 The Taiga is the largest
biome in the world.
 It stretches over Eurasia
and North America.
 The taiga is located near
the top of the world, in
and near the arctic circle.
 Two main seasons are
summer and winter
 Average summer
temperatures 65 to 80°F
(reaching 90°F on rare
occasions)
 Winters are cold -65 to 30,
with a few months of
temperatures below zero.
 Days are short, nights are
long.
 The average annual
rainfall is 12 - 33 inches
most of which falls as
rain in the summer
Precipitation
(In) Total 10.4 In
Daily Mean F
Yearly average 29.4 F
2
70
1.8
60
1.6
50
1.4
40
1.2
30
1
20
0.8
10
0.6
0
0.4
-10
0.2
-20
0
-30
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
 Balsam Fir

Cones grow upright

Short, flat, resinous
needles ½-1¼“
Thin, gray, smooth with
resin blisters; brown and
scaly on older trees

 Black Spruce



Has the smallest needles
Keep dead branches for
several years
Very short, stiff, 4-sided
evergreen needles
Taiga Plant Adaptations
 many trees are evergreen so that plants can
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
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photosynthesize right away when temperatures rise
many trees have needle-like leaves which shape
loses less water and sheds snow more easily than
broad leaves
waxy coating on needles prevent evaporation
needles are dark in color allowing more solar heat
to be absorbed
many trees have branches that droop downward to
help shed excess snow to keep the branches from
breaking
 Paper birch



White paper bark
Light orange inner bark
2-3” long oval toothed
leaves
 Jack pine



Scrubby growth
Erratic branching
Rarely grow straight

www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/taiga.html

Animals like the Alaskan Grizzly bear
adapted to the Taiga by hibernating and
other species migrate south during the cold
season. For example are a total of about 300
species of birds in the Taiga but only about
30 stay for the winter.

Animals like the snowshoe rabbit and the
ermine have thicker white coats in the winter
because it can get down to -65 degrees
Fahrenheit. The white coat also helps them
blend in to keep predators away.

Wolverines have adapted by mating at better
times of the year to insure a better survival
rate.
The soil tends to be more acidic because it has a large
layer of decomposing material on top which also makes it
poor in humus.
 There is a lot of rock also found in the soil making it soggy
and not able to hold a lot of nutrients.
 Nitrogen has a rapid cycle in the taiga if it is really cold
the cycle will decrease but as the demand gets higher in
the summer season it increases very much so.
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
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
http://www.springerlink.com/content/t8515713
32455775/
The taiga plays a major role in the carbon
cycle it consists of 1/5 of the entire tree cover of
the world. Therefore it absorbs a lot of the
carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere. It also
produces a lot of oxygen enough to refresh the
atmosphere.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/04p007
66r64ltx6g/

Spodosol soil is commonly found in cool, moist
environments under coniferous forest vegetation.
Surface litter composed of pine needles breaks down
in the presence of water to form a weak organic acid.
Acidic soil water removes base ions in solution to
create an acidic soil. Easily dissolved materials are
leached from surface layers leaving behind the most
resistant material like quartz creating an ashy-grey,
near-surface layer. Layers at depth are stained with
iron and aluminum oxides.

Tanana Soil Profile (undisturbed with
permafrost)

Surface layer: dark brown organic material

Subsurface layer: black mucky silt loam
 The primary value is
paper products like toilet
paper, copy paper,
newsprint and lumber.
 There is also oil sands in
Canada.
 Large scale exploitation,
Deforestation by logging
companies that don’t do
sustainable logging.
 Unsustainable forest
management, plantation
forestry, and the use of
pesticides/herbicides
 Canada’s oil Sands were
you clear the forest then
dig up the ground.
 Location: Currently located in the
northwestern taiga of Canada
 Range: historically it was a large area
from central Alberta to the interior of
Alaska.
• Currently there are two
major herds outside the
National Parks, one in the
Canadian Yukon and one
Alberta in Canada. It dose
not migrate and stays in a
small rage year round.
 Niche: The main diet are
sedges and grasses that
are located in meadows
and wetland areas of the
Taiga.
 They are social animals  Habitat: must provide
grasses and sedges which
that live in herds that
make up most of its winter
range in areas that can
diet Wetland-associated
support their numbers.
meadows, open savannalike shrublands, and dry
grasslands are the most
important habitat types in
the Taiga
 Level of endangerment: It
is currently listed as
endangered in Alaska and
Canada, listed as
threatened in parts of
Canada.
 It population is currently
stable and has a safe at
 Causes of Endangerment:
9000 due to conservation
the population was over
efforts
160,000. But due to over
hunting, the population
was reduced to less than
250 by 1900. Disease is
also a factor today.
 The outlook is good for
the wood bison.
 The population is being
managed in Canada so it
can slowly grow.
 They are using 53
Canadian animals to
reintroduce the animal
to Alaska
Wood Bison
Taiga
The Wildlife Act: put in place by the COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered
Wildlife in Canada) in the year 2006.
The Wildlife Act-Allows for regulations to prohibit, restrict, or take other measures for the
protection or survival of specially protected wildlife.
-Also permits the designation of Habitat Protection Areas based upon the sensitivity of
the area and its importance as habitat for and species of Wildlife.
Endangered Species Act: Sections 10(j) and 4(d): 10(j) added in 1982, authorized by the ESA.
Through section 4(d) of the Act, threatened designation allows us greater discretion in
creating management plans and special regulations for such a population.
-Section 4(d) also allows the adopting of whatever regulations/rules that are necessary to
provide for the conservation and well-being of the threatened specie(s).
(Wildlife Act)- The purpose of this act is to establish a
comprehensive regime of wildlife and habitats.
(Sections 10(j) and 4(d))- Provisions for the ESA Sections
10(j) and 4(d) are whatever action maybe necessary in
protecting or concerning the well-being of the species.
(Wildlife Act)- Offenses (including trade, taking, harassing,
wounding, or killing) against specially protected wildlife
equals a punishment for either fines amounting up to
$25,000 and/or 24 months imprisonment.
(Sections 10(j) and 4(d))- “knowing or Intentional take” from
unauthorized activities (i.e. poaching) will result in no
legal action from neither the FWS(U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service) or ADF&G(Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
when an unintentional/incidental “take” occurs.
(The Wildlife Act)- This law is relatively recent and no changes have been
made thus far. However, the Act will be in review after its first five years
where ideas will be suggested about the species protected as well as the
areas.
(Sections 10(j) and 4(d))- section 10(j) added in 1982, section 10(j) was
added in interest of providing the designation of specific reintroduced
populations of species listed as “experimental populations”.
Both these Laws/Acts (Sections 10(j) and 4(d) and The
Wildlife Act) helps protect many endangered animals
of the Yukon, Providences of Canada, and Alaska, one
being the Wood Bison, from their population from
being further decreased or threatened. The Wood
Bison is an endangered species in our specific biome of
the Taiga.

"Canadian Oil Sands — Photo Gallery —." National Geographic Magazine. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.
<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/essick-photography>.

"Taiga Climate." Blue Planet Biomes. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/taiga_climate_page.htm>.

Mitchell, J.A. and Gates, C.C. 2002. Status of the Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae) in Alberta.
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Fish and Wildlife Division, and Alberta Conservation
Association, Wildlife Status Report No. 39, Edmonton, AB. 32 pp

"Wood Bison - Environment Canada." Environment Canada - Environnement Canada. Web. 18 Oct.
2009. <http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/nature/endspecies/sar/db08s07.en.html>.

"Wood Bison conservation in Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Videos." Alaska
Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation. Web. 18 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=game.conservation>.

h
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Taiga Rescue Network. "The Taiga".
http://www.taigarescue.org/the_taiga/taigas.html.

http://www.canlii.org/nu/laws/sta/2003ca.26/20061207/whole.html
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http://www.naturecanada.ca/pdf/ProvincialRC-Yukon.pdf
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http://wildlife.alaska.gov/managment/game/wood_bison/wb_esa_2_4_09.pdf
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http://www.scribd.com/doc/3033991/climograph-data