Taiga Biome

1362 Words3 Pages

The Taiga Biome is a large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major part of both Siberia and North America. It is usually found at high elevations at more temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the largest terrestrial biome on earth, covering around 50 million acres of land (NP, UC Santa Barbara). It is known for its subarctic climate that ranges between -51 to -1 °C in the winter and -21 to 7 °C in the summer. The two main season found in the taiga are summer and winter as autumn and spring are usually very short and barely noticeable. Winter makes up around six months of the year, with only around 50-100 frost-free days during the summer. Summer is also the season during which the taiga receives the most precipitation in form of rain. The remainder is made up of snow and dew, which adds up to around 30-85cm of precipitation yearly (NP, S.L. Woodward).

The taiga is also known as boreal forest and is mainly distinguishable due to its abundance of carnivorous forests that are primarily made up of conifer or cone-bearing trees (NP, UC Santa Barbara). Three of the four most common conifers are evergreens, namely spruce, fir, and pine. The fourth conifer is the tamarack, also known as the larch, which is a deciduous tree. Other types of deciduous trees that can occasionally be found in the taiga include oak, birch, willow, and alder trees. The taiga does not feature a wide variety of plant life in comparison with other biomes due to its harsh climate; thin, acidic, and nutrient-lacking soil; and rocky terrain.

As a result of these factors, the flora has adapted to these conditions in a variety of ways including their shape, leaf type, root system, and color. One of the most prominent adapt...

... middle of paper ...

...ta Barbara. N.p., 2004. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• Markovsky, Alexander. "Massive Cutbacks in Karelia's Nature." Taiga Rescue Network 2011-11-08. N.p., 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• Moloney, Paul. "Toronto's Population Overtakes Chicago." Thestar.com. N.p., 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• Mosmuller, Herbert. "Moscow Population: Capital May Hold 17 Million People." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 03 June 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• Perlman, Howard. "Hydroelectric Power Water Use." Hydroelectric Power and Water. Basic Information about Hydroelectricity, USGS Water Science for Schools. N.p., 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• "Taiga." - National Geographic Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• "The Taiga." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

• Woodward, S.L. "Boreal Forest (Taiga)." Biomes of the World. N.p., 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Fullerton Arboretum Lab Report

    2312 Words  | 5 Pages

    Depending on the biomes, rainfall and soil can vary. However, the rainfall is typically ranges from 30 cm to 200 cm. In mountainous regions and forest biomes, there would be plenty of rainfall. While in the grasslands, there’s little rainfall. In the temperate zone, there are two main types of trees, coniferous and deciduous. The deciduous trees, in the South, drop their leaves in the winter. Generally, the trees are usually small in height unless in the forest areas. The forests tend to have wide leaves and tall, large trees. The soil in deciduous forests is found to be very fertile. The different amount of rainfall in the forest areas and the grasslands cause the difference between the trees and plant height. The rainfall in forest regions can lead them to be very common with the rainforests. Furthermore, the changes and variation of weather could be the reason as to why the forests shed or don’t shed their leaves. The leaves show a correlation between the fair amount of sunlight during the summer causing the leaves

    Read More

  • Comparative Study of Texas and Minnesota Ecosystems

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is a biome? Biomes are major life zones characterized by vegetation type or by the physical environment. Climate plays a role in determining the nature and location of Earth’s biomes. Texas has 10 different ecosystems with lots of diversity. Minnesota has 4 different ecosystems which are also quite diverse. Regardless of the size of the biomes or the number of biomes in each state, they are all important not just to the locate environment but on a global level because of the life they support. We are going to take a look at the different biomes, comparing climate and rainfall, as well as vegetation fauna.

    Read More

  • Taking a Look at the Taiga Biome

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Taiga is a biome that originates from Northern Russia that means or describes a cool large land with many conifers. Upper North America, Northern Europe and Northern Asia all are mostly Taiga. It is the largest biome and contains mostly conifers but does not have that many animals. The climate is mostly very cold and snowy in the winter and warm in the summer while fall and spring are just transition seasons.

    Read More

  • Glacier Bay

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another biome in the park is their temperate forest. Temperate forests have high humidity, high levels of precipitation, and variety of trees are also included. Freshwater biomes surround the park as well.

    Read More

  • Exploring the Unique Characteristics of the Taiga Biome

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plants that can be found in the Taiga biome are Balsam Fir, Black Spruce, Douglas Fir,

    Read More

  • Lake Hakal Lake Baikal Importance

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another interesting fact about Lake Baikal is that more than 1,700 species of animals and plants live in the body of water. Of the 1,700 species, approximately two-thirds of those animals are unique to Lake Baikal. In other words, nearly sixty-six percent of Lake Baikal’s animals cannot be found in any other body of water in the world (Saving Lake Baikal). Species found in Lake Baikal include arctic grayling, Baikal sturgeon, and freshwater seal. Due to the huge selection and uniqueness of species in the lake many people do not know of or do not see numerous species that exist in our world. 1,700 different species in one lake is...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Hoover Glen Canyon And The 3 Gorges

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    The article “Hydropower as a Renewable Energy Source” (n.d.) shows that man-made dams make up seventy-five percent of the United States’ total renewable energy.

    Read More

  • Biofuel and The Racing Industry

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    FAO: State of the World's Forests. Rome: Food and Agriculture Office of the United Nations; 2007. Print.

    Read More

  • The Desert Biome: One of the Most Interesting Biomes on Earth

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    The desert biome is one of the most interesting biomes on earth. An area of land is considered a desert when it produces less than 10 inches of rainfall throughout the year. There are many different types of deserts in the world, with a very diverse group of plants and animals. It has temperatures that are generally hot during the day, and cold at night.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Climate Change

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    Climate change has been happening for many years and it continues to do so. It is a significant change in regards to the distribution of weather patterns over a given time frame such as decades or millennia. In recent times, the climate change is called “global warming” and it has been linked to certain human activities (NRC 2010). This shows that climate change is not limited to biotic factors. In a general sense, these changes have the potential to impact populations and ecosystems due to alterations in the water cycle. Climate change impacts includes too little water in some regions while too much water in other regions. Changes in precipitation patterns can influence plant physiology and thereby affect the rates of photosynthesis. Such patterns include drought in which warmer temperatures increase evaporative stress on a plant and increased rain or frequency of storms can influence water uptake by plants. Under both conditions, there is a change in photosynthetic rates. Photosynthesis allows the plant to accumulate carbon, grow and produce biomass (Niu et al. 2008). Therefore, a change in photosynthetic rates can be either beneficial or harmful to a plant. The effects of altered precipitation patterns on photosynthetic rates is significant to the scientific field because it gives insight on the shifts in plant community composition and how it affects the water availability for human and ecosystem uses (Kray et al. 2012). In addition, understanding the connection between water relations and photosynthesis with respect to changes in precipitation patterns could help with management decisions of ecosystems, where climate change indicates alterations in species composition, in water availability for wildlife and in fire regimes (L...

    Read More

  • Taiga Biome

    540 Words  | 2 Pages

    Taigas have some small-leaved deciduous trees like birch, alder, and willow. Mostly in areas escaping the winter cold. There are two major types of taiga. The one in the south is the closed canopy forest, it has ma...

    Read More

  • Renewable Energy: The Future Of Renewable Energy

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first type of renewable energy is hydroelectric energy or well known as hydropower. In greek word, hydro means water and thus hydroelectric energy refers to electricity generated using flowing water at high velocity. Lutgens and Tarbuck (1992, p. 163) stated that “running water is of great importance to people as we depend upon rivers for energy, travel and irrigation”. Continuous availability of water in universe made water to be the main source of hydroelectric energy. Water has been widely utilized by mankind since the beginning of civilization and wate...

    Read More

  • Impact of Global Warming on Species

    2603 Words  | 6 Pages

    Nigh, Gordon D., Ying, Cheng C. & Qian, Hong. (2004, October). Climate and Productivity of Major Conifer Species in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Forest Science 50(5), 659.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast of Nuclear Energy and Alternative Energy

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    The “Hydropower” National Geographic. n. d. a. d. a. d 1 April 2014. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/hydropower- profile /.> “Hydropower as a Renewable Energy Source” naturalresources.house.gov. Web.

    Read More

  • Hydropower

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    How exactly does hydropower work, though? As it turns out, dams are the main source of harvesting energy via hydropower. There are about 80,000 dams in the United States, although not all are active producers of power. There are four main types of hydropower facilities, which all require turbines: impoundment, diversion, run-of-river, and pumped storage. Also, there are two main types of hydro turbines: impulse turbines and reaction turbines ("Hydropower…”).

    Read More

More about Taiga Biome

Open Document