Boreal forests / Taiga

Please note: These biome and ecoregion pages (and associated data) are no longer being updated and may now be out of date. These pages and data exist for historical reference only. For updated bioregion data, please visit One Earth.

Low annual temperatures characterize northerly latitudes; precipitation ranges from 40-100 centimetres per year and may fall mainly as snow.


This combination, along with nutrient poor soils - largely a result of permafrost and the resultant poor drainage - favors the preponderence of conifer species (Abies, Picea, Larix, and Pinus), although species of deciduous trees are also rather common: Betula spp. and Populus spp. Ground cover in Boreal Forests and Taiga is dominated by mosses and lichens.


Low levels and variation of species richness and endemism are characteristic of circumboreal and circumpolar ecoregions, thus the presence of intact ecological phenomena selected outstanding ecoregions.

Large-scale migrations of caribou, or reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and intact predator assemblages can still be found in some regions, as well as relatively unaltered natural disturbance regimes. For example, the Northern Cordillera boreal forests of Canada have been identified as the "Serengeti" of the Far North due to its abundance and diversity of large vertebrates.

Extensive tracts of boreal forest and taiga still exist in the northern Nearctic and Palearctic, the largest expanses being in central and eastern Russia.

Biodiversity Patterns
Most species tend to have widespread distributions; low alpha and beta diversity.

Minimum Requirements
Large natural landscapes of taiga are critical to maintain populations of species that track resources that vary considerably in space and time (e.g., epizootic insect events, hare irruptions), viable populations of large carnivores require extensive natural areas because of large home range sizes; disturbance events such as fire and epizootics can cover extremely large areas - even whole landscapes; fire and epizootic events required for some successional processes; large-scale linkages of natural habitat are required to permit migrations of larger vertebrates and associated predators in response to seasonal changes or disturbances.

Sensitivity to Disturbance
Regeneration of mature forests takes very long periods of time due to the challenging climate and soil conditions; many larger vertebrates are sensitive to human presence or low intensity hunting; very sensitive to acid rain and other forms of pollutants.


 

Nearctic

Yukon Interior dry forests
Southern Hudson Bay taiga
South Avalon-Burin oceanic barrens
Northwest Territories taiga
Northern Cordillera forests
Northern Canadian Shield taiga
Newfoundland Highland forests
Muskwa-Slave Lake forests
Midwestern Canadian Shield forests
Mid-Continental Canadian forests
Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga
Eastern Canadian Shield taiga
Eastern Canadian forests
Copper Plateau taiga
Cook Inlet taiga
Central Canadian Shield forests
Alaska Peninsula montane taiga
Queen Charlotte Islands

Palearctic

West Siberian taiga
Ural montane forests and tundra
Russia, Mongolia
Northern Europe: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia
Russia
Asia: Southeastern Russia
Northeast Siberian taiga
Eastern Asia: Eastern Russia
Kamchatka-Kurile meadows and sparse forests
Iceland boreal birch forests and alpine tundra
East Siberian taiga