Characteristics of the taiga GapFill

The taiga biome is also known as   temperate rainforestboreal forestdeciduous forestthe polar biome.  It covers large areas of the northern hemisphere, including northern Canada, Scandinavia and northern   RussiaBrazilAustraliaChina.  It is characterised by a cold climate with temperatures ranging from   -20 to 200 to 3010-4020-30 degrees Celsius.  This means that the ground is frozen for part of the year and this limits the productivity of plants.  The trees that dominate are  deciduous treesmaple treesconiferous treeswillow trees.  These trees do not lose their leaves and have adapted to the cold environment by having thin leaves, often described as needle-like.  These have waxy coatings which prevent damage from frost and reduce water loss from the trees, known as  leaf drippercolationevaporationtranspiration.  Due to limited tree growth, there is limited food for animals so they have adapted by migrating away during winter or hibernating.  Examples of species which live in this biome include the lynx, beavers and  parrotsbearsfoxesred deer.  Due to limited sunlight and water, as much is locked up as snow and ice, plants have a very low net primary productivity of   80030003200140 grams of plant matter produced per square metre per year.  The movement of nutrients around the nutrient cycle is also slow, with the smallest amount of nutrients being stored in the  soilrunofffalloutbiomass.  This means that if the trees are removed there are few nutrients available for regrowth of forest.