Taiga Biome

By: Alexis Williams

General Description

The taiga has very long and cold winters (around -14
degrees) with lots of snowfall and short and cool
summers (64-72 degrees) that are humid and rainy
with the annual rainfall at around 33in.

The permafrost soil found is very poor and thin due to

the cold weather and lacks the essential nutrients to
support large trees , but the leaves that fall from the
smaller trees though due offer a type of natural
fertilizer that can be very beneficial to the soil

It is important to the world because its home to

millions of trees and animals some of these living
things might even be rare

It can also be a solution to the increasing problem in

climate change and global warming since the forest
gives us air to breath, then greenhouse effect caused
by carbon dioxide can also be minimized due to little
human effects on the area

Unlike some other biomes the animals in the taiga

have to either adapt to their surroundings or migrate
during the long cold winters also majority of the trees
are coniferous or evergreen because thats all that can
grow in the harsh permafrost

Abiotic Factors

The average precipitation is 40 inches.

In the summer time it is 10-20 inches.
In the winter it is 20-40 inches. There is
mostly rain in the summer and snow in
the winter.

The climate is subarctic with long,

dark, cold winters while summers are
warm and short, and daylight can be up
to 20 hours a day in summer. The
winter's average temperature is 32
degrees while the low is -76 degrees
and summers average is 64 to 72
degrees

The soils of the taiga are a frosty

permafrost due to the harsh cold
climate which is hard to grow trees

The wind chill decreases the

temperature in the winter causing most
animals to hibernate or migrate to a
new location

Biotic Factors
Animals
Siberian Tiger: has a thick coat,
long legs, and large paws. Its long
legs help the tiger to walk through
deep snow. Its large paws act like
snowshoes.

Plants
Pine Trees: needles are very
smooth to help keep water
inside the dark casing

Grizzly Bear: eats lots of food to

gain fat that helps to keep it
warm. Then it hibernates through
the winter.

Snowshoe Hare: turn brown in the

summer and turn white in the
winter to camouflage from
predators

Spruce Tree: cones shape allows

them to shed ice and sleet more
efficiently

Threats to the Biome

Coal and oil powered boats often pollute the taiga and are rising due to
expansion of cities and towns that use these forms of fuel

Oil spills often happen when tankers crash into icebergs in this area

When emissions in the air mix with rain clouds, this creates acid rain that
comes back down on the biome and further damages the area

Lumber mills in the taiga also cut down trees in very large numbers, destroying
the natural homes of the wildlife and also imbalances the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere

Mines are commonly blown up and the harsh explosions kill wildlife and disrupt
the areas where other animals commonly go to feed they also produce large
amounts of lye, which can filter out and into water supplies, compromising the
purity of the water

This area is a common hunting ground for poachers who kill large amounts of
species that are already on the endangered species list due to little
enforcement of laws in this area

Bibliography

http://taigabiomeproject.weebly.com/factors.html

http://www.wilds.mb.ca/taiga/tbsfaq.html

http://www.bioexpedition.com/taiga-biome/

http://nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/taiga/