Evergreen conifers predominate in these forests, a mixture of conifers and broadleaf evergreen trees may also be found.
Temperate coniferous forests are found mainly between latitudes 40° and 65° in the northern hemisphere. They stretch across major parts of northern Europe, Asia, North America, Siberia and the Northern region of Asia.
In Far East Asia temperate coniferous species and their vegetation types are distributed according to latitudinal ranges reflecting climatic gradients.
They occur in the cold temperate zone, the cool temperate zone and the orotemperate belt in the warm temperate zone, and the oroboreal belt in the temperate zone. The first may also be subdivided according to continentality from suboceanic to ultra-continental.
Most of the trees in temperate coniferous forests are softwoods such as spruce, pine, cedar and fir. In North America, spruce and fir are the most common and they are occasionally found together with a few broadleaf species such as birch and poplar.
In temperate coniferous forests, the warm, moist conditions are suitable for a number of amphibians, namely several types of frogs and salamanders. Reptiles such as snakes and lizards, which are also cold-blooded, live in temperate forests as well.
However, only three species of amphibians are known to live in the taiga biome: mink and wood frogs and blue spotted salamanders.
Temperate coniferous forests
