What Is the Taiga?

What Is the Taiga? — page 1 — the Boreal Forest One of the most exciting features of Earth is its diversity Plants and animals of all different shapes colors and sizes are spread all over the planet in Earth’s biomes A biome is a 4 This map shows Earth’s major biomes

What Is the Taiga? — page 2 — Think About It The taiga is one type of forest Can you think of other types large region or part of Earth that has a certain climate and certain types of living things Major biomes include forests grasslands tundra and deserts One of the world’s largest land biomes is the taiga The taiga is a forest biome Another name for the taiga is boreal forest The word boreal is used to describe the northern areas of Earth just south of the Arctic The trees in these forests are mostly conifers Conifers such as pine trees and fir trees have needle-shaped leaves Most conifers keep their leaves year-round The taiga is known for its extreme cold Summers are short and winters are long Living so far north means animals and people must adapt to harsh conditions The evergreen forests of Labrador in northeastern Canada are typical of the taiga 5

What Is the Taiga? — page 3 — Where on earth Is the taIga The taiga is a northern biome It is located north of the deciduous forests of temperate regions It is located south of the tundra The tundra is a biome known for being a cold treeless barren land The taiga spans across northern Europe Asia and North America Russia’s taiga stretches about 3,600 miles 5,800 kilometers across the country The taiga exists in Canada Scandinavia Alaska and Siberia Siberia is a northern region in Russia 6 Visitors to Jasper National Park in Alberta Canada can view its classic taiga landscape

What Is the Taiga? — page 4 — Vocabulary Siberia is a classic taiga region known for its bitterly cold winters There aren’t many big cities in the taiga However Toronto Canada and Moscow Russia are major cities that thrive in the taiga In fact Moscow has a population of around 12 million people That’s more than New York City Taiga landscapes in the wintertime are usually covered in snow This mountainous taiga landscape is in Russia 7 Population is the number of people living in an area

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