Taiga

1. Taiga Parker Ritchie, Gavin Holloway

2. Taiga • Definition • The sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America. Rainfall in the Taiga is typically not rain but snow as the highest temperature in winter is 30°f while the lowest in winter is -65°f. The low in summer is 30°f and highest being 70°f. Raining 30 about times per year.

3. Adaptations to the Taiga: Plants of the taiga have had to adapt to freezing temperatures And high altitudes. Plants • 1.Balsam Fir • 2. Douglas Fir • 3. Paper Birch • 4. Siberian Spruce • 5. Jack Pine Common Name(s): Eastern Fir, Canadian Balsam, Blister Fir Genus: Abies Species: balsamea Common Names: bigcone Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir Genus: Pseudotsuga Species: menziesii Common Names: White Birch, Canoe Birch, Silver Birch Genus: Betula Species: papyrifera Genus: PeceaSpecies: ovobata Common Names: Eastern jack, Grey, Black, Black jack, Scrub, Prince's pine or Banksiana pine or Pin gris.Genus: PinusSpecies: banksiana

4. Herbivores • Species: • Some examples of herbivores in Taigas are American Elks, Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers (a bird), and American Dippers (bird). • Adaptations: • 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 and fur to protect them from the cold.

5. Adaptations to Taiga: Carnivores have adapted to the cold conditions with there multiple layers of fur. Carnivores • Black Bear • Grizzly Bear • Bobcat • Northern Lynx • Gray Wolf Genus: UrsusSpecies: americanus Genus: UrsusSpecies: arctoshorribilus Genus: FelisSpecies: rufus Genus: LynxSpecies: canadensis Common Names: Timber WolfGenus: CanisSpecies: lupus

6. Food Diagram

7. Food Web

8. Benefits of Taiga • Taiga must be preserved because of its benefits in our environment. The trees trap carbon dioxide thus minimizing pollution in our surroundings. Taigas can also be a solution to the increasing problem in climate change and global warming. Since the forest gives us air to breath, then the greenhouse effect caused by carbon dioxide can also be minimized.

9. Threats to the Taiga • Threats to the Taiga biome include human activities like harvesting for lumber, outbreaks of insect pests and climate change. The Taiga is also known as the Boreal Forest and is the largest terrestrial biome in the world. Many nations are taking direct steps to protect the ecology of the taiga by prohibiting logging, mining, oil and gas production, and other forms of development. In February 2010 the Canadian government established protection for 13,000 square kilometers of boreal forest by creating a new 10,700 square kilometer park reserve in the Mealy Mountains are of eastern Canada and a 3,000 square kilometer waterway provincial park that follows alongside the Eagle River from headwaters to sea.

10. Latitude • The taiga is 50 degrees north latitude to the artic circle (approximately 50 degrees to 60 degrees north latitude). It is defined by its northern and southern boarders only, so longitude is not used to define its location.

11. Examples • Competition: • Parasitism: • Mutualism: • There are many trees and types of mosses within the taiga. One prominent example of mutualism is that the mosses grow on the trees and protect them while the trees house them.