Coniferous Forest Biome

1. Coniferous Forest Biome Cassie Conkwright And Raven Tuck

2. Key Points • Coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. • Short summers and long winters.

3. Location • The northern coniferous forest biome occupies a vast area below the tundra, extending completely across Canada and into interior Alaska. The biome is also referred to as the boreal forestortaiga. 

4. Abiotic Factors • Average Annual Rainfall- 14-29.5 in. • Average Temperatures in the Summer- 57.2°F • Average Temperatures in the Winter- 14°F • The weather in this biome is very cold. • It is stormy in the winter and hot. • There are usually many lightning storms in the summer

5. Abiotic Factors • The length of daylight is 12 hours and varies little. • Clear-cut logging is the biggest threat to the Coniferous forest • Land is being cleared for ski slopes, landfills, housing, new roads, etc.

6. Biotic Factors • Animals: • White tailed deer, • Reeve's muntjac, • fox, • mice, • owls, • and squirrels.

7. Biotic Factors • There are many plants in this biome, but three dominate more than others. • These are: • pine, • fir, • Cedar • and spruce trees. • Mosses are also found almost anywhere here.

8. Biotic Factors • Major Biotic Factors: • Disease • Needle Cast Tree Disease • Needle Blight Tree Disease • Predation • Parasitism

9. Competition • Coniferous forests cover huge areas but have fewer kinds of plants and animals than any other forests. • Therefore, many of the animals in the Coniferous Forest have to compete for food and shelter. • Because the plants grow so slowly, animals need to roam over large areas to find enough food. • This sometimes causes problems because many forest animals are very territorial.

10. Plant Adaptations • Because the plants grow so slowly, animals need to roam over large areas to find enough food. • Some coniferous trees depend on fire as a catalyst for seed-release • The heat from naturally occurring fires force the Lodgepole Pine tree's serotinous cones to burst open, thus releasing the tree's seeds. • Trees in the Coniferous forest primarily possess pine needles instead of broad leaves. Needles are an important adaptation to the extreme conditions present in the climate. • Pine needles contain very little sap, so freezing is not much of a problem.

11. Animal Adaptations Thick fur to keep warm. • = Flat tails to warn other beavers. Thick fur to help keep warm. Webbed feet to swim faster Large teeth the help hunt. Long legs to run faster.

12. Human Influence/Impact • Clearcut logging is the biggest threat to the Coniferous forest! • Replanting after logging leads to single-species conifer monocultures - not conducive to species biodiversity. • In Canada, one acre of forest is cut every 12.9 seconds! • Since the mid-1800s, about 320 billion tons of carbon have been pumped into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of the world's forests. • Over the years, the rain in many areas of the world has become more acidic. Land cleared for ski resort Affects of acid rain

13. Interesting Facts • The largest Coniferous forest exists in a ring in Alaska, Canada,  northern Europe, and northern Asia, in a ring in the Northern Hemisphere.  This forest is called the "Taiga". • Most of the world's commercial softwood timber, used for paper, comes from the Coniferous Forest. • Coniferous Forests are the largest land Biome of the World.

14. Works Cited • http://www.inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/coniferous/c_forest.htm • http://lsb.syr.edu/projects/cyberzoo/coniferous.html • http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/Forsite/ncfbiome.htmhttp://www.dnr.state.mn.us/snas/coniferous.html