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The boreal forest/taiga supports a relatively small variety of highly specialized and adapted animals, due to the harshness of the climate. Canada's boreal forest includes 85 species of mammals, 130 species of fish, and an estimated 32,000 species of insects. [37] Insects play a critical role as pollinators, decomposers, and as a part of the ...
The main research was completed between the years of 1994-1996, and the program was sponsored by NASA. The primary objectives were to determine how the boreal forest interacts with the atmosphere, how climate change will affect the forest, and how changes in the forest affect weather and climate. [1]
Climate change has played its role in threatening the taiga ecoregion. Equally as harmful are the human effects like deforestation, however, many associations and regulations are working to protect the taiga and reverse the damage.
This type of forest is also known as taiga, a term which is sometimes applied to the climate found therein as well. Even though the diversity may be low, the area and numbers are high, and the taiga (boreal) forest is the largest forest biome on the planet, with most of the forests located in Russia and Canada.
Thus, continued climate change would be able to force at least some of the presently existing taiga forests into one of the two woodland states or even into a treeless steppe - but it could also shift tundra areas into woodland or forest states as they warm and become more suitable for tree growth. [76]
Boreal forests are also important economic factors in Russia and Canada specifically, and the uncertainty of fire patterns in the future as a result of climate change is a major consideration in forest management plans. A decrease in allowed timber harvest could be a solution to long term uncertainty of fire cycles. [2]
Canada’s nearly 700-million-acre boreal forest, which is about 28 percent of the world’s boreal zone, stores carbon, purifies air and water and acts as a climate regulator.
The climate of the ecoregion is Subarctic climate, without dry season (Köppen climate classification Subarctic climate (Dfc)). This climate is characterized by mild summers (only 1-3 months above 10 °C (50.0 °F)) and cold, snowy winters (coldest month below −3 °C (26.6 °F)). [5] [6] Precipitation averages 200 - 400 mm/year. [1]