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Taiga (pronounced /'ta?g?/, from Turkic[1] or Mongolian) is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway and Russia (especially Siberia), as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States (Northern Minnesota, Michigan, Upstate New York, New Hampshire, and Maine), northern Kazakhstan and Japan (Hokkaido), the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. Boreal forest is the term used to refer to the southern part of this biome, while "taiga" is used to describe the more barren northern areas of the Arctic tree line. Since North America, Europe and Asia were recently connected by the Bering land bridge, a number of animal and plant species (more animals than plants) were able to colonize both continents and are distributed throughout the taiga biome (see Circumboreal Region). Others differ regionally, typically with each genus having several distinct species, each occupying different regions of the taiga. Taigas also have some small-leaved deciduous trees like birch, alder, willow, and aspen; mostly in areas escaping the most extreme winter cold. However, the deciduous larch tolerates the coldest winters on the northern hemisphere in eastern Siberia. The southernmost part of the taiga also has trees like oak, maple, and elm scattered among the conifers. Taiga, the world's largest biome, has a harsh continental climate with a very large temperature range between summer and winter, classified as "Dfc" or "Dfb" in the Köppen climate classification scheme. Aside from the tundra and permanent ice caps, it is the coldest biome on Earth. High latitudes mean that for much of the year the sun does not rise far above the horizon. Winters last at least 5-6 months, with average temperatures below freezing. Temperatures vary from -50 °C to 30 °C (-58°F to 86°F) throughout the whole year, with eight or more months of temperatures averaging below 10 °C (50°F). The summers, while short, are generally warm and humid. In general, taiga grows to the south of the 10 °C July isotherm, but occasionally as far north as the 9 °C July isotherm.[2] The southern limit is more variable, depending on rainfall; taiga may be replaced by open steppe woodland south of the 15 °C July isotherm where rainfall is very low, but more typically extends south to the 18 °C July isotherm, and locally where rainfall is higher (notably in eastern Siberia and adjacent northern Manchuria) south to the 20 °C July isotherm. In these warmer areas, the taiga has higher species diversity with more warmth-loving species such as Korean Pine, Jezo Spruce and Manchurian Fir, and merges gradually into mixed temperate forest, or more locally (on the Pacific Ocean coasts of North America and Asia) into coniferous temperate rainforests. The taiga experiences relatively low precipitation throughout the year (200–750 mm annually), primarily as rain during the summer months, but also as fog and snow; as evaporation is also low for most of the year, precipitation exceeds evaporation and is sufficient for the dense vegetation growth. Snow may remain on the ground for as long as nine months in the northernmost extensions of the taiga ecozone.[3]
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