Mixed Forest

a forest consisting of coniferous and broad-leaved trees. Mixed forests are commonly found on the plains and in the low-mountain zones in humid temperate climatic regions of Eurasia and North America.

In Eurasia mixed forests are widespread in southern Scandinavia, the European USSR, the Far East, the Carpathians, the Caucasus, and the temperate mountain zone of Southeast Asia (above 3,500–3,800 m). The mountain forests of Southeast Asia are composed of yew, hemlock, fir, larch, spruce, linden, birch, and maple. A dense underbrush of mock orange, lilac, aralia, and rhododendron is also characteristic. Mixed forests cover a fairly large area in the European USSR. They contain spruce, oak, linden, maple, ash, elm, and apple; there is a distinct layer of shrub undergrowth, which is made up of filbert, honeysuckle, warty-bark euonymus, and viburnum. Broad grasses and ferns are dominant in the grass cover. Many varieties of trees and shrubs are found in Far Eastern mixed forests; they include Korean pine, Saian spruce, Khingan fir, Manchurian fir, Mongolian oak, Manchurian ash, large-leaved lime, and several hornbeam species. Lianas, including Amur grape and magnolia vine, entwine the trunks of the trees and shrubs.

In North America mixed forests occur in Appalachia, California, and the Great Lakes region and are distinguished by a great number of species. The mixed forests of Appalachia consist of sugar maple, balsam fir, American beech, American hornbeam, and many other species. California forests include sequoia, western hemlock, Douglas fir and other fir species, western yellow pine, and swamp white oak. Forests in the Great Lakes region contain a number of hardwood species, white pine, spruce (in the northern part), beech, maple, birch, hemlock, and balsam fir.

Mixed forests are an ancient formation that once was more widely distributed. Such forests contain many valuable trees.