North American Forest Biomes

1 Arctic Tundra2 Boreal3 Rocky Mt. Evergreen4 Pacific Coast Evergreen5 Northern Mixed6 Eastern Deciduous7 Costal Plain Evergreen 8 Mexican Montane9 Rain Forest / Selva10 Prairie11 Tropical Savanna12 Cool Desert13 Hot Desert14 Mediterranean Scrub

Arctic TundraAlternative Names:Alpine Tundra, Wet Tundra, Dry Tundra - Tundra means "rolling treeless plains".

Notable Trees and Plants:Dwarf willow, sedges, heaths, lichens.Weather Conditions:Frigid winters, cold summers.Dry winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Cold

BorealAlternative Names:Subalpine, taiga.

Notable Trees and Plants:Spruce, balsam fir, paper birch.Weather Conditions:Frigid winters, cool summers.moist winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Cool

Rocky Mt. Evergreen

Alternative Names:Rocky Mountain steppe, montane forest - "montane" is a term for a forest on mid-level elevations on mountains.

Notable Trees and Plants:Ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce.Weather Conditions:Cold winters, mild summers.moist winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Mild

Pacific Coast Evergreen

Alternative Names:Temperate rain forest

Notable Trees and Plants:Western Hemlock, Douglas-fir, Sitka Spruce (in temperate rain forests near coast), Western Redcedar, Coast Redwoods (limited to CA fog belt where otherwise dry summer). White Fir and Giant Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada montane zone.Weather Conditions:Mild winters, mild summers.very moist winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Mild

Northern Mixed

Alternative Names:Northern hardwood-hemlock, transitional mixed forest.

Notable Trees and Plants:Beech, Maple, Eastern Hemlock, Yellow Birch, White Pine, Northern WhitecedarWeather Conditions:Cold winters, mild summers.Moist winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Mild

Eastern Deciduous

Alternative Names:Temperate deciduous forest.

Notable Trees and Plants:Beech - maple - yellow poplar, oak - hickory, mixed pine - hardwood.Weather Conditions:Cool /cold winters, warm summers.Moist winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Warm

Coastal Plain Evergreen

Alternative Names:Southeastern mixed evergreen forest.

Notable Trees and Plants:Southern Pines, Oaks, Evergreen Magnolia, Bald-cypress, Spanish Moss, some Palms, insectivorous bog plants.Weather Conditions:Cool/mild winters, hot summers.Moist winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Hot

Mexican Montane

Alternative Names:Tropical montane forest, cloud forest.

Notable Trees and Plants:Various Rocky Mountain and subtropical species with scattered populations of Eastern Deciduous Forest species.Weather Conditions:Mild winters, mild summers.Dry winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Mild

Rain Forest /

SelvaAlternative Names:Tropical rain forest, selva.

Notable Trees and Plants:Various Families of Broadleaf Evergreen Trees, with Bromeliads and Epiphytic Orchids; Extreme Diversity.Weather Conditions:Warm winters, hot summers.Very moist winters, very moist summers.Growing Season:Hot

PrairieAlternative Names:Prairie, steppe.

Notable Trees and Plants:Big Bluestem Grass, various grasses and forbs, red cedar and osage orange in eastern transition.Weather Conditions:Cool/frigid winters, hot summers.dry winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Hot

Tropical Savanna

Alternative Names:West Indian savanna, tropical thorn scrub, tropical dry forests, Florida Everglades.

Notable Trees and Plants:Subtropical broadleaf evergreen shrubs, gumbo- limbo, palms, grasses.Weather Conditions:Warm winters, hot summers.Very dry winters, moist summers.Growing Season:Hot

Cool DesertAlternative Names:Great basin desert, high plain.

Notable Trees and Plants:Sagebrush, Pinyon-Juniper WoodlandsWeather Conditions:Cold winters, warm summers.Dry winters, very dry summers.Growing Season:Warm

Hot DesertAlternative Names:Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahua Deserts

Notable Trees and Plants:Creosote Bush, Large Cacti, Yuccas, PaloverdeWeather Conditions:Mild winters, hot summers.Very dry winters, very dry summers.Growing Season:Hot

Mediterranean Scrub

Alternative Names:Mediterranean Shrub

Notable Trees and Plants:Flammable shrubs, Manzanitas, Ceanothus, MandroneWeather Conditions:Mild winters, warm summers.Moist winters, very dry summers.Growing Season:Warm