Taiga locationsTaiga locations Taiga is the Russian word

for forest The Taiga biome is the

largest one in the world It is located in northern

north America and Eurasia below the Tundra biome

This biome is not divided into smaller biomes

Taiga Topography

•The elevation is usually high

•There is only snowfall in the winter

•There is a lot of rain in the summer

•There is a lot of sunlight in the summer, and hardly any in the winter

•Vegetation is mainly pine trees

Seasonal changes of the taiga

•Cold in the winter with temperatures ranging from -20F to 30F

•Cold in summer with temperatures ranging from 20F to 70F

•The spring and summer are so short, you hardly know they exist

•Annual rainfall is usually 21-33 inches

•Hot and humid in the summer

•Cold with lots of snow in the winter

Wildlife in a coniferous forestA common animal in the coniferous forest biome is the gray wolf

http://hem.passagen.se/pepssi/animalgallery/wolfs.jpg

The gray wolf is usually about 3 feet tall and about 3-5 feet in lengthGray wolfs usually live to be 17 years old

Gray wolfs are carnivores, who’s diet consists of moose,caribou and other deer-like animals

Wildlife continued

The bald eagle weighs eight to twelve pounds

Their wingspan can be up to two meters and they can be one meter in length from head to tail

blueplanetbiomes.org

The bald eagle has very good vision which helps it hunt

Environmental ProblemsEnvironmental Problems

Forest Depletion Poses Threats To The Coniferous Forests

Logging And Mining Threats To The ForestsLogging And Mining Threats To The Forests

Twelve-million hectares of Russian coniferous forests are lost each year!

American companies open logging operations all over the Russian forests with valuable trees

Siberia has one fifth of the worlds forested land, it would be a disastrous loss.

Yukon.taiga.net/swyukon/

Logging/Mining Threats Cont.Logging/Mining Threats Cont. 90% of the destruction comes from clear cutting. Smelting plants produce pollution which creates

acid rain that destroy trees. Many trees are destroyed to mine beneath the

forests. Logging companies send trees down rivers which

happens by sinking logs. This in turn causes flooding of thousands of hectares of forested land.

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2004/10/22/oil2_wideweb__430x255.jpg

Global Warming and Related Damages (and some unrelated to global warming)

Oil taken from Siberia damages forests Temperatures rise and climates in the forests because of global warmingOver-hunting of caribou poses a majorthreat to this speciesThe dryness and heat of the global warming increases the severity, length and number of forest fires in SiberiaIn 2003, 55 million acres were lost to forest fires

Harmful Human ActivitiesHarmful Human Activities Humans have heavily logged the

large coniferous forests of Siberia Humans have also caused global

warming destroying tons of forest by increased fire and dryness

Humans have hunted caribou and other coniferous animals to an extremity

Human industry produces massive amounts of pollution that harm the trees

www.saamicouncil.net

What Can You Do?What Can You Do? There are a number of

environmentalist groups currently working to save these forests, by donating money, you can help save these valuable forests

You use a more fuel efficient life with fluorescent light bulbs, hybrid cars and other fuel efficient devices. This reduces oil demand and helps stop global warming.

BibliographyBibliography 1.

http://www.yukon.taiga.net/swyukon/

2. http://www.blueplanetsbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

3. http://www.mbgnet.net/index.html

4. http://www.american.edu/TED/TAIGA.HTM