Taiga Forests

“Boreal or Taiga Forests are one of the worlds great forest ecosystems. They make up around 27% of the world’s forest cover with the largest areas located in Russia and Canada.

The soil here tends to be young and poor in nutrients. The thinness of the soil is due largely to the cold, which hinders the development of soil and the ease with which plants can use its nutrients.

Evergreen tree species like the spruce, fir and pine have various adaptations for survival in harsh winters, excluding larch that is the most cold-tolerant of all trees and is deciduous. Taiga trees tend to have shallow roots to take advantage of the thin soils, while many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing. The narrow conical shape of conifers and their downward-drooping limbs help them shed snow.

The sun is low for most of the year and it is difficult for plants to generate energy from photosynthesis. Trees like pine, spruce and fir do not lose their leaves seasonally and photosynthesize with their older leaves in late winter and spring when light is good. The adaptation of evergreen needles limits the water lost due to transpiration and their dark green color increases their absorption of sunlight.

Canada’s boreal forest includes 85 species of mammals, 130 species of fish and an estimated 32,000 species of insects. These insects play a vital role as pollinators, decomposers and as a part of the food web. It has also been recognized as an important global carbon sink. Although the boreal is relatively unknown, it is known as the great lung of North America, breathing in carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen into the atmosphere.
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