PLANET EARTH Seasonal Forests
The vultures have left behind plenty of good meat but it's stiff with frost. The mother works to open the hide, and make feeding a little easier for her cub. There are only forty Amur leopards left in the wild and that number is still falling. The harshness of the winter here hinders their increasing numbers. It takes one of these females longer to raise her young to independence than it does a leopard in Africa. If the mother can sustain her cub for a few more weeks spring will bring an increase in prey and her task will lighten.
For all the inhabitants of this seasonal forest, the long, cold wait is nearly over. Spring in a deciduous woodland is special. With no leaves overhead, the rays of the sun strike the seasonal forest floor directly and their warmth rouses plants from their winter sleep. The ground living plants are in a hurry. Before long the trees above will come into leaf and steal their light. Their flowers decorate the forest floor as they advertise their sweet nectar to the newly emerged insects.
The spring blooms of the deciduous woodlands have no equivalent in either the great conifer seasonal forests, or the tropical jungles. Within a matter of weeks the canopy has closed and only a few wheeling shafts of light penetrate the woodland. In the treetops, the broad leaves rapidly expand to their full size to make the most of summer while it lasts. Then, after a few months, the days begin to shorten again and the trees must shut down and shed their leaves in preparation for the cold dark time ahead.
