Temperate Forests^☆

Abstract

Although natural forests worldwide declined by 6% between 1990 and 2015, temperate forests, which currently cover only about 32–47% of their current potential extent and are more altered and reduced in original extent globally than boreal or tropical forests, have not suffered a net loss in surface area during that same time period. In fact the extant of temperate forests globally has increased slightly over that period. Nevertheless, very few, if any, remaining temperate forests have avoided human impact, and thus few temperate forests are old growth. Only about 1% of the remaining Northern Hemisphere temperate broad-leaved forests is substantially unaltered and can be considered old growth natural forest; the vast majority are either managed for wood production, have been transformed into plantations, or show the long-term effects of human land use practices. Because some of the highest human population densities are found in the temperate forest biome, some of the lowest forest areas per capita globally occur in that biome. Only the most isolated, inaccessible patches of temperate forest remain unaltered by humans.