Plants and animals of deciduous forests. Description, photo and video of vegetation and fauna of broad-leaved forests of Russia

The forests of this type are rich in animal fauna. The largest populations of predators and ungulates, rodents and insects are found in forests, where people interfere the least. represented by wild boars and deer, roe deer and elk. Among the predators of the forest are large populations of martens and wolves, ferrets and foxes, weasels and ermines. You can also meet forest cats and lynxes, brown bears and badgers. Mostly forest predators- These are medium-sized animals, with the exception of bears. Populations of nutrias, squirrels, muskrats, beavers and other rodents live here. On the lower level of the forest you can meet hedgehogs, mice, rats, shrews.

mammals

Depending on the geographic location in different forest ecosystems various animals live. So in the Far East, black bears, Manchurian hares, Amur tigers. Raccoon dogs and Far Eastern leopards are also found here. In the American forests there is a small animal skunk and a raccoon beloved by many people.

Bird world in the forest

Many birds nest in the crowns of trees. These are swallows, and harriers, larks and nightingales, and hawks, tits and sparrows. Often in the forests you can meet pigeons, bullfinches, woodpeckers, magpies, cuckoos, orioles. Among large birds, pheasants and black grouse, as well as owls and owls are found in broad-leaved forests. Some species overwinter in the forests, and some leave their homeland and fly to warmer climes in the fall, returning in the spring.

Reptiles and amphibians

Snakes and vipers, snakes and copperhead snakes are found in broad-leaved forests. This is a fairly small list of snakes. Many can be found in the forests. These are green lizards, spindles, viviparous lizards. Marsh turtles, moored and pond frogs, crested newts, spotted salamanders live near water bodies.

Fish

It all depends on where the broad-leaved forests are located and what reservoirs are on their territory. In rivers, lakes and swamps, both salmon and carp species fish. Catfish, pikes, minnows and other species can also live.

The deciduous forests are home to many animals, insects, and birds. These are representatives of different types of fauna. They create whole food chains. Human influence can significantly disrupt the rhythm of forest life, so forest areas need protection at the state level, and not human intervention.

Broad-leaved species are more demanding on heat and moisture than conifers. In summer, trees form a huge number of leaves with a large surface, evaporating a lot of moisture. Therefore, an indispensable condition for the growth of a broad-leaved forest is an abundance of precipitation in the summer. Broad-leaved forests spread in the west of the European part of the former USSR, wedging out to the Urals, and in the Far East in the Primorsky Territory.
The broad-leaved forest is characterized by a complex longline structure of the stand. Usually there are 3 tiers. In the forests of the European part of the former USSR, the first tier consists of large trees - oak, linden, maple, ash. Trees of the second magnitude grow under their crowns - wild apple and pear trees, bird cherry, hawthorn. Below - large shrubs- buckthorn, euonymus, viburnum, etc. There are almost no mosses or lichens in the ground cover, since a thick layer of fallen leaves interferes with their development. They are replaced by a variety of perennial herbs, usually broad-leaved. The above-ground part of them dies off for the winter, and underground they form rhizomes, tubers, bulbs, which allows them to bloom quickly in early spring, while it is light in the forest and the foliage of the trees has not developed. Wind-pollinated trees and shrubs, such as oak, hazel, and alder, also bloom early, until the leaves interfere with the flight of pollen. Insect pollinated plants bloom at different times.

Different parts of plants have medicinal value: in early spring they harvest the bark from oak and viburnum, collect primrose and lungwort, in summer - linden and elder flowers, hawthorn flowers, in autumn - fruits of elderberry, hawthorn.

Almost all herbaceous plants living in oak forests are perennials. Their life expectancy is often measured in several decades. Many of them are poorly propagated by seeds and support their existence mainly through vegetative propagation. Such plants, as a rule, have long above-ground or underground shoots that can quickly spread in different directions, capturing new territory.
The above-ground part of many representatives of the broad oak forest dies off in autumn, and only the rhizomes and roots that are in the soil hibernate. They have special renewal buds, from which new shoots grow in spring. However, among the species of oak broad grasses, there are those in which the aerial part remains green and in winter time. Plants of this kind include hoof, hairy sedge, greenfinch.
IN coniferous forests Shrubs play an important role, especially blueberries and lingonberries. In a broad-leaved forest, shrubs, on the contrary, usually do not exist at all, they are completely uncharacteristic of our oak forests.

Among herbaceous plants, developing in Central Russian oak forests, the so-called oak forest ephemeroids are of particular interest. An example of them can be various types of corydalis, goose onions, ranunculus anemone, spring chistyak. These small, relatively undersized plants surprise us with their extraordinary "haste". They are born immediately after the snow has melted, and their sprouts sometimes make their way even through the snow cover that has not yet melted. It is quite cool at this time of the year, but the ephemeroids develop very quickly nonetheless. A week or two after birth, they already bloom, and after another two or three weeks, their fruits with seeds ripen. At the same time, the plants themselves turn yellow and lie down on the ground, and then the aerial part of them dries up. All this happens at the very beginning of summer, when, it would seem, the conditions for the life of forest plants are the most favorable - there is enough heat and moisture. But ephemeroids have their own special "development schedule", not like many other plants - they always live only in spring, and by summer they completely disappear from the vegetation cover. Early spring is most favorable for their development, since at this time of the year, when the trees and shrubs are not yet covered with foliage, it is very light in the forest. Moisture in the soil during this period is quite enough. A heat, such as in summer, ephemeroids do not need at all.

All ephemeroids are perennial plants. After their above-ground part dries up at the beginning of summer, they do not die. Living underground organs are preserved in the soil - some have tubers, others have bulbs, and others have more or less thick rhizomes. These organs serve as receptacles for spare parts. nutrients, mainly starch. It is due to the pre-stored "building material" that the stems with leaves and flowers develop so quickly in the spring.
Ephemeroids are characteristic of our Central Russian oak forests. There are a total of up to a dozen species. Their flowers have a bright beautiful color - purple, blue, yellow. When there are many such plants and they all bloom, a motley colorful carpet is obtained.

In addition to herbaceous plants, mosses are also found on the soil in oak forests. However, in this respect, oak forests are very different from taiga forests. In the taiga, we often see a continuous green carpet of mosses on the soil. This never happens in oak forests.

Here the role of mosses is very modest - they are occasionally found in the form of small spots on the heaps of earth thrown out by the mole. It is noteworthy that special types of mosses are common in the oak forest - not at all those that form a continuous green carpet in the taiga. Why is there no moss cover in the oak forest? One of the main reasons is that mosses are depressingly affected by leaf litter that accumulates on the soil surface in broadleaf forest.

broadleaf plants

The broad-leaved forest is characterized, first of all, by a wide variety of tree species. This is especially noticeable when compared with coniferous forest, with taiga. There are much more tree species here than in the taiga - sometimes you can count up to a dozen of them. The reason for the species richness of trees is that broad-leaved forests develop in more favorable natural conditions than taiga. Plants that are demanding on climate and soil can grow here. tree species that do not tolerate the harsh conditions of the taiga regions.

A good idea of ​​the diversity of tree species of the broad-leaved forest can be obtained if you visit the well-known forest area called the Tula Zasaki (it stretches in a ribbon from west to east in the southern part of the Tula region). In the oak forests of the Tula Zasek there are such trees as pedunculate oak, small-leaved linden, two types of maple - holly and field maple, common ash, elm, elm, wild apple tree, wild pear.

For a broad-leaved forest, it is characteristic that the various tree species that make up its composition have different heights, forming, as it were, several groups in height. The tallest trees are oak and ash, the lower ones are Norway maple, elm and linden, even lower ones are field maple, wild apple and pear. However, trees, as a rule, do not form distinctly expressed tiers, well delimited from each other. Oak usually dominates, other tree species most often play the role of satellites.
Sufficiently rich in broad-leaved forest and species composition of shrubs. In the Tula notches, for example, there are hazel, two types of spindle tree - warty and European, forest honeysuckle, brittle buckthorn, wild rose and some others.
Different types shrubs vary greatly in height. Hazel bushes, for example, often reach a height of 5 - 6 m, and honeysuckle bushes are almost always below human height.

The grass cover is usually well developed in the broad-leaved forest. Many plants have more or less large, wide leaf blades. Therefore, they are called oak broad grasses. Some of the herbs found in oak forests always grow in single specimens, never forming dense thickets. Others, on the contrary, can almost completely cover the soil over a large area. Such massive, dominant plants in the oak forests of Central Russia most often turn out to be common goutweed, hairy sedge and yellow Zelenchuk.

Broad-leaved trees have broad and flat leaves - in which the thickness is much less than the length and width, usually falling once a year. This group includes maples, beeches, ash trees, eucalyptus trees, various shrubs. In addition to classification according to the type of leaves, trees are divided according to the life of the leaves - into deciduous and evergreen. Deciduous trees have a clear change in leaf cover: all the leaves on the tree lose their green color and fall off, for some time (in winter) the tree stands without leaves, then (in spring) new leaves grow from the buds. evergreen trees do not have a clear change in leaf cover: the foliage is on the tree at any time of the year, and the change of leaves occurs gradually, throughout the life of the tree.

In areas with long, cold winters, hardwood trees shed their leaves in autumn. In the tropics, where the length of daylight hours varies slightly throughout the year, the leaves do not fall for the winter.
Shedding leaves helps save energy, as there is too little sunlight in winter for photosynthesis in the leaves. In autumn, the trees go dormant. The movement of water and nutrients through the vessels inside the trees stops, as a result, the leaves dry up and fall off. However, by this time the plant has already managed to accumulate enough nutrients to ensure bud break and the growth of new leaves in the spring. The green pigment chlorophyll is destroyed in autumn, and other pigments that give autumn leaves yellow, red and red colors.

Oak

Oak is the main forest-forming deciduous forest in Europe. In the European part of Russia, the pedunculate oak (Quergus robur) grows - one of our most durable and largest trees. Nevertheless, in plantings, with the exception of parks, this plant is quite rare, although it has no equal in a number of properties. In particular, pedunculate oak has the highest recreational tolerance and is extremely drought tolerant.

In private areas, it is used in single plantings. It tolerates moderate pruning, so you can form very beautiful tapeworms with a spherical, obovate and even tent-shaped crown.

Elm

In the forests of the non-chernozem zone, two species from the elm family naturally grow: smooth elm (Ulmus laevis) and c. rough (U. scabra). These are large trees that are part of the dominant layer of broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests. The use of these species for landscaping in recent decades has been constrained by a widespread disease - Dutch elm disease.

common ash

Ash reaches a height of 30-40 m.
Its trunk is straight. The bark is light grey, darkening with age. The crown is very loose, openwork, transmitting a lot of light. The root system is powerful, highly branched. Ash is very demanding on the soil, but tolerates salinity better than others. This is one of the main breeds of field-protective breeding, it is photophilous, in its youth it is more shade-tolerant, thermophilic and does not tolerate spring frosts well, it grows almost throughout the European part of the Russian Federation, often mixed with other species: oak, hornbeam, maple, sometimes forms pure or almost clean plantations. Inflorescences paniculate, dense.
The flowers of these trees are usually dioecious, rarely bisexual, but sometimes there are dioecious trees.

Ash-tree blossoms in May before blooming.leaves. Pollinated by the wind.
The fruits are single-seeded lionfish, collected in clusters, ripen in October-November and fall off in winter or early spring.

Forest beech (there is also oriental beech) is a tree up to 40 meters high and up to one and a half meters in diameter with light gray bark and elliptical leaves. It occupies large spaces in Western Europe, in our country it grows in the western regions of Ukraine, Belarus and in Kaliningrad region. Eastern beech is common in the Caucasus at an altitude of 1000-1500 meters above sea level, in the Crimea - at a level of 700-1300 meters, forming a belt of beech forests.
The main value of beech is its fruits - nuts, ripening in September - October. They contain up to 28 percent fatty semi-drying oil, up to 30 percent nitrogenous substances, starch, sugar, apple and citric acid, tannins, up to 150 mg% of tocopherols and the poisonous alkaloid fagin, which decomposes when nuts are roasted, which as a result become harmless to humans. A coffee substitute is prepared from nuts, ground nuts in the form of flour are added to ordinary flour when baking various bakery products. Beech wood is very valuable and decorative.

Maple

Various types of maples are widely distributed in broad-leaved forests. More often than others, the Norway maple, or common maple, is found here - a tree up to 20 meters tall, with gray bark and five-lobed large dark green leaves. Distributed in the European part of the country, mainly in the western and central parts, and in the Caucasus. Its leaves and shoots can be used medicinally. It has been established that the leaves contain up to 268 mg% of ascorbic acid, alkaloids and tannins. An infusion or decoction of the leaves has a diuretic, choleretic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, analgesic effect. In folk herbal medicine, it was used for nephrolithiasis, jaundice, as an antiemetic and tonic. Crushed fresh leaves were applied to wounds to heal them.

Oak and beech, elm, maple and ash are very valuable species of trees, the wood of which is considered a high-quality building material, and the bark is used for household and medical needs.

Complex burs

I tier - pine (30-35m), birch, spruce;

II tier - linden, oak;

III tier - less pronounced - hazel, euonymus, honeysuckle;

IV tier - well expressed - lichens, blueberries, oxalis ..

There is no pine regeneration - solid shading:
boron deciduous forest.

Broad-leaved forest - forest-forming species: oak, linden, ash, maple, elm, hornbeam.

The tiered addition is well expressed, the number of tiers is 7-8 and root systems a large number of; soils are soddy-podzolic.

Broad-leaved forests involve much deeper soil layers in their biological cycle of substances, due to the location of the root system.

In winter, there is a lot of snow, melt water is well absorbed by the litter. The soil is moist, rich in minerals and organic matter. Light conditions change during the season.

Trees in oak forests are arranged in tiers.

I tier - oak (50m);

II tier - maple, linden, elm, ash;

III tier - wild apple tree;

IV tier - deciduous shrubs and undergrowth.

In early spring, you can see a whole range of colors in the forest - yellow, blue, blue, white.

These are early flowering plants: oak anemone, anemone, ranunculus anemone, corydalis, spring chistyak, amazing violet, etc. Then

trees blossom, the oak is the last to blossom. At the end of May, shrubs begin to bloom, herbaceous plants bloom: nomadic, chickweed, lily of the valley, greenfinch, tenacious, sleepy, raven eye.

In summer, oak forests look the same, in autumn they are again transformed due to a change in the color of the leaves of oak, ash, maple, and linden. Against their background, red berries of viburnum, eyes of warty euonymus stand out.

Birch forests. It is difficult to imagine our forests without birch with its white trunk and fluffy, sprawling crown. The most common is the warty birch (its branches are covered with yellow warts, the leaves are small and slightly pubescent). The breed is photophilous, undemanding to the soil, grows rapidly and reaches a height of 30 meters by the age of forty.

Mountain ash and wild rose are constantly found in birch forests.

Raspberries grow in clearings.

spring appear yellow flowers rams or primroses, bathing suits. In summer, forest geraniums, sprawling and peach-leaved bells, a lot of cereals, sedges bloom. Meadowsweet is found in damp places.

The broad-leaved forest is characterized, first of all, by a wide variety of tree species. This is especially noticeable if we compare it with a coniferous forest, with a taiga. There are much more tree species here than in the taiga - sometimes you can count up to a dozen of them. The reason for the species richness of trees is that broad-leaved forests develop in more favorable natural conditions than taiga. Tree species that are demanding on climate and soil can grow here, which do not tolerate the harsh conditions of the taiga regions.

A good idea of ​​the diversity of tree species of the broad-leaved forest can be obtained if you visit the well-known forest area called the Tula Zasaki (it stretches in a ribbon from west to east in the southern part of the Tula region). In the oak forests of the Tula Zasek there are such trees as pedunculate oak, small-leaved linden, two types of maple - holly and field maple, common ash, elm, elm, wild apple tree, wild pear.

For a broad-leaved forest, it is characteristic that the various tree species that make up its composition have different heights, forming, as it were, several groups in height. The tallest trees are oak and ash, the lower ones are Norway maple, elm and linden, even lower ones are field maple, wild apple and pear. However, trees, as a rule, do not form distinctly expressed tiers, well delimited from each other. Oak usually dominates, other tree species most often play the role of satellites.
Sufficiently rich in broad-leaved forest and species composition of shrubs. In the Tula notches, for example, there are hazel, two types of spindle tree - warty and European, forest honeysuckle, brittle buckthorn, wild rose and some others.
Different types of shrubs vary greatly in height. Hazel bushes, for example, often reach a height of 5 - 6 m, and honeysuckle bushes are almost always below human height.

The grass cover is usually well developed in the broad-leaved forest. Many plants have more or less large, wide leaf blades. Therefore, they are called oak broad grasses. Some of the herbs found in oak forests always grow in single specimens, never forming dense thickets. Others, on the contrary, can almost completely cover the soil over a large area. Such massive, dominant plants in the oak forests of Central Russia most often turn out to be common goutweed, hairy sedge and yellow Zelenchuk.

Broad-leaved trees have broad and flat leaves - in which the thickness is much less than the length and width, usually falling once a year. This group includes maples, beeches, ash trees, eucalyptus trees, various shrubs. In addition to classification according to the type of leaves, trees are divided according to the life of the leaves - into deciduous and evergreen. Deciduous trees have a clear change in leaf cover: all the leaves on the tree lose their green color and fall off, for some time (in winter) the tree stands without leaves, then (in spring) new leaves grow from the buds. Evergreen trees do not have a clear change in leaf cover: foliage is on the tree at any time of the year, and the change of leaves occurs gradually, throughout the life of the tree.

In areas with long, cold winters, hardwood trees shed their leaves in autumn. In the tropics, where the length of daylight hours varies slightly throughout the year, the leaves do not fall for the winter.
Shedding leaves helps save energy, as there is too little sunlight in winter for photosynthesis in the leaves. In autumn, the trees go dormant. The movement of water and nutrients through the vessels inside the trees stops, as a result, the leaves dry up and fall off. However, by this time the plant has already managed to accumulate enough nutrients to ensure bud break and the growth of new leaves in the spring. The green pigment chlorophyll is destroyed in autumn, and other pigments become clearly visible, which give the autumn leaves yellow, red and red colors.

Oak

Oak is the main forest-forming deciduous forest in Europe. In the European part of Russia, the pedunculate oak (Quergus robur) grows - one of our most durable and largest trees. Nevertheless, in plantings, with the exception of parks, this plant is quite rare, although it has no equal in a number of properties. In particular, pedunculate oak has the highest recreational tolerance and is extremely drought tolerant.

In private areas, it is used in single plantings. It tolerates moderate pruning, so you can form very beautiful tapeworms with a spherical, obovate and even tent-shaped crown.

Elm

In the forests of the non-chernozem zone, two species from the elm family naturally grow: smooth elm (Ulmus laevis) and c. rough (U. scabra). These are large trees that are part of the dominant layer of broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests. The use of these species for landscaping in recent decades has been constrained by a widespread disease - Dutch elm disease.

common ash

Ash reaches a height of 30-40 m.
Its trunk is straight. The bark is light grey, darkening with age. The crown is very loose, openwork, transmitting a lot of light. The root system is powerful, highly branched. Ash is very demanding on the soil, but tolerates salinity better than others. This is one of the main breeds of field-protective breeding, it is photophilous, in its youth it is more shade-tolerant, thermophilic and does not tolerate spring frosts well, it grows almost throughout the European part of the Russian Federation, often mixed with other species: oak, hornbeam, maple, sometimes forms pure or almost clean plantations. Inflorescences paniculate, dense.
The flowers of these trees are usually dioecious, rarely bisexual, but sometimes there are dioecious trees. Ash-tree blossoms in May before blooming.leaves. Pollinated by the wind.
The fruits are single-seeded lionfish, collected in clusters, ripen in October-November and fall off in winter or early spring.

Forest beech (there is also oriental beech) - a tree up to 40 meters high and up to one and a half meters in diameter with light gray bark and elliptical leaves. It occupies large spaces in Western Europe, in our country it grows in the western regions of Ukraine, Belarus and in the Kaliningrad region. Eastern beech is common in the Caucasus at an altitude of 1000-1500 meters above sea level, in the Crimea - at a level of 700-1300 meters, forming a belt of beech forests.
The main value of beech is its fruits - nuts, ripening in September - October. They contain up to 28 percent fatty semi-drying oil, up to 30 percent nitrogenous substances, starch, sugars, malic and citric acids, tannins, up to 150 mg% of tocopherols and the poisonous alkaloid fagin, which decomposes when nuts are roasted, which as a result become harmless to humans. . A coffee substitute is prepared from nuts, ground nuts in the form of flour are added to ordinary flour when baking various bakery products. Beech wood is very valuable and decorative.

Maple

Various types of maples are widely distributed in broad-leaved forests. More often than others, the Norway maple, or common maple, is found here - a tree up to 20 meters tall, with gray bark and five-lobed large dark green leaves. Distributed in the European part of the country, mainly in the western and central parts, and in the Caucasus. Its leaves and shoots can be used medicinally. It has been established that the leaves contain up to 268 mg% of ascorbic acid, alkaloids and tannins. An infusion or decoction of the leaves has a diuretic, choleretic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, analgesic effect. In folk herbal medicine, it was used for nephrolithiasis, jaundice, as an antiemetic and tonic. Crushed fresh leaves were applied to wounds to heal them.

Oak and beech, elm, maple and ash are very valuable species of trees, the wood of which is considered a high-quality building material, and the bark is used for household and medical needs.

A mixed forest is a combination of coniferous and deciduous trees. In a milder and warmer climate, taiga conifers are replaced by small-leaved, and then broad-leaved plants. In the south of the mixed forest zone, conifers are represented mainly by pine. But there are many types of deciduous trees and shrubs. For example, oak, ash, elm, linden, maple and others.

Manifold flora mixed (coniferous-deciduous) forest makes this ecosystem more productive than a similar homogeneous forest. The upper tier of such a thicket is made up of trees, shrubs grow under them, and grasses, mosses, mushrooms, ferns, and berry plants grow below.

Consider some typical plants of mixed forests in more detail:

Pedunculate oak (common) is a broad-leaved tree of the Beech family. Lives up to 300 - 400 years. According to some sources, it can live up to 2 thousand years. It reaches a height of 20 - 40 m. The thickness of the trunk grows throughout life (the recorded maximum is 13 m). The tree has a developed root system, dense, spreading crown, strong branches and a thick trunk. The bark of old oaks is blackish-gray, with cracks. The leaves are shed for the winter. The fruits are called acorns.

Scotch pine - conifer tree pine family. The average life expectancy is 150-200 years. It reaches a height of 25 - 40 m and a trunk diameter of up to 1.2 m. It has a straight trunk, a highly raised crown and horizontally arranged branches. The bark of the lower part of the trunk is greyish-brown, scaly and thick; on the branches and upper part of the trunk - thin, reddish-orange, flaky. Dark green needles are 2.5 - 9 cm long. Seeds ripen in cones that open from February to April, after which they fall off.

Hazel or hazel is a woody shrub from the Birch family. Undergrowth component. Life expectancy is about 60 - 80 years. The leaves are wide, round or oval. The leaves are shed for the winter. Blooms in early spring, before leaves appear. Flowers are divided into male (in the form of earrings) and female (buds). The fruits of the bush are everyone's favorite nuts.

Wild strawberry is a herbaceous perennial of the Rose family. It grows on light forest edges and in shrubs. It has a creeping thickened rhizome with outgoing "whiskers" rooting at the nodes. The leaves are oval, with long petioles and sharp teeth. Flowers 5-petalled, white. The plant is valued for its fragrant and tasty berries, used, like the leaves, in folk medicine.

We could not find a video dedicated directly to the vegetation of mixed forests, but watch a beautiful video about the wildlife of Poland:

The deciduous forest zone is located on the territory of Manchuria, Far East, within Europe, eastern China, North America. It also affects the southern part South America and some parts of Central Asia.

Broad-leaved forests are most common where there is a moderately warm climate, and the ratio of moisture and heat is optimal. All this provides favorable conditions during the growing season. The leaf plates of the trees growing there are wide, hence the name of these forests. What other features does this natural area? The broadleaf forests are home to numerous animals, reptiles, birds and insects.

Character traits

Features of broad-leaved forests are that two distinct tiers can be distinguished in them. One of them is higher, the other is lower. These forests are shrubby, the available grasses grow in three tiers, the ground cover is represented by lichens and mosses.

Another characteristic feature is the light mode. In such forests, two light maxima are distinguished. The first is observed in the spring, when the trees are not yet covered with leaves. The second - in the fall, when the foliage is thinning. In summer, light penetration is minimal. The above regime explains the peculiarity of the grass cover.

The soil of deciduous forests is rich in organo-mineral compounds. They appear as a result of the decomposition of plant litter. Broadleaf forest trees contain ash. Especially a lot of it in the leaves - about five percent. Ash, in turn, is rich in calcium (twenty percent of the total volume). It also contains potassium (about two percent) and silicon (up to three percent).

Broadleaf forest trees

Forests of this type are characterized by the richest variety of tree species. The latter can be counted here about ten. The broad-leaved forests of the taiga, for example, are not so rich in this regard. The reason is that the conditions of the harsh taiga climate are not so conducive to the growth and development of flora. Many tree species that are demanding on soil composition and climate simply will not survive in adverse conditions.

In the southern part of the Tula region there is a well-known forest. It gives a great idea of ​​what broadleaf forests can be like. The soil of this territory is favorable for the growth of such trees as small-leaved lindens, holly and field maples, ordinary ash-trees, elms, elms, wild apple-trees and pears. Oaks and ash trees are the tallest, followed by holly maples, elms and lindens. The lowest are field maples, wild pears and apple trees. As a rule, the dominant position is occupied by an oak, and the remaining trees act as satellites.

Let us consider in more detail the above representatives of the dendroflora.

Herbs

Plants of deciduous forests are characterized by large and wide leaf blades. For this reason, they are called broad-grass oak forests. Some herbs grow in single specimens, they never form impenetrable thickets. Others, on the contrary, form a kind of carpet covering large spaces. Such herbs are dominant. Among them, common goutweed, hairy sedge and yellow Zelenchuk are distinguished.

Most of the herbaceous plants found in broadleaf forests are perennials. They live up to several decades. As a rule, their existence is supported by vegetative propagation. They do not reproduce well by seeds. Characteristic of these plants - long underground and above-ground shoots, rapidly growing in different directions and actively capturing new plots of land.

The above-ground parts of the majority of representatives of oak broad grasses die off in the autumn. Only roots and rhizomes located in the soil hibernate. They have special buds, from which new shoots are formed in the spring.

An exception

Rare representatives of broad grasses remain green both in winter and in summer. Such plants include the following: hoof, greenfinch, hairy sedge.

shrubs

As for these representatives of the flora, it is very difficult to meet them in deciduous forests. They are simply not characteristic of oak forests, which cannot be said about coniferous forests, where shrubs grow everywhere. Blueberries and lingonberries are the most widespread.

"Hurry" oak ephemeroids

These plants are of the greatest interest to specialists studying forest flora. Among them are spring chistyak, corydalis various kinds and goose onion. These plants are usually small in size, but they develop very quickly. Ephemeroids rush to be born immediately after the snow cover melts. Some particularly frisky sprouts make their way even through the snow. After a week, a maximum of two, their buds are already blooming. After a few more weeks, the fruits and seeds ripen. After that, the plants lie down on the ground, turn yellow, after which that part of them that is above the ground dies off. Moreover, this process occurs at the very beginning. summer period when, as it may seem, the conditions for growth and development are as favorable as possible. The secret is simple. Ephemeroids have their own rhythm of life, which differs from the peculiar development schedule of other plants. They bloom luxuriantly only in spring, and summer for them is the time of wilting.

The period most conducive to their development is early spring. At this time of the year in the forest there is maximum amount light, because shrubs and trees have not yet found their dense green cover. In addition, during this period, the soil is optimally saturated with moisture. As for the high summer temperature, the ephemeroids do not need it at all. All these plants are perennials. They do not die after their above-ground part dries up. Live underground roots are represented by tubers, bulbs or rhizomes. These organs act as repositories of nutrients, mainly starch. This is why stems, leaves and flowers appear so early and grow so rapidly.

Ephemeroids are widespread plants in broad-leaved oak forests. In total there are about ten species. Their flowers are painted in bright purple, blue, yellow colors. During flowering, ephemeroids form a thick beautiful carpet.

mosses

The broad-leaved forests of Russia are home to various types of mosses. In contrast to the taiga forests, in which these plants form a dense green soil cover, in oak forests, mosses do not cover the soil so widely. The role of mosses in deciduous forests is rather modest. The main reason is the fact that the leaf litter of the broad-leaved forest has a detrimental effect on these plants.

Fauna

Animals of the broad-leaved forests of Russia are ungulates, predators, insectivores, rodents and bats. The greatest diversity is observed in those territories that are not touched by man. So, in broad-leaved forests you can see roe deer, wild boars, fallow deer, spotted and red deer, elk. The squad of predators is represented by foxes, wolves, martens, ermines and weasels. deciduous forests, animal world which is rich and varied, are home to beavers, squirrels, muskrats and coypu. In addition, these territories are inhabited by mice, rats, moles, hedgehogs, shrews, snakes, lizards and marsh turtles.

Birds of deciduous forests - larks, finches, warblers, tits, flycatchers, swallows, starlings. Crows, rooks, black grouse, woodpeckers, crossbills, jackdaws, hazel grouses also live there. Predator birds represented by hawks, owls, owls, owls and harriers. The swamps are home to waders, cranes, herons, gulls, ducks and geese.

In the past, broad-leaved forests were inhabited by bison. Now, unfortunately, there are only a few dozen left. These animals are protected by law. They live in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (in the Republic of Belarus), in the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve ( Russian Federation), in some states Western Europe and in Poland. Several animals were transported to the Caucasus. There they coexist with bison.

The number of red deer has also changed. They have become much smaller due to the barbaric actions of man. Mass and plowing fields have become disastrous for these beautiful animals. Deer can reach two and a half meters in length and three hundred and forty kilograms of weight. They tend to live in small herds of up to ten animals. In most cases, the female is dominant. Her offspring lives with her.

In autumn sometimes males gather a kind of harem. Reminiscent of the sound of a trumpet, their roar spreads three to four kilometers around. The most successful deer, having won the fights of their rivals, can gather up to twenty females around them. This is how another type of reindeer herd is formed. At the beginning of the summer season, deer cubs are born. They are born weighing eight to eleven kilograms. Up to six months, they have intensive growth. One-year-old males acquire horns.

Deer feed on grass, leaves and shoots of trees, mushrooms, lichens, reeds, bitter wormwood. But the needles are not suitable for them to eat. In conditions wildlife deer live for about fifteen years. In captivity, this figure doubles.

Beavers are another inhabitants of deciduous forests. The most favorable conditions for them are observed in Europe, North America, Asia. The maximum recorded weight of this animal is thirty kilograms, and the body length is one meter. Beavers are distinguished by a massive body and a flattened tail. The webbing between the toes of the hind legs helps to maintain an aquatic lifestyle. Fur color can vary from light brown to black. Lubricating their wool with a special secret, beavers are protected from getting wet. When immersed in water, the auricles of this animal fold and the nostrils close. The economical use of air helps him stay under water for up to fifteen minutes.

Beavers prefer to settle on the banks of lakes and oxbow lakes, as well as slow-flowing rivers. They are attracted by abundant coastal and aquatic vegetation. represents a hole or a kind of hut, the entrance to which is under the water surface. These animals build dams if the water level is unstable. Thanks to these structures, the flow is regulated, which allows it to enter the dwelling from the water. Gnawing branches and even large trees is easy for beavers. So, an aspen of five to seven centimeters in diameter lends itself to these animals in two minutes. Their favorite food is cane. In addition, they are not averse to eating iris, water lily, egg capsule. Beavers live in families. The young go in search of a mate in their third year of life.

Wild pigs are another typical inhabitants of deciduous forests. They have a huge head and a very strong long snout. The most powerful weapons of these animals are sharp trihedral fangs that are bent up and back. The vision of wild boars is not very good, but this is compensated by excellent hearing and a keen sense of smell. Large individuals reach a weight of three hundred kilograms. The body of this animal is protected by dark brown bristles. She is very durable.

Boars are excellent runners and swimmers. These animals are able to swim through a reservoir, the width of which is several kilometers. The basis of their diet is plants, but it can be said that wild boars are omnivores. Their favorite delicacy is acorns and beech nuts, they will not refuse frogs, mice, chicks, insects and snakes.

Representatives of reptiles

Broad-leaved forests are inhabited by snakes, vipers, copperheads, spindles, green and viviparous lizards. Only vipers are dangerous to humans. Many mistakenly believe that copperheads are also poisonous, but this is not so. The most numerous reptiles of deciduous forests are snakes.

Relief features

The zone of deciduous forests (and mixed) in the European part of Russia forms a kind of triangle, the base of which is located at the western borders of the country, and the top rests on Ural mountains. Since this territory was more than once covered with continental ice, its relief is mostly hilly. The most obvious traces of the presence of the Valdai glacier have been preserved in the northwest. There, the zone of broad-leaved and mixed forests is characterized by chaotic heaps of hills, steep ridges, closed lakes and hollows. South part The described territory is represented by secondary moraine plains, which were formed as a result of a decrease in the sloping surface of hilly areas. The relief is characterized by the presence of sandy plains of different areas. Their origin is water-glacial. They have ripples, sometimes you can find pronounced sand dunes.

Russian plain

This zone is in the temperate climate zone. The climate there is relatively mild and humid. The soil of these territories is soddy-podzolic. The close location of the Atlantic Ocean determined the features of the relief. The river network in coniferous-deciduous forests is well developed. Reservoirs are large.

The activity of the swamping process is determined by the proximity of groundwater and a humid climate. The plants that dominate the grass cover have broad leaf blades.

Conclusion

Broad-leaved forests located on the territory of Europe are classified as endangered ecosystems. But two or three centuries ago they were one of the most diverse on the planet and were located in most of Europe. So, in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, they occupied an area equal to several million hectares. Today there are no more than one hundred thousand hectares.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, only fragments of the former extensive broad-leaved belt remained unscathed. At the dawn of this century, attempts were made to grow oaks in the deserted territories. However, this turned out to be a rather complicated matter: the death of young oak groves was caused by constant droughts. At that time, studies were carried out, which were led by the famous Russian geographer Dokuchaev. As a result, it was found that failures in the cultivation of new trees are associated with large-scale deforestation, since this forever changed the hydrological regime and climate of the area.

To date, in areas previously occupied deciduous forests, secondary forests grow, as well as artificial plantations. They are dominated by coniferous trees. Unfortunately, as experts note, the dynamics and structure of natural oak forests cannot be restored.