Plant Life in the Taiga:
Not many plants can live in the Taiga due to harsh weather, but some plant life does survive.
Dominant trees in the Taiga are Needle-leaf, coniferous trees.
- From a biodiversity standpoint, there is little diversity in the main trees.
- The four main genera found are: the evergreen spruce, fir, and pine, and the deciduous larch or tamarack.
- In North America, one or two species of fir and one or two species of spruce are dominant.
- Across Scandinavia and Western Russia the Scots pine is a common component of the Taiga.
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Spruces are large trees, from about 20-60 meters (about 60-200 feet) tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical form.The needles of spruce trees are attached singly to the branches in a spiral fashion, each needle on a small peg-like structure called a pulvinus.The needles are shed when 4–10 years old, leaving the branches rough with the retained pulvinus.
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Pines are evergreen, coniferous resinous trees (or rarely shrubs) growing 3–80 meters tall, with the majority of species reaching 15–45 meters tall. The bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaking bark.The new spring shoots are sometimes called "candles", and they are covered in brown or whitish bud scales and point upward at first, then later turn green and spread outward. These "candles" offer foresters a means to evaluate fertility of the soil and vigour of the trees. These trees are long-lived, typically reaching ages of 100–1,000 years, some even more.
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Firs are large trees, reaching heights of 10–80 m (33–262 ft) tall when mature. Firs can be distinguished from other members of the pine family by the unique attachment of their needle-like leaves and by their different cones. Identification of the different species is based on the size and arrangement of the leaves, the size and shape of the cones, and whether the bract scales of the cones are long and exserted, or short and hidden inside the cone. Their needle-like leaves to the twig by a base that resembles a small suction cup, and their leaves are significantly flattened, sometimes even looking like they are pressed.
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Growing from 20 to 45 meters tall, Larches are native to much of the cooler temperate Northern Hemisphere, on lowlands in the North and high on mountains further South. Larches are among the dominant plants in the immense boreal forests of Russia, Canada, and Scandinavia. Although a conifer, the larch is a deciduous tree and loses its leaves in the autumn.
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Aspen are all medium-sized deciduous trees reaching 15–30 meters (49–98 ft) tall. All of the aspens typically grow in large clonal colonies, derived from a single seedling, and spread by means of root suckers; new stems in the colony may appear at up to 30–40 m (98–131 ft) from the parent tree. Each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived. In some cases, this is for thousands of years, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground.
LOOKING DEEPER:
Growthform Adaptations: The main reasons firs, sprucs and pines are the dominant trees in the boreal forest, and thus define the biome is because they are adapted to the extreme conditions brought about by the cold, including the winter-induced drought and the short growing season. The following are some of the main adaptations we found that trees in this zone have:
- Conical shape - promotes shedding of snow and prevents loss of branches.
- Needleleafs - narrow leaves reduce surface area through which water can be lost (transpired), especially in the winter when the frozen ground prevents plants from replenishing their water supply. The needles of boreal conifers also have thick waxy coatings--a waterproof cuticle--in which stomata are sunken and protected from drying winds.
- Evergreen habit - retention of foliage allows plants to photosynthesize as soon as temperatures permit in spring, rather than having to waste time in the short growing season merely growing leaves. [Note: Deciduous larch are dominant in areas underlain by nearly continuous permafrost and having a climate even too dry and cold for the waxy needles of spruce and fir.]
- Dark color - the dark green of spruce and fir needles helps the foliage absorb maximum heat from the sun and begin photosynthesis as early as possible.