Transcript THE TAIGA BIOME

THE TAIGA BIOME
Zachary, Benny, Lily, Edward
TABLE OF CONTENTS
•
•
•
•
•
MAP OF THE TAIGA
INTRODUCTION TO THE TAIGA
ANIMALS
PLANTS
HUMAN INFLUENCES
TAIGA MAP
THE TAIGA BIOME
• The taiga has different names. It is also known as a coniferous or boreal
forest. The taiga is the largest terrestrial biome on the earth. Boreal was
the Greek goddess of the north wind. Taiga is the biome of the needle leaf
forest. The taiga is located near the top of the world. The taiga is in North
America, Canada, Alaska, Europe, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Asia, Russia,
Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. The height above sea level is high elevations or
mountains. The average temperature in the taiga is 0 degrees. It has a
range of 52 to 21 degrees. For all but 4 months of the year, the average
temperature is below 0 degrees. The precipitation is 80 centimeters per
year. It rains in the summer. It is also a windy and dry place. It has long,
cold winters, and short mild, wet summers. Fires in the summer remove
old sick trees to get new growth. Glaciers covered the taiga. When they
moved back or left, it cut in the land. It filled with rain creating lakes and
bogs. The evergreens in the taiga keep their leaves in the winter. There is
permafrost below the soil as well as bedrock. There are many lakes and
also a lot of muskeg. Muskeg is a wet spongy soil. It is found in the taiga.
Animals can get stuck in muskeg and die. The vegetation in the taiga grows
only 4 months when the temperature is above 0 degrees. It means the
growing season is short. The plants must race to grow. Coniferous trees
are spruce, pine, and larch species. Other plants are shrubs, grasslands
and lichen. The animals in the taiga adapt to be able to eat coniferous
needles like moose.
RIVER OTTER
A river otter’s life span depends on the weather and if it is in the wild or
captive. It weighs 10 to 30 pounds. It is a dark brown and a light brown or
gray on his belly. The otter lives in the taiga. It eats fish, shellfish, crustacean,
snails, amphibians and other small mammals. The river otter is known to be
eaten by the fox and wolf. Some fun facts are that the river otter is a sign of
survival in wetlands. The river otter is endangered in the USA. Luckily, it has
some features that adapts it to water. Its nose closes automatically in the
water and its coat is water proof. All these things make the river otter a very
cool animal.
SNOWSHOE RABBIT
• The snowshoe rabbit weighs three to four pounds. It is
a rusty brown in the summer and in the winter, it is
pure white except for its eyelids. The rabbit lives in the
taiga biome specifically, the forest area. It lives for
about five years in the wild. It eats grass, clover and
other greens in the summer. In the winter, it eats bark,
twigs and bugs. It must cycle its food through its
digestive system two times before it goes into its
stomach. Wolves, bobcats and lynx eat it. The rabbit
has fur on its feet so it doesn’t get cold. It turns
different colors to hide from predators. This makes the
snowshoe rabbit an unusual animal.
PLANTS OF THE TAIGA
• The Eastern Red Cedar is 50 feet high. The shape is
pyramidal. The color is green. The Eastern Red Cedar
has two kinds of leaves old leaves are flat and only
1/16 inch. The younger leaves are sharp pointed and
may be up to ¾ of an inch. They have whitish leaves
on top. In the summer the leaves are brilliant green
and in the winter they are copper yellow. The wood
of the Eastern Red Cedar is very durable, often used
as fence posts. The oil repels moths; the oil is used in
medicine and perfume. The cedar is a small
evergreen.
• The balsam fir can grow 40 to 80 feet tall. It can
grow to be 200 years old. The needles are 1 1/2
inches long and they are flat, rounded at the tips
and normally have a strong curve. The bark is
green above and whitened below. The roots go
30 inches deep. The balsam fir is called the blister
fir. Blisters of resin appear on the bark of old
trees. The balsam fir can be found in North
America from Virginia to Newfoundland and
Northwest towards Yukon and the Labradors.
HUMAN INFLUENCES ON THE TAIGA
• The negative influences in the taiga are that the people cut down the trees
in the taiga. The Stewart Organization Council is a logging organization
that ensures that the forests are renewed. The World Wildlife Foundation
is a huge global organization. Cutting the trees destroys the animal’s
habitats. The World Wildlife Foundation is trying to save the endangered
species in the taiga. The negative influences in the taiga are that there are
industries that pose threats to many animals in it. Logging happens across
the taiga, and causes much impact. People cut down the trees to make the
paper products. Many thousands of water fowl that are native to the taiga
can be killed by pollution. The solution is that they need to preserve the
area so they make sure they stop cutting down the trees. They should stop
cutting down the animal’s habitats. Recycling paper can stop the cutting
down of the trees. An animal, the Siberian tiger, is almost extinct. It lives in
the taiga and the people cut down its habitat. The goal is to create more
protective lands.