Biomes are a certain type earth’s habitats. Taiga, or boreal forest, is one of the world’s six kinds of environments or habitats. Taiga is Russian for forest. Winters have smaller populations of plant, insect, and animal than in the summer. Because of its location, 50° north latitude to the Arctic Circle, winters are very cold and summers are short but very hot. Specifically, taiga forests are located in the northern parts of North America, Europe, and Russia. The percentage of boreal forest land masses is 27%, equal to grasslands.
Climate
During taiga winters, there is no rainfall, but snow and ice cover land and water masses. Taigas have quite a temperature disparity between winters and summers. Winters might be 32° F (0° C) to -76° F (-60° C). Summer temperatures rise to 104° F (40° C).
Northern lights, otherwise known as aurora borealis, light the sky in taiga winters. A simple explanation of these lights is that they are “shafts or curtains of colored light visible on occasion in the night sky.” They drift into different patterns and fascinate all who see them.
The Taiga
Animals
Predators such as bears both brown and black make their home in this area. Other predators are wolverines, stoats, timber wolves, coyotes, lynx, red foxes, pumas (or mountain lions), and humans. The Canadian lynx has a range from the Arctic tree line into Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States. Snowshoe hares make up a large part of this animal’s diet in its northern range. Prey in the lynx’s southern range includes rodents, birds, fish, and deer. Timber wolves, also known as the gray wolf hunt in packs to take down larger prey like deer and elks. They are opportunistic feeders, eating road kill or even berries if other prey is scarce.
Prey species consist of animals like raccoons, striped skunks, elks, deer, hares, rats, lemmings, and squirrels. Lemmings, small furry animals resembling mice, have white winter coats to hide from the snowy owls and other raptors that prey on them. When searching for food, Scandinavian lemmings move in large groups, even through towns and swimming in water. Old myths about lemmings following each other off cliffs are completely untrue. Moose are one of the largest members of the deer family. Being herbivores, they graze on both land and underwater grasses. Their land speed reaches 35 mph, but they are equally comfortable swimming. Only males have the large racks of antlers. In mating season, males can be quite dangerous fighting for rights.
Birds
Birds can be divided into three types. Nearly 300 species live in this biome. They include predators, prey, and carrion eaters. Predators are owls, hawks, eagles, and falcons. Great grey owls rely on their excellent sight to spot prey and silent wings so that it cannot hear the owl’s approach. Merlins, the smallest falcon are aggressive towards other raptors during nesting periods, which helps ground and song birds.
Prey species include song and ground species. They include song birds such as blackbirds and crossbills. Ground species are also ducks and geese. Blackbirds, ground species, eat worms, insects and berries. Song birds are the smallest of the bird species living in taiga. Pheasants are very colorful birds. They make their habitats in Western Europe, Central Asia, and China. Their diet consists of seeds, berries, and insects. Snow geese are migrant birds, with habitats from the arctic to the Himalayas to Texas, for their southern regions. Both song and ground species make their homes in the taiga during summers, but they have a variety of habitats, so they are migrant birds.
Carrion eaters are crows, ravens, and buzzards. Crows and ravens are in the same family, although the raven is larger than the crow. Ravens are very intelligent birds, mating for life. They can be found in the Himalayas, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Wales, Asia, the Arctic, and North America. They also make their habitats in warmer climates. Much of their diet consists of carrion, or dead animals.
Other animals that make their habitat in taiga are amphibians, such as toads, great crested newts and Siberian salamanders have habitats in the taiga. Siberian salamanders are resistant to the extreme cold; these amazing amphibians replace their body’s water with a type of “anti-freeze.” They are found in Asia, Russia, and the Arctic.
Among the insects found in taiga in summer, the swallowtail butterfly has habitats in Asia, China, Europe, North America, Russia, and the United Kingdom. These beautiful butterflies are black and yellow, with tails that jut from the wings. Also known as Yellow Swallowtails, their flight is fast and strong. The swallowtail is just one of the approximately 32,000 insect species living in the taiga. Among others are ants, earthworms, mosquitoes, beetles, and worms.
Flora
The main types of trees found in boreal forests are conifers or evergreens, which have long, thin needles coated with wax to protect them against the harsh winter winds. These trees include Douglas Fir, White Spruce, and Hemlock, which grow close together, another protection against blustery weather. Balsam Fir trees, which help animals survive in the taiga, are also found in the taiga. They might grow to eighty feet or more and live to around 200 years old.
Humans and Threats
A great number of humans make their homes in boreal forests. Many like the Canadian tribes have been there for centuries. They make their living from the animals and other life in the area, plus depending on the region for food, shelter, and clothing.
Still, human presence endangers taigas with threats not so much from hunting anymore, but more so from the logging industry. Extreme de-forestation, like clear-cutting is completely cutting all trees in a designated area. This type of logging presents dangers to the area such as erosion and forest fires.
