Editing Deciduous (section)

=== Regions ===
[[File:Sydney in Autumn.jpg|thumb|[[Deciduous trees]] were introduced to the [[temperate]] regions of [[Australia]] where they are used as [[ornamental plants]], as seen here at a [[urban forestry|suburban street]] in [[Sydney]].]]
Forests where a majority of the trees lose their foliage at the end of the typical growing season are called deciduous forests. These forests are found in many areas worldwide and have distinctive ecosystems, understory growth, and [[soil]] dynamics.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last= Röhrig |editor1-first= Ernst |editor2-last= Ulrich |editor2-first= Bernhard |year= 1991 |title= Temperate deciduous forests |series= Ecosystems of the world, 7 |location= Amsterdam |publisher= Elsevier |isbn= 0-444-88599-4 }}</ref>

Two distinctive types of deciduous forests are found growing around the world.

[[Temperate deciduous forest]] biomes are plant communities distributed in North and South America, Asia, Southern slopes of the Himalayas, Europe and for cultivation purposes in Oceania. They have formed under climatic conditions which have great seasonable temperature variability. Growth occurs during warm summers, leaf drop in autumn, and dormancy during cold winters. These seasonally distinctive communities have diverse life forms that are impacted greatly by the seasonality of their climate, mainly temperature and precipitation rates. These varying and regionally different ecological conditions produce distinctive forest plant communities in different regions.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

[[Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests|Tropical and subtropical deciduous forest]] biomes have developed in response not to seasonal temperature variations but to seasonal rainfall patterns. During prolonged dry periods the foliage is dropped to conserve water and prevent death from drought. Leaf drop is not seasonally dependent as it is in temperate climates.  It can occur any time of year and varies by region of the world.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Even within a small local area there can be variations in the timing and duration of leaf drop; different sides of the same mountain and areas that have high water tables or areas along streams and rivers can produce a patchwork of leafy and leafless trees.<ref>{{cite journal |first= Stephen H. |last= Bullock |author2= J. Arturo Solis-Magallanes |title= Phenology of Canopy Trees of a Tropical Deciduous Forest in Mexico |journal= Biotropica |date= March 1990 |pages= 22–35 |doi= 10.2307/2388716 |volume= 22 |issue= 1 |jstor= 2388716 |bibcode= 1990Biotr..22...22B }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Chacachacare dry forest 3.JPG|alt=Aerial view of tropical deciduous trees|Dry-season deciduous [[tropical forest]]
File:Spring Forest Leaves in Texas Hill Country.jpg|alt=View of treetops with light spring growth scattered amid darker evergreens|Mixed tropical and subtropical deciduous forest in spring, [[Texas]], United States
File:Dry Teak Forest Theppakadu Mudumalai Mar21 A7C 00488.jpg|Tropical [[dry deciduous forest]]s in southern India in the [[Mudumalai Tiger Reserve]]
</gallery>