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Laurel forest
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== Ecology == [[File:Parque nacional de Garajonay - bosque de laurel.jpg|thumb|Humid laurel forest in [[La Gomera]]]] Laurel and laurophyll forests have a patchy distribution in warm [[temperate regions]], often occupying topographic refugia where the [[moisture]] from the ocean condenses so that it falls as rain or fog and soils have high moisture levels.<ref name="NASA">[http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci_team/pubs/abstract.php?id=04300 Abstract] at NASA – MODIS: Izquierdo, T; de las Heras, P; Marquez, A (2011). Vegetation indices changes in the cloud forest of La Gomera Island (Canary Islands) and their hydrological implications". ''Hydrological Processes'', 25(10), 1531–41: "[R]esults prove the absence of summer drought stress in the laurel forest implying that the fog drip income is high enough to maintain enough soil moisture".</ref> They have a mild [[climate]], seldom exposed to [[Wildfire|fires]] or [[frost]]s and are found in relatively acidic soils. [[Primary productivity]] is high, but can be limited by mild summer drought. The canopies are evergreen, dominated by species with glossy- or leathery-leaves, and with moderate tree diversity. [[Insects]] are the most important herbivores, but [[birds]] and [[bats]] are the predominant seed-dispersers and [[pollination|pollinators]]. [[Decomposition|Decomposers]] such as invertebrates, fungi, and microbes on the forest floor are critical to [[nutrient cycling]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=DA |last1=Keith |first2=NA |last2=Brummitt |first3=D |last3=Faber-Langendoen |first4=RT |last4=Corlett |first5=MS |last5=McGlone |year=2020 |chapter=T2.4 Warm temperate laurophyll forests |chapter-url=https://global-ecosystems.org/explore/groups/T2.4 |editor1-last=Keith |editor1-first=D.A. |editor2-last=Ferrer-Paris |editor2-first=J.R. |editor3-last=Nicholson |editor3-first=E. |editor4-last=Kingsford |editor4-first=R.T. |title=The IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0: Descriptive profiles for biomes and ecosystem functional groups |location=Gland, Switzerland |publisher=IUCN |doi=10.2305/IUCN.CH.2020.13.en |isbn=978-2-8317-2077-7|s2cid=241360441 }}</ref> These conditions of temperature and moisture occur in four different [[Geography|geographical]] regions: * Along the eastern margin of [[continent]]s at [[latitude]]s of 25° to 35°. * Along the western coast of continents between 35° and 50° latitude. * On islands between 25° and 35° or 40° latitude. * In humid [[montane]] regions of the tropics.<ref>[http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2352394 Resumen], Aschan, G., María Soledad Jiménez Parrondo, Domingo Morales Méndez, Reiner Lösch (1994), "Aspectos microclimaticos de un bosque de laurisilva en Tenerife / Microclimatic aspects of a Laurel Forest in Tenerife". ''Vieraea: Folia scientarum biologicarum canariensium'', (23), 125–41. Dialnet. {{in lang|es}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1078/1433-8319-00044 |volume=6 |issue=1–2 |title=Floristic zonation of tree communities on wet tropical mountains revisited |year=2003 |journal=Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics |pages=87–104 |last1=Ashton |first1=Peter S.}}</ref><ref name="Tang Ohsawa 1999 pp. 221–233">{{cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=Cindy Q. |last2=Ohsawa |first2=Masahiko |title=Altitudinal distribution of evergreen broad-leaved trees and their leaf-size pattern on a humid subtropical mountain, Mt. Emei, Sichuan, China |journal=Plant Ecology |publisher=Springer Nature |volume=145 |issue=2 |year=1999 |issn=1385-0237 |doi=10.1023/a:1009856020744 |pages=221–233 |s2cid=32800204}}</ref> Some laurel forests are a type of [[cloud forest]]. Cloud forests are found on mountain slopes where the dense moisture from the sea or ocean is precipitated as warm moist air masses blowing off the ocean are forced upwards by the terrain, which cools the air mass to the [[dew point]]. The moisture in the air condenses as rain or fog, creating a habitat characterized by cool, moist conditions in the air and soil. The resulting climate is wet and mild, with the annual oscillation of the temperature moderated by the proximity of the ocean.{{cn|date=July 2023}}
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