Temperate continental climate: characteristics, flora and fauna

An impressive part of Europe lives in a temperate continental climate. Its uniqueness in the presence of only one hemisphere - the North. What features distinguish the moderately continental type of climate? What animals and plants are characteristic for him? It is not difficult to understand this.

Key Features

The temperate continental climate is located only in the Northern Hemisphere. It is characteristic both for the Cordillera region and for Central Europe. Russia's temperate continental climate is manifested in Yakutia, Magadan Oblast, Siberia and Transbaikalia. Moving into the interior of the continent, the air loses moisture, making the climate more severe. Therefore, the farther from the sea or ocean the location has an area, the more continental climate will be manifested.

Winter months

Moderate continental climate is characterized by pronounced seasonality. The main seasons - summer and winter - should be considered separately. In the cold season, the earth's surface and atmosphere cool down, leading to the emergence of the Asian anticyclone. It extends to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and sometimes extends to southeastern Europe. As a result, there is a severe winter with strong fluctuations of air within a few days, when the thaw abruptly passes into frost to minus thirty. Precipitation falls in the form of snow, which is persistently preserved in areas east of Warsaw. The maximum height of the cover can reach ninety centimeters - such snowdrifts occur in Western Siberia. A large amount of snow protects the soil from freezing and provides it with moisture at the onset of spring.

Summer months

The moderate continental climate of Russia and Eastern Europe is characterized by a fairly rapid onset of summer. An increasing amount of solar heat warms the air masses entering the continent from the ocean. The average monthly temperatures in July are just under twenty degrees. The annual amount of precipitation, most of which falls precisely during the summer period, ranges from three hundred to eight hundred millimeters in these regions. The amount changes only on the slopes of the Alps. There precipitation can be more than two thousand millimeters. It is worth noting a decrease in their number in the direction from the west to the east. In North America, the situation is inversely proportional. In the Asian temperate zone, evaporation exceeds natural precipitation and droughts may occur.

Features of vegetation

Temperate continental climate is characterized by deciduous forests. They are composed of two tiers - trees and shrubs. The herbaceous cover is distinguished by a greater number of species than other variants of the flora. In addition, it is also divided into several tiers. The tree of deciduous forest is distinguished by branching with a dense crown. Seasons do not contribute to year-round vegetation. In winter, trees are discarded with leaves - simple, jagged or lobed, thin and incapable of bearing either drought or frost. The temperate continental climate of the temperate belt can differ both in broadly and in small-leaved breeds. The first can include: ash, maples, oaks, lindens, elms. The second - aspen, alder and birch.

In addition, the forest can be divided into such species as monodominant and polydominant. The first is typical for Europe - there is a particular type prevailing. The latter are found in Asia, North America and Chile: the forest consists of many different breeds. In the warm regions among the deciduous trees there are evergreen species, as well as vines - grape, legumes, honeysuckle or birchwood. Despite the annual fall of the leaves, the forests of these zones are characterized by an underdeveloped litter: a moderate continental climate contributes to its rapid decomposition. This creates excellent conditions for bacteria and earthworms. At the same time, the foliage layer becomes an obstacle to moss, which grows in such a forest only at the roots of trees and on the places protruding from the soil. The land in this climate is podzolic, brown, carbonate or gley.

Characteristic animals

The fauna of the continental climate is located in the forests very homogeneously. This combination of woody, terrestrial, herbivorous, carnivorous animals. In the areas of deciduous forests, there are a lot of amphibians and reptiles - here they are twice as many as in the tundra. The abundance of light, thick undergrowth, lush grasses are excellent conditions for different animals. Here there are animals that feed on seeds and nuts - rodents, squirrels, numerous birds, for example blackbirds, western nightingales, small zarunks, large tits, blue eyes. Almost in every forest, you can find a finch and zelenushek, an Oriole, and in the remote corners - and a forest pigeon. Larger animals are represented by ermines, badgers, wolves, foxes, lynxes and bears. They live throughout Europe and a large area of Asia. In uninhabited corners there are unique species - wild cats, forest martens, ferrets. Great is the presence of herbivores - wapiti, noble deer, bison and chamois are found.