Taiga Biome
By: Alyssa McCartt and
Jenna McCarty
General Climate
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The taiga is a wet subarctic forest that begins
where the Tundra ends. The taiga climate is
dominated by cold arctic air. Because of
earth's tilt, the taiga is turned away from the
sun in the winter. Therefore, less of the sun's
radiation reaches the ground to warm it up.
Winters are long, cold and dark with lots of
snow that lasts for six to seven months.
Summer is a rainy, hot and short season in the
taiga; when the daylight can be up to 20 hours
long. Fall is the shortest season and spring
brings flowers, the frozen ponds melt, and
the animals come out from hibernation.
General Climate
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The taiga climate has an average annual rainfall
of 12 - 33 inches. The average precipitation for
the summer is between 10-20 inches. The
average precipitation for the winter is between
20-40 inches. The type of precipitation that falls
in the taiga climate are rain in summer and
mostly snow in winter.
Winter's LOW is -65°F.
Winter's HIGH is 30° F.
Summer's LOW is 30° F.
Summer's HIGH is 70° F.
The latitude range is between 50°-60° North
latitude.
Flora
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There are two major types of taiga, closed forest,
consisting of many closely-spaced trees with mossy
ground cover, and lichen woodland, with trees that
are farther-spaced and lichen ground cover.
The forests of the taiga are coniferous, dominated
by larch, spruce, fir, and pine. Evergreen species in
the taiga (spruce, fir, and pine) have a number of
adaptations specifically for survival in harsh taiga
winters, though larch, the most cold-tolerant of all
trees, is deciduous. Jack Pine have cones which
only open to release their seed after a fire,
dispersing their seeds onto the newly cleared
ground.
Fauna
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Some types of adaptations in the animals
are migration, heavier coats of fur, and
some change color, such as the snow-shoe
rabbit. Mice and moles live in tunnels under
the snow. Some animals that live in the
taiga are bears, badger, beavers, reindeer,
foxes, wolverine and squirrels. Many birds
migrate to the taiga during the spring
because there are so many insects to feed
on after the snow melts.
Where’s the Taiga Biome
located?
Plants in the Taiga
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White Poplar
Eastern Red Cedar
Jack Pine
White Spruce
Black Spruce
Animals in the Taiga
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Snowshoe Hare
River Otter
Gray Wolf
Bald Eagle
Red-Tailed Hawk
Great Gray Owl
Lake Whitefish
Northern Pike
Lake Trout
Round Whitefish
Adaptations
Animal adaptations:
 Most animals migrate to warmer climates once the cold
weather climates set in.
 Some animals have adapted by hibernating when
temperatures drop.
 Other animals have adapted by producing a layer of
insulating feathers or fur to protect them from the cold.
Plant Adaptations:
 Evergreens use a wide variety of physical adaptations.
Some of these adaptations include their shape, leaf type,
root system, and color.
 Lichens and mosses, but most plants are coniferous trees
like Pine, White Spruce, Hemlock, and Douglas fir.
 There are not a lot of species of plants in the taiga because
of the harsh conditions.
Dominant Animals
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Lynx---Colored Fox---Great Grey Owl---Red-Tailed
Hawk---Least Weasel.
FOOD WEB of the TAIGA
Snowshoe
Canopy tree seeds
Grouse
Tall shrubs
Great Grey Owl
Sedges
Red Squirrels
Crossbills
Climatogram- Anderson Lake, Cook Inlet, Alaska
Precipitation (in.)
Red-Tailed Hawk
Medium shrubs
Least Weasel
Small trees
Voles
100
80
Avg. High (°F)
60
Avg. Low (°F)
40
Mean (°F)
20
Avg. Precip. (in.)
0
Ja
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Fe ua r
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Ap
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M
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Ju
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Ju
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Se ug
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O ber
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No to b
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De em
ce be r
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Lynx
Hare
Cream-Colored Fox
Months
References
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Day, Trevor.Biomes of the Earth.Taiga.New York:Infobase
Publishing,2006.Print.
Sayre, April Pulley.Taiga.Brookfield, Connecticut:The
Millbrook Press, Inc.,1994.Print.
http://www.rbcarlton.com/forestadaptations.htm
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1070/531826509_15425b82c5.j
pg
http:// www.blueplanetbiomes.org/taiga.htm
http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/VSALM/mod/whipple/site/dr
aft_2/images/eurasian_lynx.jpg
farm2.static.flickr.com/1070/531826509_15425b82c5.jpg
http://www.birds-of-denmark.dk/images/lapugle234afront.jpg
http://www.birds-of-denmark.dk/images/lapugle234afront.jpg
http://www.muldernatuurlijk.nl/Siberia%202005%20engels.htm
http://wilds.mb.ca/taiga/tbsfaq.html