Please read the pages indicated by Z-21 and study Behavioral Objective #33. South of the tundra in both North America and Eurasia is found a zone dominated by coniferous forest. This is the taiga.

Locate the position on earth where this biome is located by studying the map showing the biomes of the world.

Like the tundra, the taiga is dotted by countless lakes, ponds, and bogs. And like the tundra, it has a very cold winter, but it has a longer and somewhat warmer summer. During the summer the subsoil can thaw and vegetation can grow more abundantly than in the tundra. The number of different species living on the taiga is larger than on the tundra, but it is considerably smaller than biomes farther south. The taiga  is a forest of evergreen scaly or needle leaved trees.  Thier may be considerble preciptation  in the form of snow, but this water is not avaiable to plants until spring thaw; coniferous forest are actually very dry environments.  Pine needles are adapted for plants to survive in very dry  areas (xerophtic). Though conifers are the most characteristic of the larger plants on the taiga, some deciduous trees (trees that drop their leaves each season), are also common. Among the animals that one might find in the taiga are moose, black bears, wolves, minks, wolverines, martens, squirrels, and many smaller rodents that are all important mammals in the taiga communities. Birds, during the summer, are very abundant as well.
The soils  are thin (little topsoil) and acidic.  These soils form slowly due to low temperatures and waxy covering of  the needles which decomposes slowly.

 Activity: Write a paragraph describing which environmental factors are responsible for the characteristic adaptations demonstrated by the plants and animals in the taiga biome and give examples of the flora and fauna which may be found in this ecosystem’s trophic levels.

Like the tundra, the northern taiga forest community is also circumpolar, dominated by __________ trees.

a. deciduous

b. annual

c. pine (coniferous)

d. epiphytic

e. oak