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Structurally, these forests are rather simple, generally consisting of two layers: an overstory and understory. Some forests may support an intermediate layer of shrubs. Pine forests support an herbaceous understory that is generally dominated by grassesIn popular language grass means a short, green, ground covering or lawn usually, but not necessarily comprised of a "true grass" or grasses, called turf. See also pasture, grass (material . In botany, grass refers to plants of the family Poaceae. These ar and herbaceous perennials, and are often subject to ecologically important wildfires.
Temperate rain forestsTemperate rain forests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the mid-latitudes in areas of high rainfall. Temperate rain forests are distinguished from other temperate forests by a few factors: Rainfall: high rainfall (minimum 2000-3000 mm/yea only occur in seven regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forestsThe Pacific temperate rain forests of Canada and the United States are the largest temperate rain forests zone on the planet. The Pacific temperate rain forests occur on west-facing coastal mountains along the Pacific coast of North America, from Kodiak I of the Pacific NorthwestThe northwestern part of the United States is known as the Pacific Northwest . Its boundaries are imprecise: the Pacific coast states of Washington and Oregon are always included, with Idaho a common addition. Extreme western Montana, near Missoula, is al, the Valdivian temperate rain forestsThe Valdivian temperate rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion located on the west coast of southern South America, in Chile and extending into a small part of Argentina. It is a temperate part of the Neotropic ecozone. Setting The Valdivian temperate r of southwestern South AmericaSouth America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. South America is situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It became attached to North America only recently, geologically speaking, wi, the rain forests of New ZealandFor alternative meanings, see New Zealand (disambiguation). New Zealand is a country formed of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A common Mori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa popularly translated as Land and Tasmania, northwest Europe (small pockets in Ireland, Scotland, and Iceland), southern Japan, and the eastern Black Sea- Caspian Sea region of Turkey and Georgia to northern Iran. The moist conditions of temperate rain forests generally support an understory of mosses, ferns and some shrubs. Temperate rain forests can be Temperate coniferous forests or Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests.The temperate coniferous rain forests sustain the highest levels of biomass in any terrestrial ecosystem and are notable for trees of massive proportions, including Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron gigantea), Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis), Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) and Kauri (Agathis australis). These forests are quite rare, occurring in small areas of Western North America, southwestern South America and northern New Zealand. The Klamath-Siskiyou forests of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon is known for its rich variety of plant and animal species, including many endemic species.