Taiga Biome: Facts About the World's Largest Forest

Taiga: The World's Largest Biome

The Taiga Biome

Taiga forests occupy a larger area than all the tropical rainforests combined. They grow in a region of extreme weather encircling the Northern Hemisphere from Alaska to Japan.

Northwestern American Taiga

The western belt of North American taiga is a mosaic of forests, rivers, and lakes. It gives way to barren tundra in the north and vast prairie grasslands to the south.

Northeastern American Taiga

The eastern belt of taiga in North America sprawls across ancient mountains and wet lowlands. The region's landscape, including the immense Hudson Bay, was created by massive glaciers.

European Taiga

The European taiga stretches right across the continent from Scotland to the Urals of Russia. In Western Europe, taiga forests grow around lakes and wetlands.

Siberian Taiga

The Siberian taiga is the world's largest forest; it covers an area twice that of the Amazon rainforest. It is crossed by some of the world's biggest rivers, down which timber companies float felled logs to sawmills and factories.

East Asian Taiga

The East Asian taiga is home to some of the world's rarest animals, including Siberian tigers and snow leopards. Because of the region's wet summers and cold winters, the taiga extends further south here than elsewhere in Asia.

Taiga Climate

For most of the year, the taiga is dark, cold, and covered in snow and ice. During the short periods of warmth in spring and summer, the days get longer, the ice and snow melt, and the forest comes to life.

Taiga Plants

Trees dominate the taiga, but these forests do not have the lush diversity of tropical forests. Taiga plants must live in extreme conditions, and only a few species are strong enough to survive.

Taiga Animals

Despite the long months of snow and ice, a wide variety of animals eke out an existence in taiga forests, including some of the largest land animals in the world. Most live alone among the forest trees, rarely crossing paths.

People and the Taiga

With little land suitable for agriculture or industry, the taiga has largely escaped the ravages of the modern world. In the past, people survived mainly by:

• Hunting
• Fishing
• Herding reindeer