page_title: List of ecoregions in North America (CEC)
section_title: Dominant plant and animal species
hierarchical_section_title: List of ecoregions in North America (CEC) / Eastern Temperate Forests / Dominant plant and animal species
caption_attribution_description: English: Fall foliage autumn leaf colour Vermont Hogback Mountain one hundred mile lookout
context_page_description: This list of ecoregions of North America provides an overview of North American ecoregions designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas. It should not be confused with Wikipedia articles based on the classification system developed by the World Wildlife Fund, such as List of ecoregions and Lists of ecoregions by country.
  The commission was established in 1994 by the member states of Canada, Mexico, and the United States to address regional environmental concerns under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, the environmental side accord to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Commission's 1997 report, Ecological Regions of North America, provides a framework that may be used by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic researchers as a basis for risk analysis, resource management, and environmental study of the continent's ecosystems. Ecoregions may be identified by similarities in geology, physiography, vegetation, climate soils, land use, wildlife distributions, and hydrology.
  The classification system has four levels.
context_section_description: The Eastern Temperate Forest Ecoregion has favorable growing conditions for a number of plant species, the dominant being large, broadleaf, deciduous trees. Before the arrival of Europeans, this area was almost completely forested. After their arrival a few centuries ago, much of these forests had been cleared for timber and to make way for cropland. In more recent time, however, these open areas have been abandoned and are slowly returning to forest. Of the many plant species that inhabit the Eastern Temperate Forests today, those of the oak (Quercus), beech (Fagus), maple (Acer), basswood (Tilia), and pine (Pinus) genera are the most characteristic and defining of this ecoregion. These plants can be broken down into several main communities: northern hardwood, beech-maple, maple-basswood, mixed mesophytic, oak-hickory, and southern mixed hardwood forests. With the exception of Pinus, all of these species are angiosperms, meaning that they produce flowers and fruits, an important food source to many animals who inhabit the region. The flowers of angiosperms provide nectar, their leaves are important vegetable matter for herbivores, and their seeds are rich in fat and protein rich that allow many animals to fatten up for their winter hibernation. The trees of the Eastern Temperate Forests provide food, shelter, and a suitable habitat for countless species of both flora and fauna; they yield lumber, fuel, recreation, and aesthetic enjoyment to not only the people who live in this region, but also those who visit and enjoy products produced from the resources gleaned from these vast forests.
  Arboreal species are widely found in the region due to the high density of tree cover, providing a suitable habitat and food source for the animals; this includes birds and many ground squirrels. Migratory songbirds are common in the eastern temperate forests once the canopy opens up in the spring. Mammals that are native to the eastern forests are white-tailed deer, black bears, ground squirrels (gray squirrels and chipmunks), as well as red and grey foxes. Bird species include, the black-throated warbler, piping plover, and the yellow- breasted chat. Amphibious species that are common to the region are the American toad and the box turtle.
  White-tailed deer populations are very large across the eastern US, making it both a dominant and defining species. The white-tailed deer competes with other herbivores for limited food resources directly affecting the ecosystem, as well as indirectly affecting the area by altering habitats for small vertebrates and mammals. According to the Virginia Journal of Science’s research on white-tailed deer, deer are grazers primarily, feeding on the leaves of shrubs and such; however in the winter months they are found browsing the woody stems of shrubs and saplings. White-tailed deer have four stomachs, each with their own specific digestive action. The complex breaking down of food allows the deer to each woody plants and other things that most animals cannot digest. Areas with high deer populations, will see a dramatic shift in forest cover because small saplings and shrubs growth will be retarded on hindered due to their browsing habits. White tailed deer are polygamous; in the northern parts of the region they will mate in November and for more southern dwelling populations mating occurs in January. A female will give birth to one to three fawns, after a 6-month gestation period. After about 3 months, the young will leave their parents. White tailed deer typically live about three years but can live up to 15 years. White-tailed deer exemplify a "k-selection" species. They have long gestation periods, can reproduce more than once in a lifetime and are only a few offspring are produced at once.
caption: Fall foliage of the Eastern Temperate Forests
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