Temperate deciduous forest

Temperate deciduous or temperate broad-leaf forests are a variety of temperate forest 'dominated' by deciduous trees that lose their leaves each winter.^[1] They represent one of Earth's major biomes, making up 9.69% of global land area.^[2] These forests are found in areas with distinct seasonal variation that cycle through warm, moist summers, cold winters, and moderate fall and spring seasons.^[3] They are most commonly found in the Northern Hemisphere, with particularly large regions in eastern North America, East Asia, and a large portion of Europe, though smaller regions of temperate deciduous forests are also located in South America. Examples of trees typically growing in the Northern Hemisphere's deciduous forests include oak, maple, basswood, beech and elm, while in the Southern Hemisphere, trees of the genus Nothofagus dominate this type of forest.^[1] Temperate deciduous forests provide several unique ecosystem services,^[4] including habitats for diverse wildlife, and they face a set of natural and human-induced disturbances that regularly alter their structure.^[5]