing Facts About Temperate Rainforests

PO Box 489, 331 Neill St., Tofino BC V0R 2Z0
250-725-4218 info@focs.ca