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Chapter One
Forests of
North America
W
hen you think of a forest, you
probably imagine tall trees
hovering over the cool ground
that is covered in soft pine needles. Or
maybe you envision a thick
underbrush
with dead logs and branches everywhere.
Or perhaps a quiet pathway with gently
falling colored leaves scattered around.
The forest of North America can look like
any of these.
biodiversity:
all the living
things in an area, or on
Earth as a whole.
conifer:
a tree that stays
green all year.
deciduous:
to lose
something at a certain point
in development.
precipitation:
water that falls
from the clouds in the form
of snow, sleet, hail, or rain.
taiga:
an ecosystem found
in the northernmost regions
of Canada and Alaska; also
called boreal forest.
underbrush:
small shrubs
and trees that make up the
undergrowth in a forest.
9
Words to Understand