Hall of North American Forests
The Hall of North American Forests explores the ecology and variety of the forests of North America—from a northern spruce and fir forest of Ontario to a giant cactus forest in Arizona—in addition to highlighting the forest food web and presenting techniques for protecting forests.
The hall’s dioramas showcase typical wildlife in a range of locations—including a mixed deciduous forest in the Great Smoky Mountains, piñon and juniper forests of Colorado, and a coastal plain forest in South Carolina—with trees, flowers, birds, mammals, and insects specific to each habitat. The Forest Floor diorama depicts a cross-section of soil, enlarged to 24 times actual size, to illustrate the process by which natural debris is broken down into nutrients.
The hall also features a slice of a 1,400-year-old sequoia tree, underscoring the immense size and longevity of this species, as well as a display that illustrates how environmental stresses such as defoliation, windstorms, and fire can affect tree growth.
This hall is included with any admission.
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In a dramatic representation of an imagined prehistoric encounter between predator and prey, a Barosaurus rears up to protect its young from an attacking Allosaurus. The enormous Barosaurus is the world’s tallest freestanding dinosaur mount, and composed of casts of real bone, since fossils are too heavy to support in this way.