[4] It is closely associated with the North Central Rockies forests ecoregion designated by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends over a similar range but incorporates various non-temperate rainforest ecosystems.

[6] The general temperature pattern in the Inland rainforests in relation to its Pacific Northwestern counterpart can be summarized as: colder winters and warmer summers.

[18] In northern Idaho rainforest patches, grand fir (Abies grandis) and red alder (Alnus rubra) seem to play an important role.

[19] In Canada, the domination of red cedar and hemlock has led to the classification of the inland rainforest areas as belonging to the Interior Cedar-Hemlock Biogeoclimatic zone (ICH).

[20] Because of their humid climate, the inland rainforest patches support the establishment of oceanic species that would typically be expected to grow in maritime and coastal environments.

A large number of epiphytes occur, such as hanging moss (Antitrichia curtipendula) settling on trees and various oceanic lichen genera (such as Chaenotheca, Chaenothecopsis, Collema, Fuscopannaria, Lichinodium, Lobaria, Nephroma, Parmeliella, Polychidium, Pseudocyphellaria, Sphaerophorus, and Sticta).

[22] Because of their unique occurrence only in the specific climatic conditions provided by the inland rainforests, oceanic lichen has been used as an indicator for the location of these forest patches.

While the mountain caribou is safe during the winter season due to the altitude that it dwells on, it is highly vulnerable in the summer months, when moose and deer move to higher elevations and attract predators that also prey on the caribous.

That means that the vast majority of the Canadian Inland rainforests are open to large-scale human impacts like clear-cut logging and other anthropogenic disturbances.

[32] The main large-scale disturbances in the northern Inland rainforest patches in British Columbia are infrequent periodic fires and insect outbreaks of the western hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa).

Avalanches, wind and snow loading can have varying effects from small-scale events like tree snapping to disturbances that affect large areas.