5 CHAPTER ONE Brown bears may weigh twice as much before hibernation as they do in spring LIFE IN A WOODLAND FOREST A 500-pound 227-kg brown bear lumbers through the woods It is in search of a big spring meal It is late May The bear is trying to gain weight it lost during hibernation which ended in April The hungry animal knows exactly where to go to fill its stomach The nearby river is packed with salmon They are coming back from the ocean to reproduce The fish
Coastal brown bears feed on salmon swimming up freshwater streams to lay their eggs jump out of the water as they move upstream The bear wades into the water and swipes up a fish First it eats the fish’s head its favorite part Then it swallows the rest After catching more than 20 fish the bear bites the head off of one final fish and tosses the carcass toward shore Satisfied the big animal heads back into the trees A crow swoops down and pecks at the salmon remains After the crow has eaten its fill the fish’s remaining nutrients will seep into the soil for plants to use 6
Salmon Food and Fertilizer Salmon play an important role in some forest ecosystems They are the most important food source for coastal brown bears Salmon also are a great source of fertilizer Nearly all salmon die after laying their eggs Plants near the water take up nutrients from the dead fish These nutrients provide building blocks for healthy plants Brown bears and birds also carry thousands of pounds of salmon into the forest This allows plants far from rivers and streams to benefit from the nutrients that come from dead salmon 7 Where in the World Forests cover approximately 30 percent of Earth Trees are the main feature in all forests But there are dozens of types of forests around the world Each falls into one of three categories boreal temperate or tropical Boreal and temperate forests are also known as woodland forests Brown bears live in woodland forests Boreal forests account for approximately 30 percent of Earth’s forests Marshes rivers lakes and wetlands are common in the boreal These forests span across
