Taiga, Indirect Threats

Question 1

What is commercial logging?

Answer 1

Cutting down trees for money

Question 2

What is wood from taiga trees used for?

Answer 2

Furniture, Paper, Construction

Question 3

What are tar sands?

Answer 3

A mixture of sand and oil

Question 4

Where is the taiga located?

Answer 4

In the northern hemisphere. A broad belt across North America, Europe, and Asia

Question 5

What is the largest terrestrial biome on earth?

Answer 5

Taiga

Question 6

Why is tar sand mined/fracked?

Answer 6

To extract oil

Question 7

What is the dominant tree/plant of the taiga biome?

Answer 7

Coniferous trees

Question 8

As well as the mines themselves, how else do mines damage forests?

Answer 8

Forests are cleared to build roads/other connecting infrastructure and contamination of water sources

Question 9

How many barrels of oil are required to extract 2 barrels of oil from tar sands?

Answer 9

1

Question 10

What is the average temperature of the taiga biome in Degrees Celcius?

Answer 10

0

Question 11

What are the major impacts of mining tar sands on the environment?

Answer 11

Toxic waste and polluted water

Question 12

What is the total yearly rainfall for the taiga biome?

Answer 12

30-85 centimetres

Question 13

How is Hydroelectric Power (HEP) generation a threat to the taiga biome?

Answer 13

Vast areas of taiga forests are deforested and flooded

Question 14

What is the climate like in the taiga biome?

Answer 14

Subarctic, typically with short, wet summers & long, cold winters

Question 15

How much of the taiga forest has been deforested?

Answer 15

8%

Question 16

How much paper, derived from taiga conifers, is used each year in the world?

Answer 16

400 million tonnes

Question 17

What are the major direct threats to the taiga forests?

Answer 17

Mining minerals, Hydroelectric Power (HEP), extracting fossil fuels, Logging

Question 18

What endangered mammals are most at threat from the loss of the taiga biome?

Answer 18

Canadian Lynx, Grizzly Bears, Siberian Tigers, Snow Leopards

Question 19

What endangered birds are threatened by the loss of the taiga biome?

Answer 19

Falcon, Goshawk, Crane

Question 20

What is permafrost?

Answer 20

A layer of permanently frozen soil

Question 21

What type of timber is found in the taiga biome?

Answer 21

Softwood

Question 22

Conifer trees in the taiga biome are referred to as what?

Answer 22

Evergreen

Question 23

Winter temperatures in the taiga can reach as low as…

Answer 23

-50 Degrees Celcius

Question 24

Summer temperatures in the taiga can reach as high as…

Answer 24

20 Degrees Celcius

Question 25

How do many mammals survive the long, cold winters?

Answer 25

Hibernation

Question 26

What biome borders taiga to the north?

Answer 26

Tundra

Question 27

What biomes border taiga to the south?

Answer 27

Temperate deciduous & temperate grassland

Question 28

In what countries where you would find the taiga biome?

Answer 28

Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden

Question 29

Why do trees in the taiga tend to have shallow roots?

Answer 29

Due to the thin soil

Question 30

What is a biome?

Answer 30

Large ecological areas on the earth’s surface, where particular animals and plants adapt to their environment