The Taiga Biome For educational and personal uses

About the Taiga biome with great pictures and can be used for school projects

1. The Taiga Biome

2. What is the Taiga Biome The taiga is  a forest of the cold, subarctic region . The subarctic is an area of the Northern Hemisphere that lies just south of the Arctic Circle. The taiga lies between the tundra to the north and temperate forests to the south. Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia have taigas.

3. Map of the Taiga biome This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

4. General climate of Taiga After the permanent ice caps and tundra, taiga is the terrestrial biome with the lowest annual average temperatures, with  mean annual temperature generally varying from −5 to 5 °C (23 to 41 °F) . Extreme winter minimums in the northern taiga are typically lower than those of the tundra.

5. The Taiga’s Flora Coniferous trees are the dominant plants of the taiga biome. Very few species, in four main genera, are found: the evergreen spruce, fir and pine, and the deciduous larch. In North America, one or two species of fir, and one or two species of spruce, are dominant. Across Scandinavia and western Russia,

6. The Taiga’s Fauna There are many animals that make the taiga home. The insects attract a wide variety of species of birds to the forest like the  spruce grouse  and the  pileated woodpecker . Mammals like pine marten,  moose ,  bobcats ,  black bears ,  fishers ,  Ca nada lynx , Siberian tiger and grizzly be ars are found in the taiga. These mammals all have thick coats that protect them from the cold.

7. Adaptation of Flora and Fauna in the Taiga In order to survive, certain species of trees within the biome don’t shed their leaves during the winter to avoid wasting excess energy from regrowing leaves in the summer. Others grow in a cone shape to avoid collecting heavy snow. Most animals migrate to warmer climates once the cold weather begins. Some animals have adapted to life in the taiga by  hibernating when temperatures drop . Other animals have adapted to the extreme cold temperatures by producing a layer of insulating feathers or fur to protect them from the cold.

8. Dangers facing the Taiga Like other woodland areas, the most pressing problem to the taiga is commercial deforestation. Acid rain is another problem caused by humans. Acid rain is rain acidified by atmospheric pollution, and kills plants. Groups like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) are working to protect the taiga and other woodland areas .

9. Fun Facts about the taiga There are two major cities in the taiga, Toronto and Moscow, although most of the biome is uninhabited. The taiga’s other name, the boreal forest, comes from the Greek god, Boreas. Boreas is the god of the north wind. Most often, paper is made from the taiga’s softwood trees 17 % percent of land occupied by the taiga The taiga is the largest biome in the world.

10. Thank you BY Haitham