Snowshoe Hare

The snowshoe hare  (Lepus american-
us) is a species of hare found throughout Canada and Alaska. This animal is significant for its fur, which changes color from white in the winter to brown in the summer. This is an example of camouflage, or blending in with the environment to hide. This adaptation was an evolutionary advantage because allowed snowshoe hares to evade predators.

 53°21'20.28"N
110°51'45.52"W

Limiting Factors

A limiting factor is a factor that limits the ability for species to thrive. There are two types of limiting factors: density-dependent and density-independent. A density-dependent limiting factor is affected by the density of a population. In thick boreal forest, a density-dependent limiting factor can be light, which often won't reach the ground until a tree falls. Saplings will also have limited space to grow in this scenario.


A density-independent limiting factor is a factor which is unaffected by the size of a population. One such limiting factor througout taiga is temperature. Many species cannot survive the winters which taiga experiences. Cold temperatures will generally afftect small and large populations the same.Another density-independent limiting factor is a volcanic explosion. Plants and animals will be affected the same regardless of their population size.

 65°41'6.55"N
150°57'29.18"W

Siberian Tiger

The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a tiger subspecies which lives in east Siberia. Its conservation status in endangered. In the mid 1980's, there were only 250 individuals left in the wild. This population has slowly gone up since; it was about 350 in 1996 and 500 in 2005.

The diet of the Siberian tiger consists mostly of Wild Boar and Red Deer. It is a very large predator which can weigh over 700 pounds. It will also eat musk, sika deer, and goral, along with smaller animals like salmon, hares, and pikas. Unlike some other tiger species, it is very rare for a Siberian tiger to attack humans.

49°21'46.11"N
135°43'14.07"E

Primary and Secondary Succession

Primary succession is when new growth occurs in a location devoid of vegetation and soil. Common causes of primary succession in taiga are glaciers and lava flows. First, pioneer species colonize the area such as fungae, lichen, grasses, and wildflowers. These start to recreate the soil, allowing for small vascular plants to take over. As the area starts to contain larger plants, animals are attracted to it. Lastly, trees and other large plants join, and a climax community is created.


Secondary succession is the growth of plants in a an area where plants were destroyed, but the soil remains intact. In taiga, the main cause of this is wildfires. In fact, some species, such as the Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) will only release seeds after a fire. The succession of growth is similar to primary succession, but there is no need for pioneer species.

 50°23'21.34"N
100°51'0.83"W

Nitrogen Cycle

The nitrogen cycle is a biogeographic cycle which details the circulation of nitrogen through the biosphere. Within this are four major processes. One is fixation. Fixation is the conversion of nitrogen into ammonia by prokaryotes. This is meaningful because nitrogen is unusable by life, but ammonia is not. Another process is mineralization, which is the release of nitrogen during decomposition. Nitrification is the oxidation of ammonia and then nitrates. Last is denitrification, the process of reducing nitrate into nitrogen by bacteria.

60°21'4.59"N
 87° 1'56.98"E

Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle is a natural cycle in which carbon is cycled through the Earth. It details the shifts between the major carbon resevoirs, which include sediment, the ocean, the terrestrial biosphere, the atmosphere, the crust and the mantle. In taiga, large forests are a major reducer of atmospheric carbon, which trees use in respiration. Taiga has the largest resevoirs of carbon in the world, both in its forests and peat bogs. Also, as there are few major urban areas in taiga, the release of carbon by burning fossil fuels is relatively low. However, many locations, such as Alaska, are mined for their fossil fuels, causing carbon to be taken out of the ground. Another cause of carbon release is volcanoes, which are common in southern Alaska and Iceland. These put carbon in the crust and mantle into the atmosphere.

 61°14'33.25"N
113° 4'39.88"W

Oslo, Norway

Oslo is Norway's capital and largest city. Located in southeast Norway, it is just inside of the southern border of taiga. It has about 600,000 inhabitants. Oslo has mild summers and cold winters. However, due to the Gulf Stream, the climate is warmer than its northern location would suggest.

Climate data for Oslo
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	12.8 (55)	15 (59)	17.8 (64)	26.1 (79)	30 (86)	33.9 (93)	35 (95)	34.4 (94)	27.2 (81)	23.3 (74)	14.4 (58)	12.8 (55)	35 (95)
Average high °C (°F)	-1.78 (28.8)	-0.89 (30.4)	3.5 (38.3)	9.11 (48.4)	15.78 (60.4)	20.39 (68.7)	21.5 (70.7)	20.11 (68.2)	15.11 (59.2)	9.28 (48.7)	3.22 (37.8)	-0.5 (31.1)	9.56 (49.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	-4.3 (24.3)	-3.9 (25)	0.1 (32.2)	5.0 (41)	10.1 (50.2)	15.5 (59.9)	16.9 (62.4)	15.7 (60.3)	11.3 (52.3)	6.6 (43.9)	0.9 (33.6)	-3.1 (26.4)	5.9 (42.6)
Average low °C (°F)	-6.78 (19.8)	-6.78 (19.8)	-3.28 (26.1)	0.78 (33.4)	6.5 (43.7)	10.61 (51.1)	12.22 (54.0)	11.28 (52.3)	7.5 (45.5)	3.78 (38.8)	-1.5 (29.3)	-5.61 (21.9)	2.39 (36.3)
Record low °C (°F)	-26.1 (-15)	-25 (-13)	-21.1 (-6)	-16.1 (3)	-4.4 (24)	0.6 (33)	3.9 (39)	2.2 (36)	-3.9 (25)	-11.1 (12)	-16.1 (3)	-23.9 (-11)	-26.1 (-15)
Precipitation mm (inches)	49 (1.93)	36 (1.42)	47 (1.85)	41 (1.61)	53 (2.09)	65 (2.56)	81 (3.19)	89 (3.5)	90 (3.54)	84 (3.31)	73 (2.87)	55 (2.17)	763 (30.04)
Snowfall cm (inches)	14.1 (5.55)	21.8 (8.58)	21.4 (8.43)	3.5 (1.38)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.4 (0.16)	4.3 (1.69)	11.7 (4.61)	77.2 (30.39)

Oslo is situated above Oslofjord. A fjord is a narrow body of water surrounded by cliffs. These are usually carved by glaciers. However, Oslofjord is not technically a fjord, but rather a bay. This confusion stems from the fact that fjord can mean any body of water in Norwegian. There are many true fjords in Norway, such as Geirangerfjord, shown below.


59°54'46.92"N
 10°45'8.40"E