Taiga Plants

You might have heard about the boreal forest, otherwise known as taiga. It is considered as the largest among the terrestrial biomes of the world and stretches over North America and Eurasia. Taiga is a Russian word which means forest. It is said that taiga, otherwise known as boreal forest, covers around 27% of the world forest. Most of the parts of taiga biome is located in Canada and Russia. The weather conditions of this biome make it difficult for most of the plants and animals to survive there. However, there are some plants and animals adapted to the taiga weather. Read this article for more information about some taiga plants facts.

Taiga Plants and Their Adaptations

The habitat of a biome is determined by the climatic conditions of the place. As mentioned above, the weather conditions of taiga biome are not favorable for the survival of most of the plants and animals. The winters in taiga are very long, characterized by snowfall and extreme cold. Summers are short, but are warm, humid and rainy. Even though, the conditions of taiga are not favorable for plant and animal life, this place is not completely barren. There are some plant and animal species that are adapted to the conditions of taiga. Most of the animals in taiga, like, snowshoe rabbits and black bear, have thick fur to protect themselves from the cold weather. Some of them hibernate in winter. Let us take a look at some of the common taiga plants and their adaptations.

Adaptations of Plants in Taiga Biome

Taiga plant life is much less diverse, as compared to the rainforests and other such biomes. However, there are some plants and trees that are commonly found to grow in this place and they have some adaptations that help them to survive the weather conditions. If you take a look at the taiga plants, you can find out that most of them are coniferous trees, like, jack pine, white spruce, Douglas fir, etc. These coniferous trees have needle-like leaves with waxy coating. This coating protects the leaves from drying out in extreme cold. The trees being evergreen, do not lose the leaves during winter, so that they can start photosynthesis, as soon as they receive sunlight. It is also said that the dark green color of the leaves enables the trees to fasten the process of photosynthesis.

There are some deciduous trees in taiga, like, birch, poplar, and aspen. These trees have broad leaves that are shed during winter, so as to prevent energy loss during the season. New leaves appear on them during spring. Another taiga plant adaptation is their conical shape, that allows the snow to slide down to earth. This prevents accumulation of snow over the trees and the resultant breaking of branches. It has also been observed that these trees grow in large areas and are very close to one another. This gives them protection from wind and cold. Wildfires being common in taiga, the trees have very thick and hard bark for protection. The fires may destroy the upper thin portion of these trees, but, this enables the sunlight to reach the ground and cause the growth of new taiga plants.

Common Taiga Plants

Now, you know that most of the taiga plants are coniferous trees, but, there are some deciduous trees too. The commonly found taiga plants and trees include balsam fir, jack pine, white fir, Douglas fir, paper birch, white poplar, eastern red cedar, black spruce, white spruce, Siberian spruce, etc. Even lichens and mosses are found in taiga. Spruce trees are said to be the most commonly found trees in taiga. They can keep their leaves for around 15 years, so that these older leaves can be used for photosynthesis during late winter and early spring. These can grow tall and their needles have the ability to absorb water. Balsam fir trees have flat and long needles that help to carry water to almost all parts of the tree. This tree has shallow roots that help in absorption of water. But, they are not that fire resistant as other taiga plants and even the seeds of this tree are destroyed by fire. Jack pine is another taiga plant that survives well in the region. It has waxy needles and slender branches that prevent sticking of snow to the tree. Peat moss is one of the common types of moss that grows in taiga biome. This moss lacks true roots, but, collects large amounts of water in the stems and leaves. You can also find drought resistant lichens in taiga. Even though, they can survive for a long time without water, they get the required amount of water during rains or through snow melts.

In short, taiga plants and animals are adapted to the specific weather conditions of the region. While, some of these trees are much valued for their timber that is used as firewood, some others are very popular for making furniture and paper pulp.