Taiga/ Coniferous forest/ Boreal
Forests
 Mean annual precipitation is 15 to 20 inches, but low
evaporation rates make this a humid climate.
 Precipitation is moderately high throughout the year
with snow occurring during the winter months.
 The total yearly precipitation in the taiga biome is 10 30 inches (25 - 75 cm).
Taiga Temperatures
Low
Winter
High
-65 F (-54 C) 30 F (-1 C)
Summer 20 F (-7 C)
70 F (21 C)
Long, severe winters (up to six months with mean temperatures
below freezing) and short summers (50 to 100 frost-free days)
The taiga climate is for the most part dominated by cold arctic air.
Exceptionally cold winds bring bitterly cold air from the Arctic
Circle: the temperatures fall even more on clear nights when there
is no cloud cover. Because of earth's tilt, the taiga is turned away
from the sun in the winter. Less of the sun's radiation reaches the
ground to warm it up.
 Compared to other biomes
The




. Conifers, also known as evergreens, include pines,
spruces and firs, hence the name coniferous forest.
Needleleaf, coniferous (gymnosperm) trees are the dominant plants of
the taiga biome. A very few species in four main genera are found: the
evergreen spruce (Picea), fir (Abies), and pine (Pinus), and the
deciduous larch or tamarack (Lari)
Coniferous trees keep their leaves and then shed only the oldest leaves.
The leaves that are dropped are well down the stem from the newly
developing leaves.
Coniferous trees are cone-bearing, narrow-leafed evergreen trees that
are well adapted to a variety of climatic conditions.
Coniferous trees are the most common type of gymnosperm, which are
plants that produce seeds on the surface of cones.
Cedar
Needleleaf
Larches
pine
Fir
Spruce
Hemlock
Redwood trees
 There may also occasionally be deciduous species present, such
as oak, birch, willow, or alder, in a particularly wet or disturbed
area. Deciduous means they lose their leaves seasonally, such as
pine needles.
 Broadleaf deciduous trees and shrubs are members of early
succession stages of both primary and secondary succession.
Birch, alder, aspen are trees that were most common.
 The conical or spire-shaped needle leaf trees common to the
taiga are adapted to the cold and the physiological drought of
winter and to the short-growing season:
 The taiga is prone to wildfires. Many trees have adapted to this
by growing thick bark, which can protect a tree from a mild fire.
 In Merriam’s Life Zones, the Hudsonian and the Canadian
zones correspond with the Boreal Forest
 Taiga,
, is the
on earth. It extends in a broad
band across North America, Europe, and Asia to the
southern border of the arctic tundra. It is also found at
, for example, in much of the mountainous
western region of North America.
 Taiga is the Russian word for forest and is the largest biome
in the world. It stretches over Eurasia and North America.
The taiga is located near the top of the world, just below
the tundra biome.
 The cold climate of the taiga makes it a difficult place for many
animals to live. Many have
of fur to insulate against
the cold, and
Others migrate to warmer areas
in the chilly winters.
 Animal populations are mainly seed-eating squirrels and jays;
small mammals like ermine and moles; and larger browsing
animals such as deer, moose, elk, and snowshoe hare.
 The typical predators for this area are grizzly bears, wolves,
lynxes and wolverines. These are pretty
, so their prey
. Some animals hide from predators by
changing
to blend into the different
and
habitats. For example, the ermine is dark brown in the summer,
but in the winter it turns white. What excellent camouflage!
 The bogs and ponds in the taiga provide a great
summertime breeding place for many different insects.
Migratory birds often come to the taiga to nest and
feed on all these
Fish.
Temperature
Physical features
Physical features (continued)
 It is not unusual for a reef to have several
hundred species of snails, sixty species of corals,
and several hundred species of fish.
 The physical characteristics of coral reefs make it
the habitat of fish, sponges, eels, jellyfish, sea
stars, anemones, crustaceans, snails, turtles and
mollusks.
Location location locattttioon
 Coral reefs normally live in tropical regions.
habitat limited to waters between 23°N and 23°S
latitude. Coral reefs are located in tropical oceans
near the equator. The largest coral reef is the
Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
 The second largest coral reef can be found off the
coast of Belize, in Central America.
 Other reefs are found in Hawaii, the Red Sea, and
other areas in tropical oceans.
Hawaiian coral reef
Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Animals
are small animals embedded in calcium
carbonate shells. It is a mistake to think of coral as plants or
rocks. Coral is made by millions of tiny carnivorous (meat
eating) animals called
. Polyps live in groups
called colonies.
 Of the several types of vertebrate animals commonly found
on coral reefs, fishes are the only group normally present in
great abundance and diversity, although it’s difficult to
measure the population
Animals (continued)
 Sea snakes, sea turtles, dugongs and manatees are
present but less prevelant. Dugongs and manatees related to elephants – consume huge quantities of
seagrasses, and were presumably the most prolific
herbivores in coral reef lagoons prior to recent levels of
human interference with these ecosystems.
 The biodiversity of coral reefs is dominated by
invertebrates. Many of these invertebrates live in close
association with corals, relying on corals for food and
habitat.
Yay.
.