Editing Temperate rainforest (section)

====Pacific temperate rainforests==== 
{{Main|Pacific temperate rain forests}}
[[File:Mt Hood Wilderness near Ramona Falls.jpg|thumb|Temperate rainforest in the [[Mount Hood Wilderness]], Oregon, US. This area, on the west side of the mountain, receives close to {{convert|100|in|mm}} of rain per year.]]
A portion of the temperate rain forest region of [[North America]], the largest area of temperate zone rainforests on the planet, is the Pacific temperate rain forests ecoregion, which occur on west-facing [[Pacific Coast Ranges|coastal mountains]] along the Pacific coast of North America, from [[Kodiak Island]] in [[Alaska]] to northern [[California]], and are part of the [[Nearctic realm]]. In the different system established by the [[Commission for Environmental Cooperation]], this same general region is classed as the [[Pacific Maritime Ecozone (CEC)|Pacific Maritime Ecozone]] by [[Environment Canada]] and as the [[List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)#Marine West Coast Forest|Marine West Coast Forest]] Level II ecoregion by the United States [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]]. In terms of the [[floristic province]] system used by [[botany]], the bulk of the region is the [[Rocky Mountain Floristic Region]] but a small southern portion is part of the [[California Floristic Province]].
[[File:Redwood National Park, fog in the forest.jpg|thumb|[[Sequoia sempervirens|Coast Redwood]] forest in [[Redwood National Park]]]]

Sub-ecoregions of the Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion as defined by the [[World Wildlife Fund|WWF]] include the [[Northern Pacific coastal forests]], [[Haida Gwaii]] ecoregion, [[Vancouver Island]] ecoregion, [[British Columbia mainland coastal forests]], [[Central Pacific coastal forests]], [[Cascades (ecoregion)|Cascades forests]], [[Klamath Mountains (ecoregion)|Klamath-Siskiyou coastal forests]], and [[Northern California coastal forests]] ecoregions. They vary in their [[species composition]], but are all predominantly [[coniferous]], sometimes with an [[understory]] of [[broadleaved]] [[tree]]s and [[shrub]]s. Most of the precipitation occurs in winter, similar to [[Mediterranean climate]]s, but in summer, [[fog]] moisture is extracted by the trees and produces a [[fog drip]] keeping the forest moist.<ref name=Franklin>Franklin, J.F. & Dyrness C.T. (1988) ''Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington''. Oregon State University Press, {{ISBN|0870713566}}.</ref> The Northern California coastal forests are home to the [[Coast Redwood]] (''Sequoia sempervirens''), the world's tallest tree. In the other ecoregions, [[Coast Douglas-fir]] (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii''), [[Sitka Spruce]] (''Picea sitchensis''), [[Western Hemlock]] (''Tsuga heterophylla'') and [[Western redcedar]] (''Thuja plicata'') are the most important tree species. A common feature of Pacific temperate rainforests of North America is the [[Nurse log]], a fallen tree which as it decays, provides ecological facilitation to seedlings. Trees such as the Coast Douglas-fir, Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, [[Pacific Yew]], and [[Vine Maple]] are more closely related to coniferous and deciduous trees in the temperate forests of [[East Asia]].

[[File:Carmanah walbran park.jpg|thumb|Temperate rainforest in [[Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park]], located on Vancouver Island]]
[[File:Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia.jpg|thumb|left|Temperate rainforest in [[Wells Gray Provincial Park]] (in the [[Cariboo Mountains]]) in British Columbia, Canada]]
Some of the largest expanses of old growth are found in [[Olympic National Park]], [[Mount Rainier National Park]], [[Mount Hood National Forest]], [[Crater Lake National Park]], [[Tongass National Forest]], [[Mount St. Helens National Monument]], [[Redwood National Park]], and throughout [[British Columbia]] (including British Columbia's Coastal Mountain Ranges), with the coastal [[Great Bear Rainforest]] containing the largest expanses of old growth temperate rainforest found in the world.

British Columbia's [[Rocky Mountains]], [[Cariboo Mountains]], [[Rocky Mountain Trench]] (east of [[Prince George, British Columbia|Prince George]]) and the [[Columbia Mountains]] of Southeastern British Columbia (west of the Canadian Rocky Mountains that extend into parts of Idaho and Northwestern Montana in the US), which include the [[Selkirk Mountains]], [[Monashee Mountains]], and the [[Purcell Mountains]], have the largest stretch of interior temperate coniferous rainforests.<ref>Northern Wetbelt – University of Northern British Columbia http://wetbelt.unbc.ca/</ref> These [[inland rainforest]]s have more continental climate with a large proportion of the precipitation falling as snow. Being closer to the Rocky Mountains, there is more of a diverse mammalian fauna. Some of the best interior rainforests are found in [[Mount Revelstoke National Park]] and [[Glacier National Park (Canada)]] in the Columbia Mountains.