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A winter snow scene in Canada

Taiga

The taiga is the largest land habitat - a northern zone of coniferous forests, stretching right round the planet from western Alaska to eastern Siberia. In the winter the temperature can drop to as low as -50 degrees Celsius and the taiga is blanketed in snow. Many of the trees have to survive being partly buried in snowdrifts. In summer, the climate is much milder and many birds migrate to the taiga regions.

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Where you find Taiga

Map showing the location of the Taiga habitat

About Taiga

Taiga (/ˈtaɪɡə/; Russian: тайга́; IPA: [tɐjˈɡa]; from Turkic or Mongolian), also known as boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces and larches.

The taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States (northern Minnesota through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Upstate New York and northern New England) and is known as the Northwoods. In Eurasia, it covers most of Sweden, Finland, much of Norway, lowland/coastal areas of Iceland, much of Russia from Karelia in the west to the Pacific ocean (including much of Siberia), and areas of northern Kazakhstan, northern Mongolia, and northern Japan (on the island of Hokkaidō). However, the main tree species, the length of the growing season and summer temperatures vary. For example, the taiga of North America consists of mainly spruces; Scandinavian and Finnish taiga consists of a mix of spruce, pines and birch; Russian taiga has spruces, pines and larches depending on the region, the Eastern Siberian taiga being a vast larch forest.

The term "boreal forest" is sometimes used (particularly in Canada but also in Scandinavia and Finland) to refer to the more southerly part of the biome, while the term taiga is often used to describe the more barren areas of the northernmost part of the taiga approaching the tree line and the tundra biome.

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Behaviours

Useful behaviours for this habitat

Ecozones

Ecozones where this habitat is found

Habitats

Other Terrestrial habitats

Video collections

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