The taiga biome goes by many different names, including the boreal forest and coniferous forest. The taiga has short summers, with an average of fifty seven degrees Fahrenheit and fourteen degrees Celsius. Winters are cold and snowy in the forests, with the average temperature at about fourteen degrees Fahrenheit or negative ten degrees Celsius. These coniferous forests are most often and abundantly found near the top of the world, just under the main tundra biome. Taigas span across Eurasia and North America. The taiga is one of the largest biomes, covering about twelve million square kilometers or more than four and a half million square miles. The Russian taiga alone covers an area larger than the contiguous United States. Boreal forests are under attack from industrialization. …show more content…
These plants have adapted to the climate, which changes with the seasons. Conifers have needles instead of leaves, which allows them to lose less water through their leaves. Conifers, or evergreens, don’t lose their leaves during the winter season. Common animals in the taiga biome include lynxes, bears, minks, squirrels, grey wolves, caribou, and moose. An example of mutualism in the taiga biome is lichen and a tree, as lichen gets its minerals and nutrients from the dead matter on the tree, and the tree gets its essential nutrients from the lichen. An example of commensalism is a squirrel living in the hole of a tree. The squirrel gains a home, while the tree is unaffected. An example of parasitism in the taiga are forest tent caterpillars and trees. The forest tent caterpillars feed on the leaves, gaining food, but doesn’t kill the tree, even though it often causes serious defoliation, so the tree is harmed. The endangered species that live in the taiga are beavers, wood bison, siberian cranes, siberian tigers, peregrine falcons, snow leopards, whooping cranes, and the canadian