The Scandinavian and Russian taiga is an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

within the taiga and boreal forests

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

as defined by the WWF classification (ecoregion PA0608). It is situated in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...

between

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

in the north and

temperate mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These f ...

in the south and occupies about in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

and the northern part of European

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, being the largest ecoregion in Europe. In Sweden the taiga is primarily associated with the

Norrland terrain Norrland terrain ( sv, link=no, Norrlandsterräng) is a geomorphic unit covering the bulk of Norrland and the northwestern half of Svealand. Except for The High Coast the coastal areas of Norrland do not belong to the Norrland terrain. The sou ...

Description

The Scandinavian and Russian taiga consists of

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...

ous

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s dominated by ''

Pinus sylvestris ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and or ...

'' (in drier locations), often with an understory of ''

Juniperus communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...

'', ''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

'' and ''

Picea obovata ''Picea obovata'', the Siberian spruce, is a spruce native to Siberia, from the Ural Mountains east to Magadan Oblast, and from the Arctic tree line south to the Altay Mountains in northwestern Mongolia. Description and uses It is a medium-siz ...

'' and a significant admixture of ''

Betula pubescens ''Betula pubescens'' (syn. ''Betula alba''), commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern As ...

'' and ''

Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...

''. '' Larix sibirica'' is characteristic of the eastern part of the ecoregion. Geobotanically, it belongs to the Northeastern European floristic province of the

Circumboreal Region The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan. It is the largest floristic region i ...

of the Holarctic Kingdom. The sole vertebrate endemic in this ecoregion is the avian species, razorbill (''

Alca torda The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis imp ...

''). However, there are a number of special status mammals and birds within the Scandinavian and Russian taiga, as well as one reptilian

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

. Growing season in taiga areas is generally considered to be measured as the number of days for which average daily temperature exceeds . The longest growing season for the Scandinavian and Russian taiga occurs in the locales with marine influence from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

: in coastal areas of Norway, Sweden and Finland the growing season of the closed boreal forest can reach as high as 145 to 180 days per annum. The shortest growing season of the ecoregion is found in continental Russia and at the far northern part of the ecoregion at the

ecotone An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and gras ...

with

. Soil nutrient levels are generally poor, but diversity of soil organisms can attain high levels, particularly in the southern reaches of the ecoregion. In these southern elements of the ecoregion, closed canopy

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...

with some temperate deciduous tree species interspersed among the dominant conifers, including

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...

, elm and oak. In some areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and western Russia, this zone is exploited for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. Some of the elements of the ecoregion are rich in

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

, as exemplified by the

Femundsmarka National Park Femundsmarka National Park ( no, Femundsmarka nasjonalpark) is a national park in Innlandet and Trøndelag counties in Norway. The landscape is largely marshes and lakes (it lies adjacent to Norway's second largest natural lake, Femunden). It is ...

in Norway, which is replete with marshes and lakes.

Biodiversity

There are a total of 368 native

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

species in the Scandinavian and Russian taiga according to WWF tabulation; when all migratory bird

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

are included, this number is somewhat larger. This ecoregion supports the following native non-endemic threatened mammals: * European mink (''

Mustela lutreola The European mink (''Mustela lutreola''), also known as the Russian mink and Eurasian mink, is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to Europe. It is similar in colour to the American mink, but is slightly smaller and has a less specialized ...

'', Endangered) * European otter ('' Lutra lutra'', Near Threatened) * garden dormouse ('' Eliomys quercinus'', Near Threatened) * Greater noctule bat ('' Nyctalus lasiopterus'', Near Threatened) * pond bat ('' Myotis dasycneme'', Near Threatened) * western barbastelle (''

Barbastella barbastellus The western barbastelle (''Barbastella barbastellus''), also known as the barbastelle or barbastelle bat, is a European bat in the genus ''Barbastella''. This species is found from Portugal to Azerbaijan and from Sweden to Canary Islands, whe ...

'', Vulnerable) * Russian desman ('' Desmana moschata'', Vulnerable) The Scandinavian and Russian taiga has only a single non-endemic special status native reptile: the Lower Risk grass snake ('' Natrix natrix''). Native non-endemic threatened avian species in the ecoregion are: * aquatic warbler ('' Acrocephalus paludicola'', Vulnerable) * black-tailed godwit ('' Limosa limosa'', Near Threatened) * Eurasian curlew ('' Numenius arquata'', Near Threatened) * European roller ('' Coracias garrulus'', Near Threatened) * great snipe (''

Gallinago media The great snipe (''Gallinago media'') is a small stocky wader in the genus ''Gallinago''. This bird's breeding habitat is marshes and wet meadows with short vegetation in north-eastern Europe, including north-western Russia. Great snipes are mi ...

'', Near Threatened) * greater spotted eagle ('' Aquila clanga'', Vulnerable) * lesser white-fronted goose ('' Anser erythropus'', Vulnerable) * pallid harrier ('' Circus macrourus'', Near Threatened) * red-footed falcon (''

Falco vespertinus The red-footed falcon (''Falco vespertinus''), formerly the western red-footed falcon, is a bird of prey. It belongs to the family Falconidae, the falcons. This bird is found in eastern Europe and Asia although its numbers are dwindling rapidly ...

'', Near Threatened) * yellow-breasted bunting ('' Emberiza aureola'', Vulnerable)

Protected areas

The following is a partial list of protected areas lying within the Scandinavian and Russian taiga: *

Björnlandet National Park Björnlandet is a national park in Västerbotten County, northern Sweden. It was established in 1991 and covers an area of . Geographically it lies in southernmost Lappland, about southwest of the hamlet (locality) of Fredrika, in Åsele M ...

, Sweden *

, Norway *

Helvetinjärvi National Park Helvetinjärvi National Park ( fi, Helvetinjärven kansallispuisto, literally "Hell's Lake national park") is a national park in the Pirkanmaa region in Finland.

, Finland * Isojärvi National Park, Finland * Koli National Park, Finland * Liesjärvi National Park, Finland *

Muddus National Park Muddus (; smj, Muttos) is a national park in northern Sweden. It is situated in the province Lapland, with its largest part in the Gällivare Municipality. Furthermore, it belongs to the largely untouched UNESCO World Heritage classified Lap ...

, Sweden * Paanajärvi National Park, Russia *

Skuleskogen National Park Skuleskogen National Park ( sv, Skuleskogens nationalpark, literally ''The Skule Forest National Park'') is a Swedish national park in Västernorrland County, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in northern Sweden. It covers , constituting the easter ...

, Sweden *

Vodlozersky National Park Vodlozersky National Park (russian: Водлозерский национальный парк) is a national park in the north of Russia, located in Onezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast and Pudozhsky District in the Republic of Karelia. It was ...

, Russia

References

* * * * * {{refend Taiga and boreal forests Ecoregions of Europe Ecoregions of Finland Ecoregions of Norway Ecoregions of Russia Ecoregions of Sweden Forests of Finland Forests and woodlands of Norway Forests of Sweden Palearctic ecoregions