Maine's Deciduous Forest Biome

Maine's deciduous region can be described as a forested area dotted by mountains, rivers, and lakes. Like any other *ecosystem, it consists of both biotic and abiotic factors.

* Ecosystem: a system formed by the interaction

of a community of organisms with their environment.

moose

american black bear

eastern garter snake

american toad

barred owl

sunfish

smallmouth bass

common loon

mosquito

white pine

paper birch

poison ivy

highbush blueberry

fern

The Moose is the official state animal of Maine. Moose are the largest of the deer family, with impeccable hearing and sense of smell, but very poor eyesight.

•Life span: 15-25 years

•Male moose weigh about 1200-1500 pounds

•Female moose weigh more than 900 pounds

•Average Body length: about 8.5 feet

•Average Height: 6-7 feet at the shoulders

• Used by males to exhibit dominance
• Average 5.5 feet across
• Average 40 lbs. in weight
• As many as 30 tines, or spikes
• Shed in Nov./Dec. (after mating season)
• Regrown in spring

Moose are generally very peaceful animals, and are not aggressive unless hungry, tired, or threatened.

Moose may also be more agressive during mating season.

The black bear's coat is well adapted to the cold weather of winter because of its many layers of shaggy fur. Its claws are also well adapted to its environment, and are just the right size for climbing the many trees that surround its forest home.

American Black Bears will eat virtually anything.

75% of its diet is made up of plants, while the other 25% is made up of carcasses, honey, small mammals, and insects.

Males can grow more than six feet long and weigh up to 650 pounds. Females rarely reach this length, and often do not weigh more than 175 pounds.

Black bears mate in the early summer months. Females mature after three to four years, and usually give birth to two cubs every other year. Mothers can be very territorial in matters regarding their cubs; when an animal gets between the mother and the cub, the mother bear will attack the threat until it is dead.

• usually found near water or in moist places
• find cover on/in/near rocks, vegetation, logs, and mammal burrows.

Bask: a reptile behavior in which a reptile lounges in the sun to get warm. Reptiles also need this warmth to digest.

Diet includes:

• frogs
• toads
• salamanders
• earthworms
• small fish
• tadpoles

The garter is a carnivore, or an animal that eats other animals.

Eastern Garter Snakes mate from late March to early May. Sometimes when several males find a female at the same time, they form a "breeding ball." A breeding ball is when snakes wrap themselves around each other, trying to mate.

Predators of garter snakes include: hawks, skunks, raccoons, Virginia Opossum, larger snakes, and Bullfrogs. They live up to 10 years.

• A Toad’s warts are actually poison glands used to scare off predators.

• You can’t actually get warts from toads

• Toads are able to ‘drink’ water from barely damp ground due to their ‘seat patch,’ which is an area on their lower abdomen that they can absorb water through. (Don’t pick up toads because the oil and dirt on your hands can totally mess up their seat patch.)

Toads mainly have to worry about snakes, some of which enjoy and even rely on the toads as a big part of their diet. This includes the Eastern Hognose Snake. The garter snake is even immune to the poisons excreted by toads, and therefore the toad must resort to peeing on itself, and or inflating its body with air, so that it is both a less appealing meal, and harder to swallow.

Other names include: Eight Hooter, Rain Owl, Wood Owl, and Striped Owl, best known as Hoot Owl based on call.

The belly feathers of some Barred Owls are pink. This coloring may be the result of eating a lot of crayfish.

Barred Owl populations have expanded westward in the last century. The more aggressive Barred Owl may displace the endangered Spotted Owl. Hybrids of the two species are also known.

The Great Horned Owl is the most serious predatory threat to the Barred Owl. Although they often live in the same areas, the Barred Owl will avoid parts of its territory occupied by a Great Horned Owl.

http://wildlifeofct.com/websitesounds/barred_owl.mp3

Also commonly referred to as Bream.

Commonly found in swamps, ponds, springs,

lakes, rivers, and streams.

Widespread and often abundant in these areas.

They grow to a size of 4 to 8 inches, although

they're rarely found larger than 6 inches.

Spawning occurs May through July.

Diet includes insects, small fishes, and crayfishes

Favorite game fish across most of the eastern US.

Inhabit clear, small to medium-sized streams, rivers, and reservoirs.

Diet includes small fishes, crayfishes, and insects

Adult size is 15 to 20 inches.

They prefer underwater structures such as rock outcrops, logs, and treetops

Life span is 6 to 14 years approx.

Spawning season occurs in April and May

Loons have nearly solid bones (unlike most birds, which have hollow bones) that allow them to dive deep for fish, of which their diet consists almost entirely.

Their short wings also allow them to swim swiftly through the water.

These wings make it harder for loons to fly.

They must get a running start, and constantly flap their wings to stay aloft.

Despite this, they reach speeds of 40 mph in the air, sometimes reaching 70.

Loons can stay underwater for up to 2-3 minutes.

Loons have red eyes for the purpose of being attractive to the opposite sex, and to be seen across a lake by other loons.

During winter, their eyes become a dull reddish-brown.

Loon Calls

Loons produce a wide range of vocal sounds, for hunting, mating, and territorial purposes. Here are a few samples of loon calls:

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sounds/LoonYodel_LangElliott.mp3

The mosquitoes are a family of small, midge-like flies: the Culicidae.

Although a few species are harmless, most are a nuisance because they consume blood from living vertebrates, including humans.

This makes them parasites, or organisms that benefit by deriving nutrients at another organism's expense.

When a mosquito bites, it injects chemicals to prevent the blood from clotting and reduce pain. These chemicals cause irritation.

Mosquitoes are attracted by CO (Carbon dioxide) in our breath. They can detect this from great distances.

Only the female mosquitoes feed on blood; male mosquitoes feed on plant nectar and juices.

When the female mosquito gets close, she makes a final choice using skin temperature, odor and other chemical or visual factors. If two people are outside together, one will almost always get most of the mosquito bites.

Like all flies, mosquitoes go through four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult or imago.

Some species have naturally adapted to go through their entire life cycle in as little as four days or as long as one month

The White Pine is the state tree of Maine.

The White Pine tends to grow in moist, well-drained soils.

What was once a seemingly endless supply of timber was used for the construction of houses, barns and stables. In the 17th and 18th centuries virtually every building erected by Colonial Americans was constructed with white pine, both inside and out.

The white pine can grow up to 80 feet

tall, and 25 feet wide.

The white pine can live for more than 100 years!

The Paper Birch is the New Hampshire state tree.

It is made into dowels, spoons, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, and other household items.

It is also used to make hunting and fishing gear, musical instruments, decorative fans, beadwork, and even children's sleds and other toys

Its leaves, bark, twigs, and sap have a long history of use for curative purposes.

The Paper Birch grows along stream banks, lakeshores, and on the moist slopes of hills.

The Paper Birch is also known as Canoe Birch, Silver Birch, or White Birch.

Paper birch trees grow between 50 and 70 feet tall with a 25- to 45-foot spread.

The Paper Birch has a short life span relative to most plants and a rapid growth rate. It rarely lives for more than 140 years.

Poison ivy grows as a vine or shrub with three-parted shiny leaves.

Every part of the poison ivy plant is poisonous.

The poison ivy rash is caused by an oil called urushiol,

which is found in every part of the plant.

As hard as it is to believe, poison ivy also has medicinal uses.

A fluid extract is taken from the leaves- meeting with some succes in the treatment of paralysis, acute rheumatism, and articular stiffness, and in various forms of chronic and obstinate eruptive diseases.

Poison ivy grows throughout much of North America, and is extremely common in suburban and exurban areas of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and southeastern United States.

The highbush blueberry is a shrub with many stems that grows to 10 ft tall and has clusters of small bell-shaped white flowers

The highbush blueberry does not respond well to shade.

Highbush Blueberry is found

on the edges of marshes, lakes,

ponds, and streams. It is also

seen in open areas of woods.

Each blue-black berry of this plant contains hundreds

of tiny seeds. In order to spread and grow new plants, Highbush Blueberry depends on birds and animals to eat fruit and drop seeds out in new places through their poop.

The highbush blueberry is a crucial part of many animals' diets. Some animals that eat it include: Eastern Bluebird, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, Wild Turkey, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Mourning Dove, American Robin, Red Fox, Eastern Cottontail, White-footed Mouse, Striped Skunk, and Eastern Chipmunk.

Mighty winds can knock down branches or even whole trees.

This begins the decomposition process, and returns nutrients

that were trapped within the plants back to the earth.

Particles like pollen can be picked up by the wind,

thus fertilizing plants.

However, the wind can also spread soil, which in turn spreads the bacteria and fungal matter present within the soil. Long periods of wind can even spread diseases through a forest.

Wind speed differs from area to area, but the average wind speed of the forest biome is 12.3 miles per hour.

The temperature in this area typically ranges from -30 degrees Celcius to 30 degrees Celcius.

Highest recorded temperature: 41 degrees Celcius

Lowest recorded temperature: 9 degrees Celcius

Carnivore: an animal that eats other animals

omnivore: an animal that eats both plants and animals

herbivore: an animal that eats plants

oviparous: an animal that lays eggs

viviparous: an animal that gives birth to live young

ovoviviparous: an animal whose young are produced in eggs within the body, but born live.

mutualism: a symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit

commensalism: a symbiotic relationship in which one benefits and the other is unaffected.

parasitism: a symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed

saprobe: An organism that derives its nourishment from nonliving or decaying organic matter.

Soil

Another of the most abundant types of soil found here is

alfisol. This consists of two distinct layers: topsoil, which

is made up of primarily dead leaves, and subsoil, which has

a high content of clay.

Abiotic Factors

This alfisol is a dark brown colour, which comes from its

humus, which is basically decayed leaves and other organic

matter.

Adopted by the Legislature of 1999 as the state soil, Cheuncook is

a type of soil that was first identified in Maine, and is one of the

most widely distributed soil types in Maine.

Interestingly enough, Cheuncook soil gets its

name from the Native American word for

converging bodies of water.

Abiotic factors are nonliving factors that affect the environment.

Wind

Although wind is only visible through the objects that it moves, it is in itself a strong and strongly important abiotic factor.

On Mount Washington, New Hampshire, wind speeds have reached 231 miles per hour in severe storms. This is also the highest recorded wind speed observed by man. (Although Mt. Washington is in a different state technically, it is in the same general area that we are discussing.)

Weather

THE END!

Vocabulary

Presentation by Lucy and Claire Ogden

A good deal of the words here were, in some way, used in this presentation. Some were not included either due to lack of them being in the ecosystem or time constraints.

The average yearly temperature is 10 degrees Celcius

This area gets 750 to 1,500 milimeters of precipitation per year.

Maine Temperate Deciduous Forest

The temperate deciduous forest biome can be found all over the world, and is present in several continents, including North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. For the purposes of this presentation, however, we will focus on Maine's share of the biome.

American Toad (Bufo americanus)

FUN FACTS!!

During the day, Garters hunt and/or bask*.

Biotic Factors

include living things, such as plants and animals, that affect the ecosystem in which they live. Some of the Deciduous Forest's Biotic Factors include:

• mice
• bird eggs
• slugs
• crayfish
• leeches
• insects
• small snakes.

Antlers

The Moose is an

Herbivore.

This means that its diet is made up of only plants.

Some of these plants include pondweed, horsetails, grass, lichen, and peeled-off bark and leaves from various trees.

More Moose Facts

Unlike many snakes, females will give birth to live young. Each baby snake is five to nine inches long (pictured top right). Over 50 young can be born at a time, but most do not survive.

Baby Eastern Garter

American Black Bear

Ursus americanus

Moose (Alces alces)

The black bear is an omnivore, or an animal that eats both plants and animals.

Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Barred Owl (Strix varia)

Animals:

Plants:

Smallmouth Bass

(Micropterus dolomieu)

Green Sunfish

(lepomis cyanellus)

Common Loon

(Gavia immer)

Mosquito

Common Loon

Experts believe that loons are samples of a group of very primitive water birds. The earliest known loon fossils date from 65 million years ago, and, although loons appear fairly similar in size and shape to ducks, they are unrelated. Loons do not have any modern close relatives.

Yodel

Tremolo:

Wail

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sounds/LoonTremolo_LangElliott.mp3

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sounds/LoonWail_LangElliott.mp3

White Pine

(Pinus strobus)

Poison Ivy

Toxicondendron radicans

Paper Birch

Betula papyrifera

The paper birch is the New Hampshire state tree.

It is made into dowels, spoons, toothpicks, and other household items.

The Paper Birch is extremely cold tolerant and rot-resistant,which makes the bark a favorite material for canoe building.

Highbush Blueberry

Vaccinium corymbosum

Cinnamon Fern

(Osmunda cinnemomea)

Most Cinnamon Ferns grow in clusters that are only about two to three feet tall, but some have been known to grow up to five feet tall when given enough nutrients and moisture.

The Cinnamon Fern grows best in shady areas, or sunlit areas with lots of moisture available.

White-tailed deer and some other animals typically eat the Cinnamon Fern's small fiddlerheads, but when boiled, these small fronds are also edible to humans.

Historically, Native Americans used used cinnamon fern to treat rheumatism, headache,

chills, colds and snakebites. Frond tips were eaten both raw and cooked.

To pollinate flowers, Highbush Blueberry depends

on bees and other insects.