TAIGA
JACKIE
What is a Taiga?
A swampy forest in high northern latitudes.
Taiga
Where is it located?
- North America
- Scandinavia
- Russia
- Siberia
- Mongolia
- Northern China
- Northern Japan
Climate
Average high temperature 104 degrees Fahrenheit
Average low temperature -32 degrees Fahrenheit
Average annual precipitation of 12-33 inches
Animals
Snowy Owl
One of their many adaptations is their snowy white fur which helps them blend in and hide from prey and predators. They also have large yellow eyes surrounded by disks of stiff feather to reflect sound waves to ear openings located immediately behind.
Moose
Two adaptations are the moose is one of the few species that can eat and digest pine needles which is critical to their survival during the winter. Another adaptation, a moose as very long legs which helps them navigate through out the deep snow.
White Spruce
Most common spruce needles are four sided , stiff, and less than one inch long 2.5 centimeters. These needle-like leaves attached to the common spruce trees hold moisture.
Human Impacts
Negative Human Impact
- Deforestation
- Logging/clear cutting: in the 1700s-1800s for the ships, now se use the trees for paper and other products.
- Species are becoming endangered because of poaching.
- All these actions add to greenhouse gas problems and acid rain leads to pollution of water.
Logging
Positive Human Impact
- There is laws that protect endangered species so they can repopulate.
- Laws that limit areas that can logged and once we log an area we must plant more trees to replace the ones we cut down.
Vulnerability of Impacts
Taiga is a balanced ecosystem, if we mess one+ things up, things start to fall apart and lose control. Its a chain, once one thing is messed with or even extinct, everything is affected.
Solutions
- Have more laws that make sure logging is not taking down all areas, having a conservation law protecting the taiga would prevent major logging.
- The taiga rescue network, or TRN, is a Russian conservation program working on protecting taigas.
- People have set state laws to protect the taiga from deforestation, road constructions, mining activities, and land reclamation and other activities.
Biodiversity
Many different species inhabit and live in the taiga, if we destroy them then many of the organisms and species will become extinct.