Taiga (IPA pronunciation: , from Mongolian) is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, and northern Russia (especially Siberia), the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome and a major source of oxygen. In Canada, boreal forest is the term used to refer to the southern part of this biome, while "taiga" is used to describe the more barren northern areas south of the Arctic tree-line.

Since North America and Eurasia were recently connected by the Bering land bridge, a number of animal and plant species (more animals than plants) were able to colonise both continents and are distributed throughout the taiga biome. Others differ regionally, typically with each genus having several distinct species, each occupying different regions of the taiga.

Climate and geography

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The taiga biome has a harsh continental climate with a very large temperature range between summer and winter, classified as "Dfc" or "Dfb" in the Köppen climate classification scheme. Aside from the tundra and permanent ice caps, it is the coldest biome on Earth. High latitudes mean that, for much of the year the sun hovers at the horizon; winters last at least 6 months, with average temperatures below freezing. Temperatures vary from -50 °C to 30 °C throughout the whole year, with 8 or more months of temperatures averaging below 10 °C. The summers, while short, are generally warm and humid. In general, taiga grows north to the 10 °C July isotherm, occasionally to the 9 °C July isotherm (Arno & Hammerly 1984, Arno et al. 1995). The southern limit is more variable, depending on rainfall; taiga may be replaced by open steppe woodland south of the 15 °C July isotherm where rainfall is very low, but more typically extends south to the 18 °C July isotherm, and locally where rainfall is higher (notably in eastern Siberia and adjacent northern Manchuria) south to the 20 °C July isotherm. In these warmer areas, the taiga has higher species diversity with more warmth-loving species such as Korean Pine, Jezo Spruce and Manchurian Fir, and merges gradually into mixed temperate forest, or more locally (on the Pacific Ocean coasts of North America and Asia) into coniferous temperate rainforests.

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Siberia...Taiga. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gFC3n9lRRU&feature=related
Pertsovich (Svetlana Pertsovich) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:06:43 -0000
Siberia...Taiga. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gFC3n9lRRU&feature=related
Taiga Aisaka, Brilliant Stage Series, PVC Figure, Toradora! http://bit.ly/6e8zqo
Duke35818 (H. Z.) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:06:27 -0000
Taiga Aisaka, Brilliant Stage Series, PVC Figure, Toradora! http://bit.ly/6e8zqo
Taiga-Brot - Oma approves
MKannon (Kannon Maldini) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:57:31 -0000
Taiga-Brot - Oma approves
barajando la posibilidad de comprar un bayou un savana y un taiga por "i-bei"
SlapFunk (SlapFunk) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:26:21 -0000
barajando la posibilidad de comprar un bayou un savana y un taiga por "i-bei"
DC : Toradora: Stole this most sweetsome figure of Taiga Aisaka from the Kotobukiya store when I had ... http://bit.ly/6jJAua @game_gadgets
figurejp (Manish) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:22:06 -0000
DC : Toradora: Stole this most sweetsome figure of Taiga Aisaka from the Kotobukiya store when I had ... http://bit.ly/6jJAua @game_gadgets
@taiga 週末は、BNK09と法事でございまする。
mocci_ (Takuya MOCHIZUKI) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:57:50 -0000
@taiga 週末は、BNK09と法事でございまする。

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