Hobbies And Interests
Canopy
The canopy, or uppermost layer, in a temperate rainforest is made up of large trees. Extreme cold in the winter months limits the number of large trees to usually 10 to 20 species compared to the hundreds of species found in a tropical rainforest. The trees are long-lived evergreen varieties such as the western hemlock, red cedar, giant sequoia and Douglas fir. These trees grow to enormous sizes because of their long lifespan, often reaching hundreds of feet tall and several feet in diameter. It is not uncommon for evergreens such as these to live for several hundred years.
Understory
The second layer of a temperate rainforest is called the understory. Here, smaller trees such as the dogwood, vine maples and berry shrubs thrive in the limited amount of sunlight able to filter through the canopy.
Forest Floor
The forest floor is rich in life, although only small amounts of sunlight actually reach these depths. Shade-loving plants -- including moss, ferns and fungi, such as mushrooms -- dwell here. Decomposing needles, leaves and branches that have fallen from the plants above, fertilize these low-growing plants.
Epiphytes
Perhaps one of the most interesting plants found in the temperate rainforest are epiphytes. Epiphytes attach themselves to other trees instead of the soil. They filter moisture from the humid air and are sustained by the small amount of sunlight that reaches them through the dense canopy. Varieties of moss, ferns and lichens can be seen hanging from the branches or trunks of many trees, but seem to have a preference for maples, for reasons unknown to scientists. Epiphytes receive no nutrients from the plant they are attached to and are considered harmless to that plant. However, if a host tree becomes overburdened by the sheer weight of large epiphyes, branches can break. It is also believed this weight could be a contributing factor to an increased risk of damage from strong winds.