1.3 Find the answers to the following questions in the text 1:
1.What does the term” forest” mean?
2. What is a stand?
3. In what case does a single understorey consist of saplings?
4. How do pure and mixed forests differ?
1.4 Divide the text into the main paragraphs and name each of them.
1.5 Complete the definitions with the following words and word-combinations: steppe, tropical rainforests, field, savanna, boreal forest, tundra. What is it?
1. … is a cold-temperate forest dominated mostly by conifers (spruce, fir, etc.). It may also contain some broad-leaved deciduous trees such as birch. This type of forest is circumpolar-it stretches around the globe. It is located between the northern tundra and the southern temperate mixed forests or steppe. Winters are long and cold here, lasting from 6 to 9 months.
2. … is a forest type with widely spaced trees and an understory of grasses and other forbs that require high levels of light.
3. … is large, dry, level, grassland having few or no trees.
4. …occur in the lowlands around the equator. They are characterized by many vines and epiphytes (plants that live on other plants), and trees that flower, fruit, and have leaves all year.
5. … is a grassy plain in the arctic and antarctic dominated by sedges, rushes, and wood rushes, perennial herbs, small woody shrubs, mosses, and lichens.
6. … – a place of dense, shorter plants, including shrubs and grasses. Because hardly any trees grow in a field, plants that need a lot of sunlight are able to grow. A farmer’s field has only the plants that the farmer wants to grow; a wild field, such as a meadow, has many different plants and animals.
1.6 Compare coniferous and deciduous forests, according to the plan. Use the information given below.
The plan:
1. Temperature
2. Precipitation
3. Location
4. Vegetation
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Figure
1.3 Temperate deciduous forest
(Staunton, Virginia, United
States)
Description of temperate deciduous forests
Temperate deciduous forests are located in the mid-latitude areas which means that they are found between the polar regions and the tropics. The deciduous forest regions are exposed to warm and cold air masses, which cause this area to have four seasons. During the fall, trees change color and then lose their leaves. This is in preparation for the winter season. Because it gets so cold, the trees have adapted to the winter by going into a period of dormancy or sleep. They also have thick bark to protect them from the cold weather. Trees flower and grow during the spring and summer growing season. Many different kinds of trees, shrubs, and herbs grow in deciduous forests. Most of the trees are broadleaf trees such as oak, maple, beech, hickory and chestnut. There are also several different kinds of plants like mountain laurel, azaleas and mosses that live on the shady forest floor where only small amounts of sunlight get through.
C oniferous Forest d Figure 1.4 Coniferous forest (Beaverlode, Albergta, Canada) escription of coniferous forests
Between the tundra to the north and the deciduous forest to the south lies the large area of coniferous forest. One type of coniferous forest, the northern boreal forest, is found in 50° to 60°N latitudes. Another type, temperate coniferous forests, grows in lower latitudes of North America, Europe, and Asia, in the high elevations of mountains.
Coniferous forests consist mostly of conifers, trees that grow needles instead of leaves, and cones instead of flowers. Conifers tend to be evergreen, that is, they bear needles all year long. These adaptations help conifers survive in areas that are very cold or dry. Some of the more common conifers are spruces, pines, and firs. The amount of precipitation depends on the forest location. In the northern boreal forests, the winters are long, cold and dry, while the short summers are moderately warm and moist. In the lower latitudes, precipitation is more evenly distributed throughout the year.