Taiga

Habitat description
The taiga, also known as boreal forest, is a habitat found close to the Arctic region, located between the tundra and the temperate forest. 'Taiga' means 'marshy pine forest' in Russian. It is a cold biome, though there is a wide range of temperature. It is the largest land biome on Earth, covering about 20 million hectares of land and 17 per cent of the planet's land area. There are two types of taiga, open woodland and dense forest.

Winters are long and cold; summers short and cool. Precipitation in the form of rain and snow is moderate throughout the year, with a snow common in the winter. Parts of the taiga were once covered with glaciers that have now receded. This leaves depressions that fill with water to form lakes and bogs. The terrain is mainly rocky and covered with leaf litter, which is not decayed because of the cold temperate.

Distribution
This habitat is found in the northern hemisphere, stretching across the north of Europe, Asia and North America. Though population density is mainly low, some important cities like Moscow in Russia and Toronto in Canada occur in this biome