Subdivision of the boreal forest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The hemiboreal forest is a large transition zone comprising the area between cold temperate mixed forests and pure boreal forests. The term is most frequently used in the context of climates and ecosystems.
Hemiboreal forest in Latvia. Latvia, like other hemiboreal areas, also has extensive lush coniferous forests.
Botany
Hemiboreal forests have some characteristics of pure boreal forests to the north, while also sharing features with cool temperate-zone forests to the south. A significant number of tree species, such as aspens, oaks, pines, maples, spruce trees, ash trees, beeches, birches, cedars (cypress), and hornbeams, can be found.
Climate
The term sometimes denotes the form of climate characteristic of the zone of hemiboreal forests—specifically, the climates designated Dfb, Dwb and Dsb in the Köppen climate classification scheme. On occasion, it is applied to all areas that have long, cold winters and warm (but not hot) summers—which also including areas that are semiarid (BS) and arid (BW) based on average annual precipitation. It can also be applied to some areas with a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc), particularly those with continental climate characteristics.
Examples
In the southernmost part of Finland, coniferous forests are lush and noble deciduous trees grow here and there. Hemiboreal coniferous forest in Helsinki Central Park; notice the species of grove in the field layer.
Examples of locations with hemiboreal climates or ecosystems include:
Much of southern Canada (all of southeastern Canada except for parts of southern Ontario as well as the central Prairie Provinces outside the grasslands) Including the Bruce Peninsula
Chytry, Milan, et al. "Diversity of Forest Vegetation Across a Strong Gradient of Climatic Continentality: Western Sayan Mountains, South Siberia." Plant Ecology (2007).
