Taiga

By

Eric Drewitz

Daniel Tyska

Stephan Friedrich

Cloe Skodnek

Location of the Taiga

• The taiga is found generally at the latitudes from 50o-60oN

Climate of the Taiga

• The taiga is a moist subarctic forest that is located in between the Tundra and the Temperate Deciduous Forest.

• Winter’s lowest average temperature is -65oF

• Winter’s highest average temperature is 30oF

• Summer’s lowest average temperature is 30oF

• Summer’s highest average temperature is 70oF

• Average temperature per year is 32oF

• Summer’s Average temperature can be over 50oF

• The average winter temperature is 26.6oF

• The Taiga has an extreme average annual temperature range of 135oF

Climate of the Taiga (con’t)

• For half of the year the average temperature is below freezing (32oF)• The average precipatation in the taiga is about 40 inches per year.• The average summer precipatation in the taiga is between 10-20 inches• The average winter precipatation is between 20-40 inches • The type of precipatation is generally rain in the summer and snow in

the winter although sometimes there is some sleet or freezing rain too

• The taiga’s extreme low temperature was -76oF• The taiga’s extreme high temperature is 104oF • The temperature in the taiga can severely fall or rise over the course of

any 24 hour period• During the longer parts of summer the taiga can experience up to 20

hours of daylight

Soil of the Taiga

• The soil in the taiga is similar to that of the tundra.

• Because of harsh temperatures in some regions permafrost may exist

• Water can not seep through the rocks and permafrost in the taiga resulting in a damp/soggy consistency in most parts

Soil of the Taiga (con’t)

• Due to the fact that it is mostly made up of coniferous trees the taiga’s soil is made up of pine needles which take a long time to decompose

Geochemistry of the Taiga

• The soil in the taiga is very poor because it lacks the nutrients (NO3-) needed to

support large trees• The soil is also very thin from the cold weather. • However the leaves that fall from smaller trees due offer a type of natural fertilizer

that can be very beneficial to the soil• The needles in the evergreen trees have shikimic acid in them which further results

in the deteriorating soil quality in those areas.• Podzolization occurs due to the shikimic acid (C7H10O5) (molecular formula) soil

solution produced under needle leaf trees.• Podzolization is the process of removing iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) compounds

(humus, clay minerals) from the surface soil horizons by an organic leachate solution or in other words the aluminum and iron get dissolved in this solution and get removed and the deposition of some of these translocated materials in lower B horizons.

• The lower B horizon is located 2 zones above the bedrock

• The main soil order associated with the taiga is spodosol. Which results from the process of Podzolization or the production of acid soil

Plants in the Taiga• Species: balsamea• Genus: Abies• Common Names: Eastern Fir, Canadian Balsam, Blister Fir• Characteristics:• -found in many different biomes including Taiga• -small to medium sized native evergreen tree; can grow 40- 80 ft. tall• -can grow to be 200 yrs old• Species:mariana• Genus: Picea• Common Names: Black Spruce, Bog Spruce, Swamp Spruce, Epinette Noire• Characteristics:• -can grow to be 25 meters tall• -grows only in Taiga• -has pinecones that are black with seeds that are purplish brown• -normally found in Northern Parts(colder parts) of the world because of its layered

twigs, way pine needles and rough bark

Plants in the Taiga (con’t)• Species: virginiana• Genus: Juniperus• Common Names: Red Cedar, grave yard tree• Characteristics:• -small evergreen that grows 10 to 50 feet tall• -has two types of leaves: flat and scale-like and sharp-pointed• -in the summer they are brilliant green, in the winter they turn copper yellow t rusty

brown• Species: banksiana• Genus: Pinus• Common Names: Eastern jack, Grey, Black, Black jack, Scurb, Prince’s pine, or

Banksiana pine or Pin gris• Characteristics:• -usually grows to be 27 meters tall and 16- 32 centimeter diameter around the trunk• -bark is a reddish brown and flat• -has pinecones that store and produce its seeds• -adapts to flat or hilly areas that have sandy soil• - has waxy pine needles and rough bark to protect the tree from cold wind in the taiga

Plants in the Taiga (con’t)

• Species: parpyrifera• Genus: Betula• Common Names: White Birch, Canoe Birch, Silver Birch• Characteristics:• -this bark that peels in horizontal layers which separate into sheets• -can grow anywhere from 60 to 80 ft tall• -grow in pairs or clusters• -birch is a group of about forty trees and shrubs or North America,

Europe, and Northern Asia• Species: alba• Genus: Populus• Common Name: Silver Poplar• Characteristics:• -leaves are silvery white and bark on branches are white• -grow best in moist places and do not live very long but grow very fast

Bird species of the Taiga

• Family: Bombycillidae: WaxwingsConservation Status: Non-threatened• Scientific Name: Bombycilla garrulus• Habitat: tall coniferous forest of the taiga• Range: Circumpolar regions of North America, Europe and Asia. • Characteristics: The name "waxwing" is derived from the drop-shaped and

waxlike tips of the secondary wing feathers that are, in fact, elongations of the feathers' shafts. The sexes look much alike, except that the female's plumage is duller. Waxwings normally live on fruit and berries, although they will catch insects on the wing during the breeding season. In winter they sometimes migrate south of their range.  During his courtship display, the male presents the female with a berry or ant pupa, which the birds then pass back and forth from beak to beak but never swallow. The bulky nest is made from twigs, moss and plant fibers, mainly by the female, who lays 3 to 7 eggs, which she alone incubates.

Bird species of the Taiga (con’t)

• Family: Strigidae: Owls• Conservation Status: Non-threatened• Scientific Name: Surnia ulula• Habitat: open areas in coniferous forest• Range: Canada, extreme Northern USA, Northern Asia, Scandinavia. • Characters: The hawk owl is easily recognized by its tail, which is longer than

usual for owls, and by its pale facial disk, bordered with black. Its wings are fairly short and pointed, giving it a hawklike appearance in flight. It hunts by day, watching from a perch in the trees then flying down after prey. It feeds on mice, lemmings, squirrels and other small mammals, as well as on birds and some insects.  Nesting takes place from April to June, depending on the area, and the clutch size varies annually according to the food supply. The female lays her eggs, usually 5 or 6 but sometimes up to 9, in the hollow top of a tree stump or in an abandoned nest or woodpecker hole. The eggs are incubated for 25 to 30 days, mostly by the female.

Bird species of the Taiga (con’t)

• Family: Gaviidae: Loons• Conservation Status: Non-threatened• Scientific Name: Gavia stellata• Habitat: lakes, ponds, seas• Range: Circumpolar: North America, Northern Europe, Northern Asia • Characteristics: The red-throated loon has a thin grebe-like bill and a

reddish throat patch at breeding time; in winter its back is spotted with white, and its head is gray and white. Like the others in the family, the red-throated loon flies strongly and, because it is smaller than other species, takes off from the water more easily. After a courtship display of bill-dipping and diving, the female lays 1 to 3 eggs in a heap of moss or other vegetation or in a shallow dip in the ground. Both parents share the 24- to 29-day incubation of the clutch and feed the young.

Bird species of the Taiga (con’t)

• Family: Fringillidae: Finches• Conservation Status: Non-threatened• Scientific Name: Pinicola enucleator• Habitat: coniferous and mixed forest• Range: Northern Scandinavia, Russia, Asia; Alaska, Canada,

Northern USA.• Characteristics: A large, long-tailed finch, the pine grosbeak uses its

stout, heavy bill to crush the stones of fruit such as cherries and plums; it also feeds on seeds, buds and insects in summer. It finds its food in trees and on the ground and is a strong flier. Male and female differ in plumage, the female being largely a bronzy color.  The nest is usually made in a conifer or a birch tree, and the female lays 4 eggs, which she incubates for 13 or 14 days. The male feeds her during this period and later on helps to feed the young by regurgitating food for them.

Bird species of the Taiga (con’t)

• Species: leucocephalus• Genus: Haliaeetus• Common Names: Fish Eagle, Sea Eagle, Bald Eagle• Characteristics:• -weighs eight to twelve pounds; wingspan can be larger

than 7 ft.• -80% of them reside in Alaska• -prefers to eat dead animals but will also eat chickens

or fish• -until 1999 they were considered an endangered

species, but as of July 2000 they changed to a recovered species

Mammals of the Taiga

• Family: Mustelidae: Mustelids• Conservation Status: Non-threatened• Scientific Name: Mustela erminea• Habitat: forest, taiga, tundra• Range: Europe, Asia, Northern U.S.A., Greenland; introduced in New Zealand. • Characteristics: The ermine is a highly skilled predator. It kills by delivering a

powerful and accurate bite to the back of the prey's neck. Rodents and rabbits are the ermine's main diet, but it will also kill and eat other mammals -- including some bigger than itself -- as well as birds, eggs, fish and insects. At the beginning of winter, in the northern part of its range, the ermine loses its dark fur and grows a pure white coat, only the black tail tip remaining. This white winter pelt is prized by the fur trade. Ermines produce a litter of 3 to 7 young in April or May. The male assists in caring for and feeding the young, which are helpless at birth. Their eyes do not open until they are about 3 weeks old, but at 7 weeks young males are already larger than their mother. There are 15 species of Mustela, including the minks now farmed for their dense fur.

Mammals of the Taiga (con’t)

• Family: Castoridae: Beavers• Conservation Status: Near threatened• Scientific Name: Castor fiber• Habitat: rivers, lakes, with wooded banks• Range: Now only in parts of Scandinavia, Poland, France, Southern Germany,

Austria and Russia • Characteristics: The largest European rodent, the Eurasian beaver has the

same habits and much the same appearance as the American beaver, and they are considered by some experts to be only one species. Like its American counterpart, this beaver builds complex dams and lodges but, where conditions are right, may simply dig a burrow in the riverbank which it enters underwater. It feeds on bark and twigs in the winter and on all kinds of vegetation in summer.  Beavers are monogamous animals, and females are believed to mate for life: the male may mate with females other than his partner. Pairs produce litters of up to 8, usually 2 to 4, young in the spring.

Mammals of the Taiga (con’t)

• Species: americanus• Genus: Ursus• Name: American Black Bear• Characteristics: • -can run up to 25 miles per hour• -looks for food with the highest nutritional value; will eat virtually

anything, but 75% of its diet is made up of plants and other vegetation, while the other 25% is makde up of carcasses, honey, small mammals and insects

• -a predator and an omnivore; helps the environment by killing off the elderly, and weaklings of over populated prey

Mammals of the Taiga (con’t)• Species: rufus• Genus: Felis• Name: Bobcat• Characteristics:• -live in forests but can also be found in desserts and chaparral• -adaptations include sharp claws and teeth• -fur changes color with the seasons and helps it blend with the colors of the season• -carnivores who eat mice, squirrels, rabbits, and game birds that live on the ground like

grouse• Species: canadenis• Genus: Lynx• Name: Northern Lynx• Characteristics:• -carnivore who mainly hunts snowshoe shares, meadow voles, small deer, caribou and

sheep• -have a hunting range of about 20 square miles and females have about have that size• -lives in coniferous forest and mountains of Canada and the northern U.S.; can be

found scattered tough Europe across northern Asia and Siberia

Specific problems caused to the taiga by humans

• Logging the taiga for money and investment• Russian forests are disappearing at the rate of 12 million hectares per

year• Deforestation is caused by acid rain which is caused by the emissions from

Russia’s nickel, aluminum and lead smelting plants• The taiga is also depleted in order to mine coal, oil and natural gas and

mines 90% of timber • Timber is harvested by clear cutting, erosion and runoff of soil into rivers

and streams further exacerbates the problem• The Borealis forest in Russia is the biggest forest in the world and all of

the clearing for timber makes the size of the forest decrease by a significant amount which would dramatically increase the level of CO2(g) in the atmosphere which will accelerate the rate of global warming

Potential Solutions to those problems

• Pacific energy and resource center created the Siberian Forest Project

• A joint U.S.- Russian effort to mobilize environmentalists in a campaign to stop the assault on the taiga

• Weyerhaeuser has wanted to buy a 20 year lease on 40,000 hectares of the Siberian forest but the problem is that the Russian government wants to obtain hard currency and new technology but it has concerns about selling off areas of forest that could cause ecological and cultural problems.

Taiga links

• http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/taiga/index.htm

• http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/taiga/taiga.html

• http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webunits/biomes/taiga.html

More Pictures of the Taiga

Works Cited

• http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/taiga.htm• http://www.radford.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/taiga/

taiga.html• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-podzolization.html• http://www.kjonline.com/news/maine-iconwhite-

pineneedlesfightdisease_2010-09-21.html• http://www.bmrb.wisc.edu/metabolomics/mol_summary/?

molName=shikimic_acid• http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/taiga/index.htm• http://www.american.edu/ted/taiga.htm• http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/soil_systems/

soil_development_profiles.html