Hemiboreal means halfway between the temperate and subarctic (or boreal) zones. The term is most frequently used in the context of climates and ecosystems.

Hemiboreal deciduous forest in Latvia. Latvia, like other hemiboreal areas, also has extensive lush coniferous forests.

Botany

edit

A hemiboreal forest has some characteristics of a boreal forest to the north, and also shares features with temperate-zone forests to the south. A significant number of nut species, such as aspens, oaks, maples, ash trees, birches, beeches, hazels, and hornbeams, can be found here.

Climate

edit

The term sometimes denotes the form of climate characteristic of the zone of hemiboreal forests—specifically, the climates designated Dfb, Dwb and Dsb in the Köppen climate classification scheme. On occasion, it is applied to all areas that have long, cold winters and warm (but not hot) summers—which also including areas that are semiarid (BS) and arid (BW) based on average annual precipitation. It can also be applied to some areas with a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc), particularly those with continental climate characteristics.

Examples

edit
 
In the southernmost part of Finland, coniferous forests are lush and noble deciduous trees grow here and there. Hemiboreal coniferous forest in Helsinki Central Park; notice the species of grove in the field layer.

Examples of locations with hemiboreal climates or ecosystems include:

References

edit
  1. ^ Chytry, Milan, et al. "Diversity of Forest Vegetation Across a Strong Gradient of Climatic Continentality: Western Sayan Mountains, South Siberia." Plant Ecology (2007).
  • Grinde, Alexis R.; Niemi, Gerald J. (2016-09-01). "A synthesis of species interactions, metacommunities, and the conservation of avian diversity in hemiboreal and boreal forests". Journal of Avian Biology. 47 (5): 706–718. doi:10.1111/jav.01036. ISSN 0908-8857.
  • Clayden, Stephen R.; Cameron, Robert P.; McCarthy, John W. (2011), DellaSala, Dominick A. (ed.), "Perhumid Boreal and Hemiboreal Forests of Eastern Canada", Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: Ecology and Conservation, Washington, DC: Island Press/Center for Resource Economics, pp. 111–131, doi:10.5822/978-1-61091-008-8_4, ISBN 978-1-61091-008-8, retrieved 2022-03-23