Taiga Forest

Taiga Forest

1. Location

   • Countries
     • Russia
     • Canada
     • Alaska
     • Finland
     • Sweden
     • Norway
   • Occupies 17% of the Earth's land surface
   • 50 N - 60 N of the equator
     • Not located in the south due to little land space

2. Climate

   • Short growing seasons
   • Long, cold winters
   • Warmest temperatures around 20 C
     • Warmest month is July
   • Coldest temperatures can be as low as -50 C
     • Coldest month is January
   • Receives between 300-1000mm of annual precipitation.

3. Uses

   • Logging
     • Softwoods
       • Fir
       • Larch
       • Pine
     • Hardwood
       • Spruce
   • Wood and paper products
   • Resin of trees used
   • Mining
     • Tar sands
       • Can be used to make oil
     • Fracking
     • Open pit mining
     • More precious minerals
       • Iron
       • Silver
       • Gold
       • Diamond
       • Uranide
   • Fuel
     • Coal
     • Methane
     • Natural gas

4. Management

   • Selective logging
     • Trees are only felled when they reach a particular age or height.
     • The trees for logging are marked so that only the ones selected are felled.
     • Can help to prevent the loss of too many trees.
     • Allows the younger trees to grow and replenish the forest
   • Education
     • Helps those who are dependant on the forest understand why it is still needed
     • Helps people to understand the consequences that their actions could bring to the environment, and how this would affect them.
   • Afforestation
     • Opposite of deforestation
     • New trees are planted to replace those that have been cut down
       • Helps to replenish the forest.
   • Forest reserves
     • Protects areas of forest from exploitation
     • Protects animals that are within the reserves as well as the plantlife
   • Monitoring
     • Uses satellite technologies to check that activities going on those areas are legal and follow sustainability guidelines.

5. Soil

   • Very thin layer of soil
     • Lack of decomposition
     • Weathering due to the cold
   • Acidic due to leaching from rainfall
   • Very little nutrients
   • Podzol
     • Ash grey on top
     • Red underneath
       • Very rich in iron
   • In layers due to very few worms mixing the soil

6. Nutrient cycle

   • Litter is the largest store
     • Cold weather means it takes longer for matter to decompose
     • Harder for nutrients to reach the soil due to the layers of ice and snow.
   • Biomass is relatively low
     • One layer of coniferous trees.
     • Very little undergrowth
     • Not that many species
   • Soil has very few nutrients
     • Leaching
     • Not much decomposes
     • Podzol soils have a very low fertility potential

7. Flora and fauna

   • Plant adaptations
     • Evergreen trees
       • Do not lose their leaves
         • Would take up too much energy in the spring to regrow all the leaves again.
     • Needle shaped leaves
       • Reduces water loss
       • Helps remove snow quickly from the branches
         • Stops the branches from breaking from too much weight
     • Conical shape
       • Helps remove snow from the branches
         • Stops the branches from breaking under too much weight
   • Animal adaptations
     • Hibernation
     • Short tails
       • Avoid frostbite
     • Coat changes colour during different seasons
       • White in winter
       • Brown in summer
       • Better camoflage
     • Layer of insulation
       • Feathers
       • Fur
     • Migrate during winter and return in the summer

Images and files in the map