The vast coniferous forests of northern Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia are known as boreal forests, or the taiga. It is the world's largest land biome. The winters here are long and cold. Coniferous trees can survive in lower temperatures than deciduous trees, so coniferous woodlands are often found in northerly or mountainous regions. Forest berries and fungi provide food for birds and mammals. Crossbills, for example, use their specially adapted beaks to prise open pine cones and reach the nutritious seeds inside.

Conifers

The forests of the taiga are dominated by fir, pine, spruce and larch trees. They have needle-like leaves and a conical shape, to shed heavy snow that could break their branches. Conifers constantly lose and replace their leaves throughout the year. The dead leaves are not broken down into the soil because worms and other soil-enriching invertebrates find them distasteful. Instead, they remain as a thick layer of leaf litter, making the soil acidic and poor.

Food web

In every ecosystem, its community of living things depend on one another for survival. The taiga is no exception. Plants provide food for plant-eating animals and insects for insect-eaters. Both become prey for flesh-eaters. The pattern of who eats who in any ecosystem is called a food web. In the taiga, plant-eating animals such as rabbits are prey for lynx and bears. Shrews are insect-eaters and they are hunted by these same predators. Bears also feed directly on plants and insects.

Conifer trees provide animals with shelter and some warmth during the winter. Animals that feed on the northern tundra during the short summer, such as elk and reindeer, migrate south to shelter in the forest, scraping away the snow to feed on mosses. The lynx and goshawk prey on small mammals as they search for nuts and berries. The brown bear hibernates until spring.