The
Carolinian forest is a life zone in eastern
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
characterized primarily by a predominance of
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
, or broad-leaf trees. The term "Carolinian forest" is used primarily in Canada. Various terms, including "eastern deciduous forest" are used in the United States.
It extends from the Carolinas in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and finds its northern limit in
southwestern OntarioSouthwestern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the province of Ontario, centred on the city of London. It extends north to south from the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron to the Lake Erie shoreline, and east to south-west roughly from Kitchener to Windsor. These three urban centres make up...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in the fertile
ecozoneThe ecozones of Canada consist of fifteen terrestrial and five marine ecozones in Canada. These are further subdivided into 53 ecoprovinces, 194 ecoregions, and 1021 ecodistricts...
of the
Mixedwood PlainsThe Mixedwood Plains Ecozone is the Canadian ecozone with the most southerly extent, covering all of southwestern Ontario, and parts of central and northeastern Ontario and southern Quebec along the Saint Lawrence River...
.
Trees such as various species of
ashFraxinus , common name Ash, is a genus of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. Genus Fraxinus are the true ashes, and are in Oleaceae, the olive family, along with olives and lilacs. The leaves are opposite , and mostly pinnately-compound,...
,
birchBirch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae.-Description:...
,
chestnutChestnut is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The Chestnut belongs to the same Fagaceae family as the Oak and Beech...
,
hickoryTrees in the genus Carya are commonly known as Hickory. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts...
,
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, and
walnutWalnuts are plants in the family Juglandaceae. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts but not the hickories in the same family.The 21 species...
are found here.
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The
Carolinian forest is a life zone in eastern
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
characterized primarily by a predominance of
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
, or broad-leaf trees. The term "Carolinian forest" is used primarily in Canada. Various terms, including "eastern deciduous forest" are used in the United States.
It extends from the Carolinas in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and finds its northern limit in
southwestern OntarioSouthwestern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the province of Ontario, centred on the city of London. It extends north to south from the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron to the Lake Erie shoreline, and east to south-west roughly from Kitchener to Windsor. These three urban centres make up...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in the fertile
ecozoneThe ecozones of Canada consist of fifteen terrestrial and five marine ecozones in Canada. These are further subdivided into 53 ecoprovinces, 194 ecoregions, and 1021 ecodistricts...
of the
Mixedwood PlainsThe Mixedwood Plains Ecozone is the Canadian ecozone with the most southerly extent, covering all of southwestern Ontario, and parts of central and northeastern Ontario and southern Quebec along the Saint Lawrence River...
.
Trees such as various species of
ashFraxinus , common name Ash, is a genus of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. Genus Fraxinus are the true ashes, and are in Oleaceae, the olive family, along with olives and lilacs. The leaves are opposite , and mostly pinnately-compound,...
,
birchBirch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae.-Description:...
,
chestnutChestnut is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The Chestnut belongs to the same Fagaceae family as the Oak and Beech...
,
hickoryTrees in the genus Carya are commonly known as Hickory. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts...
,
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, and
walnutWalnuts are plants in the family Juglandaceae. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts but not the hickories in the same family.The 21 species...
are found here. Tallest of all is the tulip tree.
RaccoonProcyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most widespread species, the Common Raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
s and
possumA possum is any of about 69 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi . The name derives from their resemblance to the opossums of the Americas...
s to the relatively rare
southern flying squirrelThe Southern Flying Squirrel is one of two species of the genus Glaucomys, the only flying squirrels found in North America . It is found in deciduous and mixed woods in the eastern half of North America, from southeastern Canada, to Florida, USA...
, as well as
nuthatchThe nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...
es and
chickadeesThe tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa...
also favour Carolinian forests.
It is estimated that 80 per cent of Canada's Carolinian forest has already been
destroyedDeforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by the processes of logging and/or burning of trees in a forested area. There are several reasons deforestation occurs: trees or derived charcoal can be sold as a commodity and used by humans, while cleared land is used as pasture,...
.The remaining portions, mostly scattered and disconnected, continue to be threatened by human development.