Evergreen

Trees such as pine and spruce have needles and are mostly evergreen, allowing them to use the short growing season without first replacing all their foliage. Biodiversity is generally lower than in temperate forests; animals include wolves, bears and squirrels.

Most trees are evergreen: they replace individual leaves rather than losing all their foliage in one season. Tall emergent trees rise above a canopy, with an under-canopy and a lower shrub layer beneath. The canopy intercepts much of the sunlight, so relatively little reaches the forest floor.