- The Deciduous forest is the most altered of any habitat on Earth. - The temperate deciduous forest biome is subdivided onto five zones. The zone levels are dependent upon the height of the trees. - The temperate deciduous forest gets its name because the temperatures are temperate meaning they are not extreme. - Deciduous is a Latin word that means "to fall off". - Next to the rain forest, the temperate deciduous forest gets the second-most amount of rainfall per year. In winter, this is seen as snow. - The leaves of deciduous trees change color in the fall because the plant or tree stops producing chlorophyll which is what gives them their green color. - Most animals in this biome are camouflaged with the ground so they blend in and can escape predators. - Some insects of the temperate deciduous biome cannot survive winter so they lay eggs before they die. These eggs can survive winter and hatch once spring arrives. - Temperate deciduous forests receive 30 - 60 inches of rain each year and are ranked second only to the rainforest as the rainiest biome. - Many of the trees in the temperate deciduous forest contain sap which they use to keep their roots from freezing during the winter.