Biome Presentation

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Biome Presentation
The Taiga Boreal Forests

• Presented By
• Ronnie Kurtz, Bohrvon Liu, Aveek Sarker

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Physical Characteristics

• Boreal forest refers to southern part of biome
• Taiga refers to edge of boreal forest where
  forest gradually gives way to tundra
• Stretches in a band around the world between 45
  and 65 North

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Physical Characteristics

• Worlds largest terrestrial biome
• Characterized by coniferous forests
• Forests grow slowly
• Tolerate weathered, nutrient poor soil
• High bird/mammal diversity
• Dominant trees pines, hemlocks, spruce, cedar,
  fir
• Extreme cold and short summers

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Climate Temperature

• Dominated by cold arctic air brought by winds
  from Arctic circle
• Because of earth's tilt, the taiga is turned away
  from the sun in the winter.
• Less of the sun's radiation reaches the ground to
  provide heat

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Climate Temperature

• Harsh continental climate with very large
  temperature range between winter and summer
• Winter lasts 5-6 months with temperatures varying
  from -50 C to 30 C (-58F to 86F)
• Average winter temperature is 26F
• Eight or more months of temperatures average
  below 10 C (50F)

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Climate Temperature

• Summers are short and generally mild, rainy,
  humid, and short
• Temperatures during the summer range from 30 F
  to 70 F
• Average summer temperature is 50F

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Rainfall

• Relatively low precipitation throughout the year
  ranging from 200-750mm annually
• Average precipitation during the summer is 10-20
  inches (250-500mm) and is mostly rain
• Average precipitation during the winter is 20-30
  inches (500-750mm) and is mostly snow

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Types of Organisms Adaptations

• Snowshoe Rabbit
• Lives in forest areas where the ground is covered
  with undergrowth in the higher parts of North
  America.
• Has large rear feet and the toes can spread out
  to act like snowshoes
• Their feet also have fur on the bottom, which
  protects them from the cold and gives them
  traction in the snow
• In the summer its fur is rusty, grayish brown but
  is turns pure white in the winter helping it
  avoid predators

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Types of Organisms Adaptations

• Gray Wolf
• Lives in the Siberian Taiga
• Coats are made up of wooly fur to provide
  insulation and long guard hairs to keep out
  moisture.
• Large paws have fleshy pads and claws for
  traction and can spread to provide better support
  in snow
• Have a sense of hearing twenty times sharper than
  a human's
• Reflective retina, called a tapetum that enhances
  their night vision

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Types of Organisms Adaptations

• Wolverine
• The wolverine is powerfully built and is well
  adapted to living in the cold.
• Has very strong jaws that can bite through frozen
  meat and bone.
• Its paws are very large with long claws.
• The wolverine's fur is thick and a glossy dark
  brown

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Types of Organisms Adaptations

• Black Spruce
• Can grow to be twenty-five meters tall
• Grows many pinecones
• Enjoys poorly drained soil
• Able to survive in the colder climates because of
  its layered twigs, waxy pine needles, and rough
  bark

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Types of Organisms Adaptations

• Siberian Spruce
• Conical shape promotes shedding of snow and
  prevents loss of branches.
• Narrowness of the needles reduce surface area
  through which water may be lost
• Thick waxy coating that is water proof and
  protects the needles from drying winds.
• Dark green color of the needles helps the foliage
  absorb maximum heat from the sun and begin
  photosynthesis sooner

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Types of Organisms Adaptations

• Other Animals/Birds- Black Bear, Bald Eagle,
  Bobcat, Lynx, Grizzly Bear, Owl, Red Fox, Otter
• Other Plants- Balsam Fir, Douglas Fir, Red Cedar,
  Jack Pine, White Fir, White Poplar, White Spruce

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Food Chain- Taiga

• Coyote -gt Moose -gt Conifer Trees

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Food Chain- Taiga

• Red Tailed Hawk -gt Snowshoe Hare -gt White Spruce

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Food Chain- Boreal Forest

• Great Horned Owl -gt Spruce Grouse -gt Bog Birch

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Food Chain- Boreal Forest

• Canadian Lynx -gt Ground Squirrel -gt Grasses

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Keystone Species-Taiga

• Siberian Tiger
• Top of food chain, hunts deer and boar
• Without, deer and boar become slow, small, and
  overpopulated, and damaging
• Have potential to destroy habitat, overgrazing
  areas and trampling and dangerously compacting
  soil

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Indicator Species- Taiga

• Siberian Tiger
• Typically poached, so presence is indicator of
  health in the face of human activity
• As they are endangered, also an indicator of
  overall special diversity and prominence in biome

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Keystone Species-Boreal Forest

• Scots Pine
• Lichens and mosses, grow on the trees themselves.
  
• Red squirrels, mice and voles live on pine seeds
  and deer feed on pine seedlings and saplings
• The trees also attract various insects that are
  eaten by birds
• Scots pine plays an important ecological role
  even when it is dead a decaying Scots Pine
  provides habitat for 15 times more beetle species
  than a living tree.

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Indicator Species- Boreal Forest

• Red Tailed Hawk
• At top of food chain, depends on health and
  prominence of organisms below
• Presence is good indicator of level of toxins
  introduced in environment, as toxins tend to get
  more concentrated in upper levels of biome

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Human Impact- Taiga

• Unsustainable hunting of animals such as tiger
• Depreciating special diversity and harming
  overall health of environment
• Introduction of hydroelectricity plants, leading
  to loss of terrestrial habitats, wildlife and
  habitat disturbances, shoreline erosion, altered
  aquatic regimes and increased mercury, carbon
  dioxide and methane releases from flooding

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Human Impact- Boreal Forest

• Clear-cutting of forests for uses such as toilet
  paper and copy paper
• Less than 8 is protected by governments, opening
  rest to be used at will
• Destroys environments and habitats, depreciating
  presence of organisms and livelihood of biome
• Exploitation of fossil fuels, such as gas and
  oil, are damaging environment
• Leads to air pollution, summarily contributing to
  considerable damage to both species and the soil
  that fuels the ecosystem

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Human Impact- Boreal Forest

• High demand for fossil fuels are pushing
  exploration and development into areas once
  thought impossible to exploit
• As the planet warms the southern reaches of the
  boreal forest will become warm enough for
  deciduous trees to outcompete the conifers and
  replace them