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82-669: The Kluane people occupy a traditional territory that extends from the St. Elias Mountains in the south, bounded to the east by the southern end of Kluane Lake and the A'ay Chu (formerly Slims River), by the Ruby Range to the north, extending almost to the Nisling River, and on the west by the Yukon Alaska Border. It includes the Tachal Region of Kluane National Park and Reserve. Growing from

164-617: A dome over west-central Keewatin (Kivalliq). Two of the lobes abut the adjacent Labrador and Baffin ice sheets. The primary lobes flow (1) towards Manitoba and Saskatchewan ; (2) toward Hudson Bay ; (3) towards the Gulf of Boothia , and (4) towards the Beaufort Sea . The Labrador ice sheet flowed across all of Maine and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence , completely covering the Maritime Provinces . The Appalachian Ice Complex, flowed from

246-412: A fire regime to burn an area equivalent to the total area of an ecosystem is its fire rotation (Heinselman 1973) or fire cycle (Van Wagner 1978). However, as Heinselman (1981) noted, each physiographic site tends to have its own return interval, so that some areas are skipped for long periods, while others might burn two-times or more often during a nominal fire rotation. The dominant fire regime in

328-618: A matriarchal moiety system of two clans, Khanjet (Crow Clan) or Ägunda (WolfClan). Other ancestors of the Kluane First Nation came from nations such as the Tlingit, Upper Tanana and Northern Tutchone. Within this region, the three main defining topographic feature are the St. Elias Mountains to the south and west, the Shakwak Trench, which includes Kluane Lake, and the Kluane and Ruby Range to

410-454: A number of adaptations specifically for survival in harsh taiga winters, although larch, which is extremely cold-tolerant, is deciduous . Taiga trees tend to have shallow roots to take advantage of the thin soils, while many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing, called "hardening". The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, also help them shed snow. Because

492-484: A patch of sun; mosses and lichens thrive on the damp ground and on the sides of tree trunks. In comparison with other biomes, however, the taiga has low botanical diversity. 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,

574-550: A polar species, some southern herds of muskoxen reside in the taiga of Russia's Far East and North America. The Amur -Kamchatka region of far eastern Russia also supports the snow sheep , the Russian relative of the American bighorn sheep , wild boar , and long-tailed goral . The largest animal in the taiga is the wood bison of northern Canada/Alaska; additionally, some numbers of the American plains bison have been introduced into

656-408: A relatively small variety of highly specialized and adapted animals, due to the harshness of the climate. Canada's boreal forest includes 85 species of mammals , 130 species of fish, and an estimated 32,000 species of insects . Insects play a critical role as pollinators , decomposers , and as a part of the food web. Many nesting birds, rodents, and small carnivorous mammals rely on them for food in

738-412: A warmer climate. The mature boreal forest pattern in the south shows balsam fir dominant on well-drained sites in eastern Canada changing centrally and westward to a prominence of white spruce , with black spruce and tamarack forming the forests on peats, and with jack pine usually present on dry sites except in the extreme east, where it is absent. The effects of fires are inextricably woven into

820-535: Is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines , spruces , and larches . The taiga or boreal forest is the world's largest land biome . In North America, it covers most of inland Canada , Alaska , and parts of the northern contiguous United States. In Eurasia , it covers most of Sweden , Finland , much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific Ocean (including much of Siberia ), much of Norway and Estonia , some of

902-472: Is associated with the Norrland terrain . 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. There are taiga areas of eastern Siberia and interior Alaska- Yukon where

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984-549: Is believed that the Cordilleran ice melted rapidly, in less than 4000 years. The water created numerous Proglacial lakes along the margins such as Lake Missoula , often leading to catastrophic floods as with the Missoula Floods . Much of the topography of Eastern Washington and northern Montana and North Dakota was affected. The Keewatin ice sheet has had four or five primary lobes identified ice divides extending from

1066-555: Is found in areas with mean annual temperature below freezing, whilst in the Dfd and Dwd climate zones continuous permafrost occurs and restricts growth to very shallow-rooted trees like Siberian larch . The growing season , when the vegetation in the taiga comes alive, is usually slightly longer than the climatic definition of summer as the plants of the boreal biome have a lower temperature threshold to trigger growth than other plants. Some sources claim 130 days growing season as typical for

1148-409: Is found in the smaller areas with oceanic influences; in coastal areas of Scandinavia and Finland, the growing season of the closed boreal forest can be 145–180 days. The shortest growing season is found at the northern taiga–tundra ecotone , where the northern taiga forest no longer can grow and the tundra dominates the landscape when the growing season is down to 50–70 days, and the 24-hr average of

1230-427: Is further evidence pointing to a long and intimate association with fire. Seven of the ten most common trees in the boreal forest— jack pine , lodgepole pine , aspen , balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera ), paper birch , tamarack , black spruce – can be classed as pioneers in their adaptations for rapid invasion of open areas. White spruce shows some pioneering abilities, too, but is less able than black spruce and

1312-554: Is home to many types of berries . Some species are confined to the southern and middle closed-boreal forest (such as wild strawberry and partridgeberry ); others grow in most areas of the taiga (such as cranberry and cloudberry ). Some berries can grow in both the taiga and the lower arctic (southern regions) tundra, such as bilberry , bunchberry and lingonberry . The forests of the taiga are largely coniferous , dominated by larch , spruce , fir and pine . The woodland mix varies according to geography and climate; for example,

1394-416: Is not a limiting factor, the ground freezes during the winter months and plant roots are unable to absorb water, so desiccation can be a severe problem in late winter for evergreens. Although the taiga is dominated by coniferous forests, some broadleaf trees also occur, including birch , aspen , willow , and rowan . Many smaller herbaceous plants, such as ferns and occasionally ramps grow closer to

1476-520: Is not exclusively an alpine biome, and unlike subalpine forest , much of taiga is lowlands. The term "taiga" is not used consistently by all cultures. In the English language, "boreal forest" is used in the United States and Canada in referring to more southerly regions, while "taiga" is used to describe the more northern, barren areas approaching the tree line and the tundra . Hoffman (1958) discusses

1558-543: The Bering land bridge , a number of animal and plant species , more animals than plants, were able to colonize both land masses, and are globally-distributed throughout the taiga biome (see Circumboreal Region ). Others differ regionally, typically with each genus having several distinct species, each occupying different regions of the taiga. Taigas also have some small-leaved deciduous trees, like birch , alder , willow , and poplar . These grow mostly in areas further south of

1640-668: The Eastern Canadian forests ecoregion (of the higher elevations of the Laurentian Mountains and the northern Appalachian Mountains ) in Canada is dominated by balsam fir Abies balsamea , while further north, the Eastern Canadian Shield taiga (of northern Quebec and Labrador ) is mostly black spruce Picea mariana and tamarack larch Larix laricina . Evergreen species in the taiga (spruce, fir, and pine) have

1722-734: The Gaspé Peninsula over New Brunswick , the Magdalen Shelf , and Nova Scotia . The Labrador flow extended across the mouth of the St. Lawrence River , reaching the Gaspé Peninsula and across Chaleur Bay . From the Escuminac center on the Magdalen Shelf , flowed onto the Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick and southeastward, onto the Gaspe, burying the western end of Prince Edward Island and reached

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1804-763: The Last Glacial Maximum . The eastern edge abutted the Laurentide ice sheet. The sheet was anchored in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta , south into the Cascade Range of Washington . That is one and a half times the water held in the Antarctic . Anchored in the mountain backbone of the west coast, the ice sheet dissipated north of the Alaska Range where the air was too dry to form glaciers. It

1886-656: The Scots pine is a common component of the taiga, while taiga of the Russian Far East and Mongolia is dominated by larch . Rich in spruce and Scots pine (in the western Siberian plain), the taiga is dominated by larch in Eastern Siberia, before returning to its original floristic richness on the Pacific shores. Two deciduous trees mingle throughout southern Siberia: birch and Populus tremula . The boreal forest/taiga supports

1968-549: The Scottish Highlands , some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland , and areas of northern Kazakhstan , northern Mongolia , and northern Japan (on the island of Hokkaidō ). The principal tree species, depending on the length of the growing season and summer temperatures, vary across the world. The taiga of North America is mostly spruce; Scandinavian and Finnish taiga consists of a mix of spruce , pines and birch ; Russian taiga has spruces, pines and larches depending on

2050-678: The enormous weight of the melted ice . The Baffin ice sheet was circular and centered over the Foxe Basin . A major divide across the basin, created a westward flow across the Melville Peninsula , from an eastward flow over Baffin Island and Southampton Island . Across southern Baffin Island, two divides created four additional lobes. The Penny Ice Divide split the Cumberland Peninsula , where Pangnirtung created flow toward Home Bay on

2132-419: The golden eagle , rough-legged buzzard (also known as the rough-legged hawk), Steller's sea eagle (in coastal northeastern Russia-Japan), great gray owl , snowy owl , barred owl , great horned owl , crow and raven . The only other viable adaptation is seed-eating birds, which include several species of grouse , capercaillie and crossbills . Fire has been one of the most important factors shaping

2214-445: The middle boreal (closed forest), and the southern boreal , a closed-canopy, boreal forest with some scattered temperate, deciduous trees among the conifers. Commonly seen are species such as maple, elm and oak. This southern boreal forest experiences the longest and warmest growing season of the biome. In some regions, including Scandinavia and western Russia, this subzone is commonly used for agricultural purposes. The boreal forest

2296-498: The peatlands . During the last quarter of the twentieth century, the zone of latitude occupied by the boreal forest experienced some of the greatest temperature increases on Earth. Winter temperatures have increased more than summer temperatures. In summer, the daily low temperature has increased more than the daily high temperature. The number of days with extremely cold temperatures (e.g., −20 to −40 °C; −4 to −40 °F) has decreased irregularly but systematically in nearly all

2378-497: The 1960s: although this trend was weak or even non-existent in the eastern forests, it was particularly pronounced in the western coniferous forests. However, in 2016, a study found no overall Canadian boreal forest trend between 1950 and 2012: while it also found improved growth in some southern boreal forests and dampened growth in the north (contrary to what the hypothesis would suggest), those patterns were statistically weak. Laurentide Ice Sheet The Laurentide ice sheet

2460-557: The Atlantic Ocean. Its cycles of growth and melting were a decisive influence on global climate during its existence. This is because it served to divert the jet stream southward, which would otherwise flow from the relatively warm Pacific Ocean through Montana and Minnesota . That gave the Southwestern United States , otherwise a desert, abundant rainfall during ice ages, in extreme contrast to most other parts of

2542-406: The Cordilleran region, fire is most frequent in the valley bottoms, decreasing upward, as shown by a mosaic of young pioneer pine and broadleaf stands below, and older spruce–fir on the slopes above. Without fire, the boreal forest would become more and more homogeneous, with the long-lived white spruce gradually replacing pine, aspen, balsam poplar, and birch, and perhaps even black spruce, except on

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2624-627: The Hudson Bay area), chum salmon , Siberian taimen , lenok and lake chub . The taiga is mainly home to a number of large herbivorous mammals , such as Alces alces ( moose ), and a few subspecies of Rangifer tarandus ( reindeer in Eurasia; caribou in North America). Some areas of the more southern closed boreal forest have populations of other Cervidae species, such as the maral , elk , Sitka black-tailed deer , and roe deer . While normally

2706-887: The Laurentide Ice Sheet. Central North America has evidence of the numerous lobes and sublobes. The Keewatin covered the western interior plains of North America from the Mackenzie River to the Missouri River and the upper reaches of the Mississippi River . The Labrador covered spread over eastern Canada and the northeastern part of the United States abutting the Keewatin lobe in the western Great Lakes and Mississippi valley . The Cordilleran ice sheet covered up to 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi) at

2788-812: The Laurentide ice sheet reached from the Rocky Mountains eastward through the Great Lakes , into New England , covering nearly all of Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. Three major ice centers formed in North America: the Labrador , Keewatin , and Cordilleran . The Cordilleran covered the region from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains and the Labrador and Keewatin fields are referred to as

2870-441: The Russian far-east, as part of the taiga regeneration project called Pleistocene Park , in addition to Przewalski's horse . Small mammals of the taiga biome include rodent species such as the beaver , squirrel , chipmunk , marmot , lemming , North American porcupine and vole , as well as a small number of lagomorph species, such as the pika , snowshoe hare and mountain hare . These species have adapted to survive

2952-440: The boreal forest is high-intensity crown fires or severe surface fires of very large size, often more than 10,000 ha (100 km ), and sometimes more than 400,000 ha (4000 km ). Such fires kill entire stands. Fire rotations in the drier regions of western Canada and Alaska average 50–100 years, shorter than in the moister climates of eastern Canada, where they may average 200 years or more. Fire cycles also tend to be long near

3034-471: The boreal forest, typically with abrupt, irregular boundaries circumscribing homogenous stands, is indirect but compelling testimony to the role of fire in shaping the forest. The fact is that most boreal forest stands are less than 100 years old, and only in the rather few areas that have escaped burning are there stands of white spruce older than 250 years. The prevalence of fire-adaptive morphologic and reproductive characteristics of many boreal plant species

3116-527: The boreal region, allowing better survival for tree-damaging insects. In Fairbanks, Alaska , the length of the frost-free season has increased from 60 to 90 days in the early twentieth century to about 120 days a century later. It has been hypothesized that the boreal environments have only a few states which are stable in the long term - a treeless tundra/steppe, a forest with >75% tree cover and an open woodland with ~20% and ~45% tree cover. Thus, continued climate change would be able to force at least some of

3198-552: The coldest month is between −6 °C (21 °F) and −50 °C (−58 °F). There are also some much smaller areas grading towards the oceanic Cfc climate with milder winters, whilst the extreme south and (in Eurasia) west of the taiga reaches into humid continental climates ( Dfb , Dwb ) with longer summers. According to some sources, the boreal forest grades into a temperate mixed forest when mean annual temperature reaches about 3 °C (37 °F). Discontinuous permafrost

3280-521: The composition and development of boreal forest stands; it is the dominant stand-renewing disturbance through much of the Canadian boreal forest. The fire history that characterizes an ecosystem is its fire regime , which has 3 elements: (1) fire type and intensity (e.g., crown fires, severe surface fires, and light surface fires), (2) size of typical fires of significance, and (3) frequency or return intervals for specific land units. The average time within

3362-480: The dark winters, depending on latitude. The areas of the taiga inside the Arctic Circle have midnight sun in mid-summer and polar night in mid-winter. The taiga experiences relatively low precipitation throughout the year (generally 200–750 mm (7.9–29.5 in) annually, 1,000 mm (39 in) in some areas), primarily as rain during the summer months, but also as snow or fog . Snow may remain on

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3444-531: The dense vegetation growth including large trees. This explains the striking difference in biomass per square metre between the Taiga and the Steppe biomes, (in warmer climates), where evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation, restricting vegetation to mostly grasses. In general, taiga grows to the south of the 10 °C (50 °F) July isotherm , occasionally as far north as the 9 °C (48 °F) July isotherm, with

3526-459: The ease with which plants can use its nutrients. The relative lack of deciduous trees, which drop huge volumes of leaves annually, and grazing animals, which contribute significant manure, are also factors. The diversity of soil organisms in the boreal forest is high, comparable to the tropical rainforest . Fallen leaves and moss can remain on the forest floor for a long time in the cool, moist climate, which limits their organic contribution to

3608-552: The east and north, which are part of the Yukon Plateau. the region is characterized by extremes of elevation, including some of the highest mountains in Canada, extreme temperature (-62C to +32C), low precipitation, wind and widespread permafrost. Kluane First Nation is a Self-Governing First Nation with a Constitutionally protected Final Land Claims agreement and a Self-Government Agreement. These agreements were signed in October 2003 -

3690-559: The five Great Lakes and the hosts of smaller lakes of the Canadian Shield . These lakes extend from the eastern Northwest Territories , through most of northern Canada, and the upper Midwestern United States ( Minnesota , Wisconsin , and Michigan ) to the Finger Lakes , through Lake Champlain and Lake George areas of New York , across the northern Appalachians into and through all of New England and Nova Scotia . At times,

3772-459: The forest history of an area 280 km north of the then-current tree line at Ennadai Lake, District Keewatin, Northwest Territories. Two lines of evidence support the thesis that fire has always been an integral factor in the boreal forest: (1) direct, eye-witness accounts and forest-fire statistics, and (2) indirect, circumstantial evidence based on the effects of fire, as well as on persisting indicators. The patchwork mosaic of forest stands in

3854-512: The formation of North Atlantic Deep Water , the very saline, cold, deep water that flows from the Greenland Sea . That interrupted the thermohaline circulation , creating the brief Younger Dryas cold epoch and a temporary re-advance of the ice sheet, which did not retreat from Nunavik until 6,500 years ago. After the end of the Younger Dryas, the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated rapidly to

3936-404: The ground for as long as nine months in the northernmost extensions of the taiga biome. The fog, especially predominant in low-lying areas during and after the thawing of frozen Arctic seas, stops sunshine from getting through to plants even during the long summer days. As evaporation is consequently low for most of the year, annual precipitation exceeds evaporation, and is sufficient to sustain

4018-519: The ground. Periodic stand-replacing wildfires (with return times of between 20 and 200 years) clear out the tree canopies, allowing sunlight to invigorate new growth on the forest floor. For some species, wildfires are a necessary part of the life cycle in the taiga; some, e.g. jack pine have cones which only open to release their seed after a fire, dispersing their seeds onto the newly cleared ground; certain species of fungi (such as morels ) are also known to do this. Grasses grow wherever they can find

4100-493: The harsh winters in their native ranges. Some larger mammals, such as bears , eat heartily during the summer in order to gain weight, and then go into hibernation during the winter. Other animals have adapted layers of fur or feathers to insulate them from the cold. Predatory mammals of the taiga must be adapted to travel long distances in search of scattered prey, or be able to supplement their diet with vegetation or other forms of food (such as raccoons ). Mammalian predators of

4182-552: The head of Bay of Fundy . From the Gaspereau center, on the divide crossing New Brunswick flowed into the Bay of Fundy and Chaleur Bay. In New York, the ice that covered Manhattan was about 2,000 feet high before it began to melt in about 16,000 BC. The ice in the area disappeared around 10,000 BC. The ground in the New York area has since risen by more than 150 ft because of the removal of

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4264-721: The ice sheet's southern margin included the present-day sites of coastal towns of the Northeastern United States , and cities such as Boston and New York City and Great Lakes coastal cities and towns as far south as Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri , and then followed the present course of the Missouri River up to the northern slopes of the Cypress Hills , beyond which it merged with the Cordilleran Ice Sheet . The ice coverage extended approximately as far south as 38 degrees latitude mid-continent. This ice sheet

4346-486: The interior of the continents, with the driest climates, the boreal forests might grade into temperate grassland . There are two major types of taiga. The southern part is the closed canopy forest , consisting of many closely-spaced trees and mossy groundcover. In clearings in the forest, shrubs and wildflowers are common, such as the fireweed and lupine . The other type is the lichen woodland or sparse taiga , with trees that are farther-spaced and lichen groundcover;

4428-425: The latter is common in the northernmost taiga. In the northernmost taiga, the forest cover is not only more sparse, but often stunted in growth form; moreover, ice-pruned , asymmetric black spruce (in North America) are often seen, with diminished foliage on the windward side. In Canada, Scandinavia and Finland, the boreal forest is usually divided into three subzones: The high boreal (northern boreal/taiga zone),

4510-471: The long, cold winter is the dominant feature. This climate is classified as Dfc , Dwc , Dsc , Dfd and Dwd in the Köppen climate classification scheme, meaning that the short summers (24 h average 10 °C (50 °F) or more), although generally warm and humid, only last 1–3 months, while winters, with average temperatures below freezing, last 5–7 months. In Siberian taiga the average temperature of

4592-467: The mean annual temperature reaches down to −10 °C (14 °F), and the lowest reliably recorded temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were recorded in the taiga of northeastern Russia. Taiga has a subarctic climate with very large temperature range between seasons. −20 °C (−4 °F) would be a typical winter day temperature and 18 °C (64 °F) an average summer day, but

4674-465: The most extreme winter weather. The Dahurian larch tolerates the coldest winters of the Northern Hemisphere, in eastern Siberia. The very southernmost parts of the taiga may have trees such as oak , maple , elm and lime scattered among the conifers, and there is usually a gradual transition into a temperate, mixed forest, such as the eastern forest-boreal transition of eastern Canada. In

4756-513: The north and Cumberland Sound on the south. The Amadjuak Ice Divide on the Hall Peninsula , where Iqaluit sits created a north flow into Cumberland Sound and a south flow into the Hudson Strait . A secondary Hall Ice Divide formed a link to a local ice cap on the Hall Peninsula . The current ice caps on Baffin Island are thought to be a remnant from this time period, but it was not a part of

4838-589: The north, becoming limited to only the Canadian Shield until even it became deglaciated. The ultimate collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet is also suspected to have influenced European agriculture indirectly through the rise of global sea levels. Canada's oldest ice is a 20,000-year-old remnant of the Laurentide Ice Sheet called the Barnes Ice Cap , on central Baffin Island . During the Late Pleistocene ,

4920-660: The origin of this differential use in North America and how this differentiation distorts established Russian usage. Climate change is a threat to taiga, and how the carbon dioxide absorbed or emitted should be treated by carbon accounting is controversial. Taiga covers 17 million square kilometres (6.6 million square miles) or 11.5% of the Earth's land area, second only to deserts and xeric shrublands . The largest areas are located in Russia and Canada. In Sweden taiga

5002-466: The parties to the agreement are Government of Canada, Government of Yukon and the Kluane First Nation. The Kluane First Nation signed a land claims agreement in 2003. This First Nations in Canada –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Boreal forest Taiga or tayga ( / ˈ t aɪ ɡ ə / TY -gə ; Russian : тайга́ , IPA: [tɐjˈɡa] ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest ,

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5084-406: The patterns of vegetation on the landscape, which in the east favour black spruce, paper birch, and jack pine over balsam fir, and in the west give the advantage to aspen, jack pine, black spruce, and birch over white spruce. Many investigators have reported the ubiquity of charcoal under the forest floor and in the upper soil profile. Charcoal in soils provided Bryson et al. (1965) with clues about

5166-471: The pines to disperse seed at all seasons. Only balsam fir and alpine fir seem to be poorly adapted to reproduce after fire, as their cones disintegrate at maturity, leaving no seed in the crowns. The oldest forests in the northwest boreal region, some older than 300 years, are of white spruce occurring as pure stands on moist floodplains . Here, the frequency of fire is much less than on adjacent uplands dominated by pine, black spruce and aspen. In contrast, in

5248-423: The presently existing taiga forests into one of the two woodland states or even into a treeless steppe - but it could also shift tundra areas into woodland or forest states as they warm and become more suitable for tree growth. In keeping with this hypothesis, several studies published in the early 2010s found that there was already a substantial drought-induced tree loss in the western Canadian boreal forests since

5330-724: The region; and the Eastern Siberian taiga is a vast larch forest. Taiga in its current form is a relatively recent phenomenon, having only existed for the last 12,000 years since the beginning of the Holocene epoch, covering land that had been mammoth steppe or under the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in Eurasia and under the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America during the Late Pleistocene . Although at high elevations taiga grades into alpine tundra through Krummholz , it

5412-680: The shores of Kluane Lake in all directions is Ä sì Keyi, (My Grandfather’s Country) a boreal forest nation, that stretches to the Ruby and Nisling mountain ranges to the northeast and the St. Elias Mountains to the southwest. The Kluane Lake area is the traditional territory of the Lù’àn Män Ku Dän, the Kluane Lake People. The majority of the First Nation people from this area identify themselves as descendants of Southern Tutchone speakers and follow

5494-416: The soil. Acids from evergreen needles further leach the soil, creating spodosol , also known as podzol , and the acidic forest floor often has only lichens and some mosses growing on it. In clearings in the forest and in areas with more boreal deciduous trees, there are more herbs and berries growing, and soils are consequently deeper. Since North America and Eurasia were originally connected by

5576-434: The southern limit more variable. Depending on rainfall, and taiga may be replaced by forest steppe south of the 15 °C (59 °F) July isotherm where rainfall is very low, but more typically extends south to the 18 °C (64 °F) July isotherm, and locally where rainfall is higher, such as in eastern Siberia and adjacent Outer Manchuria , south to the 20 °C (68 °F) July isotherm. In these warmer areas

5658-542: The summer months. The cold winters and short summers make the taiga a challenging biome for reptiles and amphibians , which depend on environmental conditions to regulate their body temperatures. There are only a few species in the boreal forest, including red-sided garter snake , common European adder , blue-spotted salamander , northern two-lined salamander , Siberian salamander , wood frog , northern leopard frog , boreal chorus frog , American toad , and Canadian toad . Most hibernate underground in winter. Fish of

5740-512: The sun is low in the horizon for most of the year, it is difficult for plants to generate energy from photosynthesis . Pine, spruce and fir do not lose their leaves seasonally and are able to photosynthesize with their older leaves in late winter and spring when light is good but temperatures are still too low for new growth to commence. The adaptation of evergreen needles limits the water lost due to transpiration and their dark green color increases their absorption of sunlight. Although precipitation

5822-419: The surface geology of southern Canada and the northern United States, leaving behind glacially scoured valleys, moraines , eskers and glacial till . It also caused many changes to the shape, size, and drainage of the Great Lakes. As but one of many examples, near the end of the last ice age, Lake Iroquois extended well beyond the boundaries of present-day Lake Ontario , and drained down the Hudson River into

5904-514: The taiga has higher species diversity, with more warmth-loving species such as Korean pine , Jezo spruce , and Manchurian fir , and merges gradually into mixed temperate forest or, more locally (on the Pacific Ocean coasts of North America and Asia), into coniferous temperate rainforests where oak and hornbeam appear and join the conifers, birch and Populus tremula . The area currently classified as taiga in Europe and North America (except Alaska)

5986-531: The taiga include Canada lynx , Eurasian lynx , stoat , Siberian weasel , least weasel , sable , American marten , North American river otter , European otter , American mink , wolverine , Asian badger , fisher , timber wolf , Mongolian wolf , coyote , red fox , Arctic fox , grizzly bear , American black bear , Asiatic black bear , Ussuri brown bear , polar bear (only small areas of northern taiga), Siberian tiger , and Amur leopard . More than 300 species of birds have their nesting grounds in

6068-401: The taiga must be able to withstand cold water conditions and be able to adapt to life under ice-covered water. Species in the taiga include Alaska blackfish , northern pike , walleye , longnose sucker , white sucker , various species of cisco , lake whitefish , round whitefish , pygmy whitefish , Arctic lamprey , various grayling species, brook trout (including sea-run brook trout in

6150-787: The taiga. In Canada and Scandinavia, the growing season is often estimated by using the period of the year when the 24-hour average temperature is +5 °C (41 °F) or more. For the Taiga Plains in Canada, growing season varies from 80 to 150 days, and in the Taiga Shield from 100 to 140 days. Other sources define growing season by frost-free days. Data for locations in southwest Yukon gives 80–120 frost-free days. The closed canopy boreal forest in Kenozersky National Park near Plesetsk , Arkhangelsk Province , Russia, on average has 108 frost-free days. The longest growing season

6232-408: The taiga. Siberian thrush , white-throated sparrow , and black-throated green warbler migrate to this habitat to take advantage of the long summer days and abundance of insects found around the numerous bogs and lakes. Of the 300 species of birds that summer in the taiga, only 30 stay for the winter. These are either carrion -feeding or large raptors that can take live mammal prey, such as

6314-467: The tree line in the subarctic spruce-lichen woodlands. The longest cycles, possibly 300 years, probably occur in the western boreal in floodplain white spruce. Amiro et al. (2001) calculated the mean fire cycle for the period 1980 to 1999 in the Canadian boreal forest (including taiga) at 126 years. Increased fire activity has been predicted for western Canada, but parts of eastern Canada may experience less fire in future because of greater precipitation in

6396-404: The warmest month of the year usually is 10 °C (50 °F) or less. High latitudes mean that the sun does not rise far above the horizon, and less solar energy is received than further south. But the high latitude also ensures very long summer days, as the sun stays above the horizon nearly 20 hours each day, or up to 24 hours, with only around 6 hours of daylight, or none, occurring in

6478-581: The world which became exceedingly dry, though the effect of ice sheets in Europe had an analogous effect on the rainfall in Afghanistan , parts of Iran , possibly western Pakistan in winter, as well as North Africa . Its melting also caused major disruptions to the global climate cycle, because the huge influx of low- salinity water into the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River is believed to have disrupted

6560-407: Was recently glaciated . As the glaciers receded they left depressions in the topography that have since filled with water, creating lakes and bogs (especially muskeg soil) found throughout the taiga. Taiga soil tends to be young and poor in nutrients, lacking the deep, organically enriched profile present in temperate deciduous forests. The colder climate hinders development of soil, and

6642-539: Was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States , multiple times during the Quaternary glaciation epochs, from 2.58 million years ago to the present. The last advance covered most of northern North America between c. 95,000 and c. 20,000 years before the present day and, among other geomorphological effects, gouged out

6724-617: Was the primary feature of the Pleistocene epoch in North America, commonly referred to as the ice age . During the Pre-Illinoian Stage , the Laurentide Ice Sheet extended as far south as the Missouri and Ohio River valleys. It was up to 2 mi (3.2 km) thick in Nunavik , Quebec , Canada , but much thinner at its edges, where nunataks were common in hilly areas. It created much of

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