By: Patrick Branch The Zoologist

 There are many amazing animals in the temperate deciduous forest, like squirrels or deer, but on this slide, we are going to talk about a few carnivores. These carnivores are just a few of the animals that love to eat meat in the forest!  1. The Hawk! (watch out squirrels!)  2. The coyote! (dangerous hunter)  3. The black rat snake! (Deadly)

 Here are some of the animals in the deciduous forest that absolutely love some good plants! Let’s take a look.  1. The White tail deer  2. The Cotton tail rabbit  3. The European red squirrel

 These Omnivores are the animals that are sort of in between the carnivores and the herbivores. These cool animals eat meat and plants. Let’s take a look at a few.  1. The Bear  2. The red fox  3. The Raccoon

Biotic FactorsAbiotic Factors  Biotic factors are living things that are in the forest. Some of the biotic factors in the forest are animals, humans, and plants. Animals are very important in the ecosystem. They also help pollinate plants and disperse damaged crops or seeds. Humans technically “manage” the forest. But sometimes they do bad things like destroying the forest and hurting animals. Plants help the environment by providing food, Shelter, nutrients, and oxygen. But some plants can make animals sick.  Abiotic factors are non-living things in the forest. Some abiotic factors in the forest are water, temperature, and some chemicals. Water is very helpful to these animals because they need it to survive. If they don’t have water, then many animals could die. It provides nutrients too. These animals have to adapt a lot when the seasons are changing. Some animals in the area are used to the cold, and some are use to warm temperatures. Another important abiotic factor is chemicals. One very important chemical is oxygen because they need it to breathe.

 In this slide I will explain 1 example of a very important decomposer in the deciduous forest and it’s role in life. The Mushroom! The mushroom has a very important role. When a decomposer breaks down a piece of decaying or dead material it sends nutrients into the soil. Some recycled nutrients can serve as a nutrients source. But it is not able to produce food.

 In this slide I will be showing you a couple of food chains including the producers, the primary consumer, and the secondary consumer. In the picture you see a couple food chains. The fox is the secondary consumer as well as the owl, and the birds and the rodents are primary consumers. In the other food chain, the skunk, the bird, and the opossum, are all secondary consumers. And the insects are primary consumers.

 All of the animals in the forest have to constantly adapt to weather changes. They have to be able to cope with cold winters when food supply is short. Some animals hibernate or migrate, (2 adaption's used by animals in this biome). For example: Birds migrate to warmer places where they can find more food. Also, bears hibernate during cold winters. Hibernation is when you hide away for the winter and be protected from cold winters. But you have less food. But animals survive easily. By producing energy, they gain fat from their body. Also in winter, Squirrels, chipmunks, and birds, store large supplies of food of nuts, seeds, berries, etc. in the ground, hollow trees, or in the ground

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