Temperate Coniferous Forest: Climate, Plants and Animals

A temperate coniferous forest is a forest of cone-bearing, needle-leaved trees that grows in the mild middle latitudes, not the frozen far north. Fir, pine, spruce, hemlock and redwood dominate it. Winters are cool and wet, summers are often dry, and many trees grow to record sizes.

This forest is one of the three main kinds of temperate forest. Our guide to the types of forests shows where it fits among all the world’s forest types.

What is a temperate coniferous forest?

A conifer is a tree that bears its seeds in woody cones instead of fruits. Most conifers have narrow needles or tiny scale-like leaves. Because most keep their leaves through winter, conifer forests are usually evergreen. National Geographic describes coniferous forests as forests of trees with cones and needles instead of broad, flat leaves.

The word temperate describes the climate belt between the hot tropics and the cold polar regions. So a temperate coniferous forest is a conifer forest of the middle latitudes. It differs from the cold boreal forest, or taiga, which also has conifers but lies much farther north.

These forests hold some of the most famous trees on Earth. According to National Geographic, coniferous forests have the world’s tallest tree (coast redwood), largest tree (giant sequoia) and oldest tree (bristlecone pine).

Coniferous forests are one kind of evergreen forest. However, many evergreen forests, such as tropical rainforests, are broad-leaved. Temperate lands also have broad-leaved forests that drop their leaves before winter. Our page on the temperate deciduous forest covers those oak and maple woods.

Where are temperate coniferous forests found?

The best-known belt runs along the Pacific coast and mountains of North America. National Geographic places a large evergreen forest of fir in the Pacific Northwest, which includes British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. It continues south into northern California, where coast redwoods grow in a narrow coastal fog belt.

Conifer forests also cover many inland mountains. The US Forest Service notes that open ponderosa pine forest occurs in the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains, the Black Hills and the US Southwest. Giant sequoias grow at middle elevations on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, according to the National Park Service.

Outside North America, temperate conifer forests grow on mountain ranges of Europe and Asia, including the Himalayas. In the wettest coastal spots, a conifer forest becomes a temperate rainforest. The National Park Service lists Chile, New Zealand and southern Australia among the few other places where temperate rainforests grow.

What is the climate of a temperate coniferous forest?

The climate is mild and moist, with no long, bitter winter like the taiga’s. Most rain and snow fall in the cooler months. Summers are drier, and in some places fog makes up for the missing rain.

Figures vary from place to place, so the table below gives three real examples from official US sources.

Why is the climate so mild?

The ocean is the key. The US Forest Service explains that the Pacific Ocean keeps temperatures in the Cascade region mild all year. Humidity is always high, so little water is lost to evaporation.

Mountains also matter. Wet winds from the sea rise over the coastal ranges and drop heavy rain on the western slopes. The US Forest Service reports that the eastern slopes of the Cascades receive less than 511 mm (20 in) a year. This dry side, called a rain shadow, carries more open pine forest.

Snow, fog and dry summers

Snow increases with height and towards the north. On high Cascade peaks, all precipitation may fall as snow, piling up 15 to 20 m deep, says the US Forest Service. On the redwood coast, by contrast, summer fog drifts inland and drips from the trees. It keeps the redwoods damp through the dry season, according to the National Park Service.

What vegetation grows in a temperate coniferous forest?

The vegetation has three layers: a tall canopy of conifers, a shrub layer and a ground layer of ferns, mosses and herbs. In the wettest valleys, mosses, ferns and lichens also cover the tree trunks.

Main trees

The US Forest Service describes a dense low-level forest of Douglas-fir, western redcedar, western hemlock, grand fir, silver fir, Sitka spruce and Alaska-cedar in the Pacific Northwest. Douglas-fir is the most common tree at low elevations there.

Western redcedar shows why tree names can mislead. True cedars belong to the genus Cedrus. Our article on cedar tree characteristics explains the difference.

Shrubs, ferns and mosses

Below the giants grows a lush understorey. In the Olympic rain forest, the National Park Service lists salmonberry, huckleberry, sword fern, lady fern and Oregon oxalis. Redwood forests have berry bushes and the bright California rhododendron, which flowers in spring. Along rivers, broad-leaved black cottonwood and red alder replace needle-leaved trees, says the US Forest Service.

How are the trees adapted?

Conifers in this forest show several clear adaptations:

• Evergreen needles let trees make food in mild winter spells and in spring, without growing new leaves each year.
• Thick bark protects against fire. Giant sequoia bark can be up to 46 cm (18 in) thick, the NPS reports.
• Fire-ready cones keep sequoia seeds sealed for perhaps 20 years. Heat from a fire dries the cones, and they open to drop seeds on the bare ash.
• Sprouting helps coast redwoods recover. New shoots can grow from a stump, a fallen tree’s roots or knobbly growths called burls.
• Nurse logs give seedlings a place to start. In crowded rain forest valleys, many young trees sprout on fallen, rotting trunks.

Which animals live in temperate coniferous forests?

The groups below come from the US Forest Service’s list for Pacific Northwest conifer forests and from National Park Service pages.

• Large mammals: elk, deer, mountain lion, bobcat and black bear. Olympic’s rain forests support the largest wild herds of Roosevelt elk in the United States.
• Small mammals: Douglas squirrels, martens, chipmunks, red tree voles and wood rats. Douglas squirrels can release sequoia seeds from cones.
• Birds: winter wren, Townsend’s warbler, chestnut-backed chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, Steller’s jay, grouse, hawks and owls.
• Amphibians and reptiles: Pacific treefrog, Pacific giant salamander, northern alligator lizard and rubber boa.
• Fish: salmon and trout in the cold, oxygen-rich rivers.

The spotted owl and the marbled murrelet, a small seabird, depend on old-growth forest. Old-growth means forest that has grown for centuries without being cut.

An illustrative food chain shows how energy moves: conifer seeds → Douglas squirrel → marten. When trees fall and rot, bacteria and fungi break them down and return nutrients to the soil.

How is a temperate coniferous forest different from the taiga?

Students often mix up these two conifer forests. The main difference is climate: the taiga is cold and northern, while the temperate coniferous forest is milder and farther south.

Read the full article on the taiga or boreal forest for its climate and wildlife. For conifers against broad-leaved trees, see our comparison of deciduous vs coniferous forests.

Are there temperate coniferous forests in India?

India’s conifers grow as part of the montane forests of the Himalayas, where height rather than latitude makes the climate cool. NCERT’s Class 11 chapter places chir pine forests at 1,500-1,750 m and blue pine and spruce at 2,225-3,048 m. It calls deodar a highly valued endemic species of the western Himalayas.

Most of these Himalayan conifer forests are closer to temperate coniferous forests than to taiga. However, ISFR 2023 groups the pine forests of the lower mountain zone as subtropical pine forests, and that group covers 18,108 km². Our pages on coniferous forests in India and montane forests of India cover the trees and altitude belts in detail.

Why are temperate coniferous forests important?

These forests matter to people and to nature in several ways:

1. Timber. Douglas-fir, pine and other conifers supply softwood for buildings, furniture and paper.
2. Carbon storage. Huge trunks lock up carbon for centuries. Fallen giants can take centuries to decay, the National Park Service notes.
3. Wildlife habitat. Old-growth stands shelter species such as the spotted owl that need large, old trees.
4. Clean water. Forested slopes hold soil and keep rivers clear and cold, which suits salmon and trout.
5. Soil building. Fallen redwoods return nutrients to poor soils, so the forest recycles itself.

What threatens these forests?

Logging has cleared much of the old-growth conifer forest. The National Park Service says temperate rain forests once stretched from southern Oregon to southeast Alaska, but little remains beyond protected land. Severe wildfire, hotter droughts and bark beetles now threaten even giant sequoias, which have long survived milder fires.

Sources

• US Forest Service — Cascade Mixed Forest–Coniferous Forest–Alpine Meadow Province (M242)
• National Park Service — Temperate Rain Forests, Olympic National Park
• National Park Service — About the Trees, Redwood National and State Parks
• National Park Service — Weather, Redwood National and State Parks
• National Park Service — Giant Sequoias, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
• National Geographic Education — Vegetation Region
• Forest Survey of India — India State of Forest Report 2023, Volume I
• NCERT Class 11 — India: Physical Environment, Chapter 5: Natural Vegetation