Misplaced Pages

#883116

89-565: The proposed park is in a region of taiga in the center of the Port-Cartier–Sept-Îles Wildlife Reserve . It is about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the town of Port-Cartier . It would cover an area of 1,479 square kilometres (571 sq mi) in the Côte-Nord administrative region. The region has high hills cut by deep glacial valleys running between rocky escarpments. There are many streams and lakes of all sizes in

178-624: A descriptive study. As of May 2019 the project had not been funded, and was waiting on a decision by Pierre Dufour , the Minister of Forests, Wildlife and Parks. A map of the proposed park shows the MacDonald River and Aux Rochers River along its western and southern border, the Ronald River in the southwest, the Schmon River, Gravel River and Little Gravel River flowing through the park from

267-412: 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

356-454: 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

445-484: 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,

534-550: 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

623-607: A portion of Karelia to Russia. The Treaty of Åbo in 1743 between Sweden and Russia then ceded South Karelia to Russia. After Finland had been occupied by Russia in the Finnish War , parts of the ceded provinces ( Old Finland ) were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812. In 1917, Finland became independent and the border was confirmed by the Treaty of Tartu in 1920. Finnish partisans were involved in attempts to overthrow

712-408: 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

801-603: A report in July 2018 to support the National Parks Directorate (NDP) of the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP) in preparing their report on the park. The MDDELCC report describes the main geological and geomorphological features of the territory, areas of geomorphological interest for study and education, and the typical natural characteristics of the region. In 2018 the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks submitted

890-412: 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

979-506: Is a historical province of Finland and is now divided between Finland and Russia, often called just Karjala in Finnish. The eastern part of this chiefly Lutheran area was ceded to Russia after the Winter War of 1939–40. The Republic of Karelia is a Russian federal subject, including East Karelia , with a chiefly Russian Orthodox population. Within present-day Finland, Karjala refers to

SECTION 10

#1732854987884

1068-813: 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 is not exclusively an alpine biome, and unlike subalpine forest , much of taiga

1157-568: 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 is associated with the Norrland terrain . After

1246-680: Is an area around St. Petersburg, between the Estonian border and Lake Ladoga. Ingrian Finns settled in the region in the 17th century after the Swedish conquest of the area. The settlers spoke Karelian and Savonian dialects of Finnish. The older inhabitants of the Ingria, the Ingrians, have their own language which is related to the Karelian language and the south-eastern dialects of Finnish. Karelians evacuated from

1335-580: Is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet era), Finland , and Sweden . It is currently divided between northwestern Russia (the federal subjects of the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast ) and Finland (the regions of South Karelia , North Karelia , and the eastern portion of Kymenlaakso ). Various subdivisions may be called Karelia. Finnish Karelia

1424-409: 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

1513-427: 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

1602-554: 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,

1691-559: Is located between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga . The highest point of Karelia, the 576 metres (1,890 ft) high Nuorunen , is located on the Russian side of the Maanselka hill region. The border between Karelia and Ingria , the land of the closely related Ingrian people , had originally been the Neva River itself but later on it was moved northward into the Karelian isthmus to follow

1780-576: 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 the origin of this differential use in North America and how this differentiation distorts established Russian usage. Climate change

1869-416: 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

SECTION 20

#1732854987884

1958-459: Is sometimes divided into East Karelia and West Karelia, which are also called Russian Karelia and Finnish Karelia respectively. The area to the north of Lake Ladoga which belonged to Finland before World War II is called Ladoga Karelia, and the parishes on the old pre-war border are sometimes called Border Karelia. White Karelia (sometimes the Finnish or Karelian term "Viena Karelia", or in some English-language sources, "White Sea Karelia",

2047-609: 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 the Scottish Highlands , some lowland/coastal areas of Iceland , and areas of northern Kazakhstan , northern Mongolia , and northern Japan (on

2136-644: Is used) is the northern part of East Karelia and Olonets Karelia is the southern part. Tver Karelia denotes the villages in the Tver Oblast that are inhabited by Tver Karelians . During the Early Middle Ages , settlers from western Finland mixed with the local population to form the Karelian ethnic group. Possible migration from elsewhere may also have contributed to the Karelian ethnic composition. Archeological evidence indicates that Karelian inhabitation

2225-549: Is visited by tourists in both summer and winter when possible activities include riding in a sled behind a dog team and running from the banya to an ice hole and back. Summer hikers can visit the Kivach waterfall or the Demon's Chair plateau. In South Karelia , Lappeenranta is a popular destination for Russian tourists, with 1.5 million visiting annually. Imatrankoski in Imatra has been

2314-543: 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

2403-705: The Bolsheviks in Russian Karelia ( East Karelia ) in 1918–21, as in the failed Aunus expedition . They also wanted to incorporate the rest of Karelia into Finland and cooperated with the short-lived Republic of Uhtua . These mainly private expeditions ended after the signing of the Treaty of Tartu. After the end of the Russian Civil War and the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922, the Russian part of Karelia became

2492-482: 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

2581-668: 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

2670-694: The Karjalan Liitto (Karelian League) and ProKarelia . On the Finnish side, the area is Finnish-speaking. The South Karelian dialects of the Finnish language (closely related to the Karelian language) are spoken in South Karelia. The eastern Savonian dialects are spoken in North Karelia, part of the group of dialects spoken in Eastern and Central Finland. Ingrian Finnish dialects are spoken in Ingria, which

2759-494: 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 the coldest month is between −6 °C (21 °F) and −50 °C (−58 °F). There are also some much smaller areas grading towards

Lake Walker National Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-700: The Lake Larry Old Growth Forest and the MacDonald and Cody Falls. The Sept-Rivières Regional County Municipality and the economic corporation of that city began working on the concept of creating a national park within Sépaq's Réserve faunique Port-Cartier/Sept-Îles in 2006. The project would involve addition of campsites, cottages and other tourist facilities. The Department of Biodiversity Expertise of Quebec's Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Fight Against Climate Change (MDDELCC) produced

2937-656: 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

3026-693: The Sestra River ( Russian : Сестра ), today in the Saint Petersburg metropolitan area, but in 1812–1940 the Russo-Finnish border. On the other side of Lake Ladoga , the River Svir is usually thought of as the traditional southern border of Karelian territory while Lake Onega and the White Sea mark the Eastern border. The River Kymi marks the historic western border of Karelian territory as it served as

3115-419: 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

3204-508: 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 the long, cold winter is the dominant feature. This climate is classified as Dfc , Dwc , Dsc , Dfd and Dwd in

3293-445: 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

3382-498: 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

3471-526: The regions of South and North Karelia , although parts of historical Karelia also lie within the region of Kymenlaakso (east of the River Kymi ), Northern Savonia ( Kaavi , Rautavaara and Säyneinen ), and Southern Savonia ( Mäntyharju ). Karelia stretches from the White Sea coast to the Gulf of Finland . It contains the two largest lakes in Europe, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega . The Karelian Isthmus

3560-714: 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. Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and Finnish : Karjala [ˈkɑrjɑlɑ] ; Russian : Каре́лия , romanized :  Kareliya [kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə] , historically Коре́ла, Korela [ kɐˈrʲelʲə ]; Swedish : Karelen [kɑˈreːlen] )

3649-460: 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

Lake Walker National Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-577: 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

3827-786: The Karelian Autonomous republic of the Soviet Union (ASSR) in 1923. At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, thus starting the Winter War . The Treaty of Moscow, signed in 1940 , handed a large portion of Finnish Karelia to the Soviet Union, and over 400,000 people had to be relocated within Finland. During the Continuation War of 1941-1944, Finland took back territory ceded in 1940, and also invaded and occupied much of East Karelia. Finland

3916-441: 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

4005-460: The areas ceded to the Soviet Union was evacuated and resettled in other parts of Finland. The present inhabitants of the former Finnish parts of Russia, including the city of Vyborg/Viipuri and the Karelian Isthmus – are post-war immigrants or their descendants. The former Karelian ASSR was incorporated into a new Karelo-Finnish SSR from 1941 to 1956, but then it became an ASSR again. Karelia

4094-440: 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

4183-471: 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

4272-527: 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

4361-660: The boundary between the Häme Finns and the Karelians during the Middle Ages . The River Kymi is also said to have formed a boundary between the eastern and western cultural spheres by the beginning of the Bronze Age at the latest. In the North lived the nomadic Samis , but there were no natural borders except for large wooded areas ( taiga ) and the tundra . In historical texts, Karelia

4450-521: 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

4539-480: 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

SECTION 50

#1732854987884

4628-531: 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

4717-459: 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

4806-493: The eighth century. The considerably higher number of archeological discoveries in these regions from AD 800 to AD 1050 indicates that the Karelian population grew and expanded rapidly during this time. Karelia was bitterly fought over by Sweden and the Novgorod Republic for a period starting in the 13th-century Swedish-Novgorodian Wars . The Treaty of Nöteborg (Finnish: Pähkinäsaaren rauha) in 1323 divided Karelia between

4895-459: 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

4984-404: 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

5073-519: 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

5162-493: 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

5251-486: 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;

5340-495: 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 the region; and the Eastern Siberian taiga is a vast larch forest. Taiga in its current form

5429-425: 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),

SECTION 60

#1732854987884

5518-496: The main population center of this region. In the Treaty of Stolbovo of 1617, large parts of Russian Karelia were ceded to Sweden. Conflicts between the new Swedish rulers and the indigenous population of these areas led to an exodus: thousands of Karelians, including the ancestors of the Tver Karelians , emigrated to Russia. The Treaty of Nystad (Finnish: Uudenkaupungin rauha) in 1721 between Imperial Russia and Sweden ceded

5607-465: 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

5696-501: The north east, and Lake Atanache, Lake Pineault, Lake Chevarie, Lake Truite, Lake Arsenault, Lake Carter, Lake Carré, Lake Pasteur , Little Anguille Lake and Lake Morin in the southeast. Taiga Taiga or tayga ( / ˈ t aɪ ɡ ə / TY -gə ; Russian : тайга́ , IPA: [tɐjˈɡa] ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest , is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines , spruces , and larches . The taiga or boreal forest

5785-410: The north, and the Pasteur and Aux Foins rivers leaving the park from the south to join the Aux Rochers River. Apart from Lake Walker, lakes include Lake Quatre Lieues in the extreme south, Lake Jumbo , Lake Larry and Lake Cody in the southwest, Lake David, Lake Chisholm , Lake Ovide, Lake Saint Joseph and Lake Provencher in the northwest, Lake Goéland, Lake Gagné, Lake Chassé and Lake Lelièvre in

5874-436: 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 is found in areas with mean annual temperature below freezing, whilst in

5963-432: The part of Finnish Karelia ceded to Russia were resettled all over Finland. Today about one million people in Finland can trace their roots in the area ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. In Finland, about 5,000 people speak the Karelian language. Russian Karelia is a regular destination for international tourism due to its unique architectural, cultural and historical sites such as Kizhi and Valaam . The region

6052-406: 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

6141-446: 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 the mean annual temperature reaches down to −10 °C (14 °F), and

6230-471: 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

6319-423: 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

6408-416: 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

6497-434: 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

6586-542: 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

6675-512: 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

6764-465: 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)

6853-531: 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

6942-401: 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

7031-787: 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

7120-408: 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

7209-503: The territory, including the Schmon , Gravel , Pasteur and MacDonald rivers, which meander through wide glacial valleys. Lake Walker is 33 kilometres (21 mi) long and resembles a fjord . In places the cliffs along the lakeside are over 200 metres (660 ft) high, and in places it is 280 metres (920 ft) deep, making it the deepest lake in Quebec. Other attractions of the park would be

7298-467: 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

7387-567: The two. Sweden received the southern portion of the Karelian Isthmus and most of South Karelia. The province of Swedish Karelia would include this territory, plus the region east of the Kymi river , with Viborg (Finnish: Viipuri) becoming the capital of the province. Novgorod received the northern portion of the Karelian Isthmus. North Karelia, Ladoga Karelia, and the northern portion of South Karelia fell under Novgorodian control. Käkisalmi served as

7476-404: 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

7565-608: The western portion is part of Kymenlaakso . Karelia is politically divided between Finland and Russia. The Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia formed in 1991 from the Karelian ASSR . The Karelian Isthmus belongs to the Leningrad Oblast . The Finnish side consists of parts of the regions ( maakunta ) of South Karelia , North Karelia and Kymenlaakso . There are some small groups of Finns campaigning for closer ties between Finland and Karelia: for instance, in

7654-407: 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

7743-526: Was forced out of these regions in 1944. After the war, Soviet expansion caused considerable bitterness in Finland, which lost its fourth biggest city, Viipuri , its industrial heartland along the river Vuoksi , the eastern portion of the Saimaa canal that connected central Finland to the Gulf of Finland , and access to the fishing waters of Lake Ladoga (Finnish: Laatokka). One eighth of its citizens became refugees with no chance of return. The whole population from

7832-506: Was highest along the western shore of Lake Ladoga and the Karelian Isthmus , with multiple cemeteries and other archeological discoveries dating from AD 600 to AD 800. In South Karelia , the number of archeological discoveries from this time period is lower, though permanent inhabitation was nonetheless present. Lappee , South Karelia has been continuously inhabited for approximately 2,000 years. In North Karelia , only one archeological discovery from this time period has been found, dating to

7921-592: Was the only Soviet republic that was "demoted" from an SSR to an ASSR within the Russian SFSR . In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ASSR became the Republic of Karelia . The portion of Viipuri Province that remained within Finland following the Second World War was renamed Kymi Province , and kept this name from 1945 to 1997. The eastern part of this province is now the region of South Karelia , while

#883116