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How Do Animals in the Temperate Rain Forest Adapt?

Temperate rain forests are scarce on the planet, covering substantially less acreage than the well-known tropical rain forests of the equatorial belt. Definitions of "temperate rain forest" vary but most locations considered examples of this ecosystem feature high precipitation rates and relatively mild year-round temperatures in a narrow range. The most extensive rain forests of this type are found along the North Pacific coast of North America, from northern California to southeastern Alaska, but other examples may be encountered in places such as parts of Tasmania and New Zealand, southwestern South America, Japan and Europe. Animals in these dark, wet, often rugged forests display important adaptations to their environment.

Habitat Niches
- Black bears in the Northwest coastal forest will seek out clearings.
  
  A mature temperate rain forest wherever it is found exhibits substantial habitat diversity. There are dense stands of large trees but forces such as heavy winds, fires and landslides open up ragged clearings, while streams and rivers maintain thickets along their banks. A black bear in a Douglas-fir and western hemlock forest of the Oregon Cascades might seek out huckleberries and salmonberries growing in an open clearing. Marbled murrelets are seabirds that forage in the Pacific Ocean but nest miles inland in the canopies of massive old-growth conifers.
Predators and Prey
- Black-tailed deer are secretive and alert to avoid predators.
  
  As in other ecosystems, animals in the temperate rain forest spend much of their time finding food. A rubber boa in the Northwest coastal forest will dispatch voles or mice by constricting its coils like a miniature anaconda (to which it is related), while hairy woodpeckers hammer into tree trunks in pursuit of grubs. On a larger scale, pumas and wolves stalk deer in fern-carpeted glades. In coastal British Columbia and Alaska, the annual runs of salmon draw brown and black bears from the depths of the forest to snag the spawning fish.
Special Adaptations
- Cats have threatened the flightless birds of New Zealand rain forests.
  
  In some of the isolated temperate rain forests of New Zealand, which historically lacked large terrestrial predators, flightless birds once abounded. For example, the ecosystem of Rakiura Island off the southern tip of New Zealand harbored the Steward Island kiwi, a large, round, long-billed bird, as well as a flightless parrot called the kakapo. These birds and others like them evolved without the need for flight but, especially in mainland New Zealand, have suffered and in some cases have become extinct due to hunters such as cats and ferrets introduced by humans.
Breeding
- A Roosevelt elk bull attracts cows to its harem and wards off rivals with his keening bugle, which rings out over the coastal mountains of the Pacific Northwest in autumn. The colorful and feisty male rufous hummingbird of the same highland rain forests actively defends its territory with raspy buzzing and physical confrontation of perceived competitors. Many birds in the temperate rain forest, such as the marbled murrelet, take advantage of the biome's large trees to rear offspring. Orange-bellied parrots, for example, arrive in the temperate rain forests of Tasmania from wintering grounds in the Australian mainland to nest in tree cavities.

Animals & Science