The Northeast Asian Deciduous Forest lies in the East Asian belt at a latitude range of 33 06° to 43 00° Noth and a longitude range of 130° to 145° East. Korea's peninsula is included in this biome. This biome has four distinct seasons with a wide range of temperatures. The precipitation is spread out evenly throughout the year. The animals and plants have to make many adaptations to live in this area.
The average yearly temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the average annual rainfall is 30 to 60 inches. The climate is divided into four different seasons with winter being very cold and summer being warm and humid.
Korea has four seasons: summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Summer is hot and humid from mid June to mid-September. The people of Korea call early summer "changema" which means the rainy season and they call late summer "hanyorum", which is hot and humid. Autumn is dry, sunny, and is the shortest season. It begins in mid-September and ends in mid November, with the average temperature of 70 degrees F. In the month of November there is an important holiday called the "celebration of chusok" where Koreans celebrate the clear weather. Winter is cold and dry and goes from mid November to March. The Siberian air mass causes the winters to be very cold, and January is the coldest month. Spring is short, mild, sunny, dry and warm and goes from April to June. In early Spring yellow dust blown in from the Mongolian desert known as Hwangsa moves into the country.
North Korea: The climate is both continental and monsoonal. Continental relates to the interior of the country and monsoonal means that most of the forest is hot and humid in the summer and cold and dry in the winter. The average precipitation only 20 inches each year. The growing season in this part of Korea is approximately 175 days long each year .
The average temperature throughout the year ranges from 43° F to 61° F. The coldest season is winter with an average temperature of 21° F to -8° F in the south. The hottest month is summer with an average temperature of 68° F in the north. Autumn's average temperature is 55° F to 65° F in the south. Springs average temperature is 55° F in the southwestern plain. The highest temperature is 79° C and the lowest temperature is 41° F. The average precipitation is 48 inches. Autumn has very little precipitation and that is the same with winter and spring. Summer is different and many typhoons occur. Typhoons are funnel shaped tubes that occur when heavy winds pick up.
Autumn has very little rain and snow with an average precipitation of 228.4 in. Summer has heavy rainfall and many typhoons and monsoons occur and has an average precipitation of 443.1 in. Winter has occasional snowfall and an average precipitation of 506.9 mm and spring has very little precipitation with an average precipitation of 339.8 in.
The seasons are all very distinct and the climate is similar to the one that we have here. The animals have also adapted the same way that the animals do here. These ways are by migrating when it gets cold and coming back in the summer when it gets warm. The North east Asian Deciduous forest in many ways have the same similarities that the Island that I live on has.
South Korea: The average yearly precipitation is 30 to 50 inches . Most of this happens during the summer months. Many monsoons affect the climate and bring in hot and humid weather. Both the south and the north receive monsoons at the same time of the year from June to September.
Many different plants grow in this climate. Three main layers of growth are found here. The first is the forest floor which has moss, ferns and lichen. The second is the shrub layer, which has plants like rhododendrons and huckleberries, and third is the tree stratum, which has trees like maples, oaks and sometimes conifers.
The Northeast Asian Deciduous Forest is broken down into three types of forest zones including the warm forest, the temperate forest, and the cold forest. In the warm forests there are the evergreen and the deciduous forest zones, which include the Japanese coral tree, oak, and chestnut tree. The next zone is the broadleaf deciduous tree zone. The species found here are oaks, loose flower hornbean, and Korean Ash. The evergreen coniferous tree zone is in the cold forest zone. Many species grow here including the Korean pine, the Japanese stone pine, and the Japanese yew.
The animals in the forest have adapted in different ways to survive. Migration is one adaptation that birds have made to fly to places that are warm and also have good food sources in the winter. Some animals hibernate to survive the cold winter months. They make homes in a hole in the ground or in another place were they can survive during the winter. Food storage is an adaptation that squirrels, chipmunks, and some jays use to have food throughout the winter. After it is gathered food is stored in holes in trees. The cold temperature prevents the decomposition of the nuts and seeds that the animals store, making them last.
Vegetation has also adapted in this climate. In the summer the trees grow and make seeds when they have a lot of energy they can use. As the tree runs out of energy the leaves fall off. When the snow comes in the winter the branches are not damaged because they are bare and the snow doesn't weigh them down. Trees have also adapted by growing thick bark barriers that makes it hard for animals to use them as homes so no damage is done to them and they do not die.
Köppen's letter code describing the climate is Dfa. The D stands for the major biome type - Moderate Continental. The f stands for the minor biome type - woodland. The a represents the average temperature of the biome.
by Matthew F. 2003
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