Boreal Forest/Taiga Biome

The Terrestrial Biomes

The terrestrial world can be divided into areas called biomes. A biome is a large area of land classified by its plants and animals.

A biome is made up of many ecosystems. An ecosystem is the interaction of living and nonliving things in an environment. 

Misconception Alert

An ecosystem is not the same thing as a biome. A biome is the specific geographic area in which ecosystems can be found.

In this backgrounder, major terrestrial biomes of the world are named based on the Whittaker classification scheme. This is not the only classification system because not all scientists agree on the number and types of biomes. 

Distribution of the Earth’s Major Biomes

The map below shows where each of the eight major terrestrial biomes are located in the world. Canada contains four biomes. These are temperate deciduous forest, grassland, boreal forest/taiga, and tundra. A biome has the same characteristics no matter where in the world it is found. This means that the boreal forests of Canada look like the boreal forests of Russia. 

The characteristics of each biome are dependent on its climate. Temperature and precipitation are the most important factors determining what living things can be found in a given biome.

Boreal Forest/Taiga

Location

The boreal forest covers about 11% of Earth’s land mass. This makes it the world’s largest terrestrial biome! It is located in the northern hemisphere. It extends from around 50° North latitude to 65° N latitude.

The term “boreal forest” tends to refer to the southern part of the biome. The term “taiga” tends to refer to the northern part of the biome. This is where it transitions to the Arctic tundra biome.

Description

This biome has many coniferous forests. It also has a lot of freshwater ecosystems including rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, bogs, fens and marshes.

The soil in this biome has low fertility. This means that it is not very good for plants. Most of the nutrients are only in a thin layer on the surface of the ground. This soil is also acidic. This is mainly due to the breakdown of needles that fall from coniferous trees.

Did you know?

Blueberries are a fruit that grow well in acidic soil.

The boreal forest has cold winters and warm summers. Typical temperatures range from 21 °C in summer to -54 °C in winter. The precipitation in this biome is moderate. It ranges from 200 to 600 mm per year. Droughts are fairly rare. 

Plants & Animals

Plants

Plants in this biome have adaptations  to the cold climate and poor soil. Many of the plants have shallow root systems. The roots work together with mycorrhizal fungi to get the most nutrients they can from the soil.

Southern boreal forests have a thick tree canopy . This is called a closed canopy forest. In the clearings between trees grow shrubs and wildflowers.

Image - Text Version

Shown is a colour photograph of low hills, densely packed with coniferous trees, beside a lake.

The camera is high on a hill, looking down across the lake. There are tall, thin evergreen trees close to the camera. The lake, far below, is blue and calm. More trees grow close to the opposite shore.In the background, halfway up a hill, is a long, thin clearing with pale green vegetation. There are several more clearings, and another lake in the distance. The sky above is pale greyish blue.

Northern boreal forests have trees which are more spread apart. This is called the lichen woodland. Here, lichens form most of the ground cover. There are also many kinds of mosses.

Image - Text Version

Shown is a colour photograph of a tree with pale green, flaky-textured lichen, and dark green, soft textured moss growing on the bark.

The branches are wide and covered with thick, rough brown bark. The lichen grows across the top sides of each branch, while the moss grows along the bottom. More green vegetation is visible in the background, out of focus.

Some of the trees found in this biome include conifers such as spruce, fir, hemlock, larch and pine. There are also some deciduous trees, such as aspen, birch and willow. The mix of trees depends on which part of the world the forest is in. The boreal forest of North America is mostly spruces. 

The boreal forest of the Eastern Siberian taiga is basically one large larch forest. Larch trees don’t follow the common evergreen rule. Most evergreen trees keep their needle-like leaves year-round. Larch trees are actually deciduous. The needles of larch trees turn a brilliant yellow in autumn and then drop off.

Image - Text Version

Shown is a colour photograph of clearing surrounded by trees with deep yellow and orange leaves. 

The sun is low in the sky, and the grass on the clearing appears greenish gold. The trees behind are tall, straight, and teardrop-shaped. Their leaves are saturated shades of gold and orange. Above, a range of pointed, dark grey mountains are visible. The sky above is deep blue with wisps of white.

Animals

The animal life in the boreal forest is adapted to the cold climate. There are large herbivores  in Canadian boreal forests. This includes caribou, moose, elk and wood bison. Outside of North America, the name for caribou is reindeer. Wood bison are also called wood buffalo.

Image - Text Version

Shown is a colour photograph of a large brown animal with thick fur and small horns. 

The animal's muscular hind legs are covered in thing brown fur. Its head and shoulders have much thicker fur. It has a hump at the top of its shoulders, and its head is lowered to the ground. Its head has dark brown, shaggy fur, and its horns are small, grey, and pointed. 

There are coniferous trees in the background, and small green shrubs in the soil around.

Large predators found here include the Canada lynx, gray wolf, black bear and brown bear.

Image - Text Version

Shown is a colour photograph of a large grey cat standing in snow. 

The cat is much bigger and taller than a pet cat. It has thick, beige fur with grey spots, a short tail, and two pointed tufts of fur on its chin. It is looking intently to the left side of the image.

Smaller mammals, such as beavers, raccoons and voles also live here. Many species of birds use this biome for their nesting grounds.

Lakes and rivers provide a unique habitat for many migratory fish such as the North American Atlantic salmon. Finally, the forests, bogs and marshes of this biome are home to a large variety of insect life.

Human Impacts

Humans have had a long history in boreal forests. One way we know this is through art. Cave paintings and rock drawings are an example of this. Some show people hunting boreal forest animals for food. Some paintings and drawings are thousands of years old.

Image - Text Version

Shown is a black and white photograph of flat, smooth rock covered in drawings of large animals with horns, and humans.

The rock surface is covered in dozens of drawings in a deep, black colour. There are black animals with small horns, white animals with larger horns, and some with stripes across their ribcages. The humans are small stick figures. One is holding a club above their head.

Compared to some biomes, human impact on the boreal forest has been fairly small. This is because the cold climate makes it difficult for people to live there. In more recent times, as the number of humans living in this biome has increased, so has our impact. In general, humans have looked at the boreal forest as a source of natural resources. At the beginning, this meant cutting down trees for wood and mining different metals. More recently, this has expanded into oil and gas exploration and extraction.

Boreal Forests/Taigas and Climate Change

Human-induced climate change impacts both plants and animals living in boreal forests. For example, warmer, drier conditions are associated with climate change. This can cause more trees to die during the summer and insect populations to increase. Drought and forest fires are caused by warmer, drier forests.

In Canada Western pine beetles are an invasive species. This insect is very harmful to trees. Due to warmer winters, the beetle populations are out of control. Pine beetles kill trees by making nests in the bark. These dead trees can then become a fire hazard.

Image - Text Version

Shown is a colour photograph of a forest with bare, grey, coniferous trees.

The trees are tall, thin, and densely packed. But the sky is visible between them. There are a few green needles still on the branches, but they are mostly bare. 

In the foreground, there are fallen trees, green moss, and exposed beige soil. The sky above is deep blue with fluffy white clouds.

Conservation

Conservation groups, such as Boreal Conservation, are interested in helping this biome. These groups help others create sustainable solutions for Canada's boreal forests. 

The Nature Conservancy is another group working to protect the Boreal Forest in Canada. Some of the actions this group is taking are:

• Indigenous Guardian program development;
• community-led land use planning;
• establishment of Indigenous protected areas;
• and youth-on-the-land programs.

Many programs aim to get communities and youth involved in conservation. This is an excellent way to make long-term positive impacts in the Boreal Forest.