Origin of the Evergreen Forests
Origin of the Evergreen Forests
This chapter addresses two questions that have engaged the interests of ecologists and motivated years of research: Where has the forest come from? And why are the great majority of its trees conifers rather than deciduous, broadleafed trees? With regards to the first question, the only certain answer is that the trees in the area under study, the area that was ice-covered at the end of the last ice age, must have descended from ancestors that lived elsewhere. For the second question, the success of evergreen conifers vis-à-vis broadleafs in the north probably has less to do with the effect of cold on the trees, and more to do with its effects on the soil.
Keywords: northern forests, coniferous trees, evergreen conifers, broadleafs, ice age, soil, deciduous trees, broadleafed trees
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