Taiga

1. Taiga By Anushka Siewrattan, Kerry McCloskey, and Alyssa Martins

2. THE TAIGA…

3. Biome stretches across a large area of Canada, Europe, and Asia.

4. Types of Animals • Hawk Owl • Lives in Canada, extreme Northern U.S, Northern Asia, and Scandinavia in open areas of coniferous forests • Has a longer tail than the usual owl • Wings are short and pointed • Hunt during the day for mice, lemming, squirrels and other small mammals. They also eat birds and insects.

5. Pine Grosbeak • Lives in Northern Scandinavia, Russia, Asia, Alaska, Canada, and Northern USA in coniferous and mixed forests. • large, long-tail finch • Uses its heavy bill to crush fruit such as cherries and plums. They also eat seeds, buds, and insects. • Males and females look different. Females are a more bronzer color.

6. Lynx • Live in Europe: Scandinavia to Spain and Portugal, east through Asia to Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Northern US. • Habitat is Coniferous forests and scrubs. • Short tails, tufted ears and cheeks, and coat color varies. • Becoming scarce- strictly protected in most countries • Nocturnal • Stalks prey, such as hares rodents young deer and birds, on the ground.

7. European Red Squirrel • Live in Europe, east to China, Korea and Japan in evergreen forests. • Population is abundant in Europe and Asia. • Eat fungi, fruit, and mostly conifer cones

8. Adaptations • Lynx • Inherited wide paws that work like snowshoes to help then more better in snow. • Grizzly Bears • Inherited the ability to hold a protective layer of fat that lets them stay in their dens while its cold. • Gray Wolf • Inherited rough and wooly fur coat to have insulation during the winter • Inherited long legs and large paws to help them travel through thick snow. • Snowshoe Rabbit • Inherited toes that can spread out, making look like a snowshoe that help it walk through snow.

9. Geologic Features • Thick soil due to cold • Continuous belt of cone- bearing coniferous trees • Some areas of the taiga have a layer of permafrost (permanently frozen layer of soil) • Soil is very infertile due to acid from conifer needles causing little plant life • Ground is made up of various bog stages

10. TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION • The average temperature is 0°C. • The average precipitation is 100-200 cm. • The taiga is warmer and wetter than a tundra. • The taiga has long, severe winters and short, mild summers. • Fall is the shortest season in the taiga. • Flowers grow in spring and many of the animals come out of hibernation. • Summer is a very rainy season in the taiga.

11. Human Impact • Human Impact on the taiga is: • Acid rain due to pollution • Burning of fossil fuels • Power plants and factories burn coal • The trees get poisoned and lose nutrients • Global warming; organisms have trouble adapting to different climates

12. Plants in the Taiga • Harsh climate and environmental conditions make it hard for plants to survive in the biome 1. Black Spruce • Most common plant in Taiga because of its ability to grow in poor soil and cold climates • Can reach a height of about 25 meters • The tree branches are moderately shorter than other conifer trees. • The black spruces needles are sharp and are about half an inch long with four sides • The bark is rough, thick and gray-brown in color. • The pinecones of spruce are a major food for the birds in Taiga biome.

13. 2. Balsam Fir • Balsam fir is a medium-sized; grows up to the height of 80 feet • Shallow roots that hardly reach 35 inch. • The branches grow at the right angle off the trunk of the tree, the lower branches are mostly dead and droop onto the ground • The barks of the tree are resinous, smooth and gray • Major food supplier for deer, moose, squirrels and other inhabitants in cold winter months

14. 3. Jack Pine • Grows to about 27 meters tall, the base almost similar to the height. • Young jack pines have reddish colored barks, older jack pines have gray barks • The branches are long, slender that bear needle leaves • It is found in cold regions of the taiga that have sandy soils • Leaves and pinecones are used as food for the rodents and other animals inhabiting the biome

15. Questions about Taiga • What areas of the world is the taiga biome located? • Why is it so difficult for plants to survive in the taiga? • What is the most common plant in the taiga? • Some areas of the taiga have a permafrost. What is a permafrost? • How is global warming affecting the biotic factors in the taiga? • What is the average temperature and precipitation in the taiga? • What economical values lye in the taiga?

16. COMMERCIAL VALUES OF THE TAIGA • Economic values are from: • Taigas have a lot of trees which is cut down for lumber, toilet paper, copy paper, and newsprint • More then 80% of taiga products are exported from Canada and sold in America • People hunt and fish in taiga • There is diamond mining and coal mining in some regions of taiga

17. WORKS CITED • Books: • Biology- Dynamics of Life (National Geographic) • Biology- The Sixth Edition • Websites: • http://Nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep8b.htm • http://Buzzle.com/articles/taiga-biome-taiga-animals-and-plants.htm • http://mbgnet.mobot.org • http://blueplantsbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm