Topic 8 - Taiga Forest

Question 1

Describe Taiga forests

Answer 1

• largest biome of earth, stretches from 50 to 70 north and across the north of Asia and America
• has a subarctic climate, long winters with av. temps of -40`c
• summers are short and mils with av. temps not going above 16`c, snow remains on the ground for many months and there is little precipitation.

Question 2

Plant adaptations (needles)

Answer 2

the forest is mainly made up of mainly coniferous trees which have pine needles, these have a small surface area and a waxy coating to help reduce water loss. they are dark green to absorb the most sunlight and contain little sap so that the don’t freeze easily and can operate in cold conditions

Question 3

Plant adaptations (trees)

Answer 3

Trees grow close together to gain protection from wind damage and most have conical shape branches that grow downwards so heavy snow slides off rather than accumulating and breaking branches

Question 4

Animal adaptations (population)

Answer 4

in the summer there is a large population of animal life, especially birds, however in the winter numbers drop dramatically as most migrate south to warmer climates and arrive back in the summer because of billions of insects in the numerous lakes and swamps.

Question 5

Animal adaptations (physical)

Answer 5

most animals have a thick fur coat for insulation and smaller ears to avoid frostbite. they also develop winter camouflage son they don’t stand out against the white snow and white fur provides provides better insulation then dark fur.

Question 6

Animal adaptations (behaviour)

Answer 6

animals often hibernate such as bears, who build up fat reserves in the summer and hibernate in a den in the winter.

Question 7

Threats to taiga forests
(commercial development)

Answer 7

• taiga trees produce softwood and are the worlds main source of softwood timber
• all trees in an area are cut down and transported to sawmills and cut into timber or sent to papermills and turned into pulp
• the value of softwood means large areas have been cleared, in Russia deforestation is occurring at a rate of 12 million hectares a year
• this is mostly illegal and so no efforts are being made to replace the trees

Question 8

Threats to taiga forests
(oil and gas extraction)

Answer 8

• Russia has 20% of the worlds oil and gas and most in taiga forests
• it is estimated that Russia’s oil industry soils 5 million barrels of oil each year through leaks and accidents
• in Canada in 2011, 5 million litres of bitumen mixed with water spilled from a broken pipeline in Alberta
• Oil spills are very damaging on the taiga as drainage is often poor which means the oil doesn’t get washed away and the oil remains in the ecosystem for a long time and is taken up by the shallow roots systems which kills the trees