Temperate and boreal rainforest relicts of Europe

European temperate rainforests are disjunctly distributed from ~45° to 69°N latitude, where they are influenced by maritime climates (see figure 6-1). Storms originating in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean (Balkans) provide for mild winters, cool summers, and adequate precipitation to sustain rainforests throughout the year. Due to extensive deforestation, however, today’s European rainforests are mere fragments of primeval rainforests. A reminder of a bygone era when rainforests flourished, they are barely hanging on as contemporary rainforest relicts (see box 6-1).