Taiga

Boreal Taiga Forest Podzols, Podsoluvisols, Spodi-Distric, Alaskan-Cordillera 10.0 0.28 4.2... 

Taiga Meadow-Steppe Planosols Central Yakutian 10.0 0.35 3.5... 

Ecosystems taiga forest south taiga forest sub-boreal forest... 

However, the microbial activity is depressed during long and severe wintertime, and this leads to an accumulation of semi-mineralizable plant residues on the soil surface. With the increasing duration of cold season from south to north, the mass of these half-destroyed remains enlarges from 15 ton/ha of dry organic matter in Broad-Leaved Sub-Boreal Forest ecosystems to 80-85 ton/ha in Northern Taiga Forest ecosystems. 

Fluxes and pools Northern Taiga Spruce Forest Southern Taiga Spruce Forest Sub-Boreal Oak Forest Southern Taiga Sphagnum Swamp... 

Northern Taiga Coniferous Forest Sub-Boreal Coniferous and Small-Leaved Forest Sub-Boreal Broad-Leaved Forest Sphagnum Forest Swamp... 

Figure 11. Relationships between organic matter concentration in permafrost soils of East Siberia Taiga Forest ecosystems and concentration of copper (left) and zinc (right) (Nikitina, 1973).

Table 11. The concentration of trace metals in atmospheric deposition and ground waters of Siberian Taiga Forest ecosystems, pg/L (after Shvarlsev, 1978 Dobrovolsky, 1994).

Tundra Forest of Middle Siberian High Plain South Taiga Forest of West Siberia ... 

Trace metal Tundra Northern Taiga Mixed... 

Table 2. Distribution of oil and 3,4-benzfa)pyrene at the different distance from pollution source in 1 year after accident in north taiga area. West Siberia, Russia (Solntseva, 1998).

The further transformation of uranium exploration areas depends on the landscape biogeochemical conditions. Let us consider two examples of different conditions, dry steppe and permafrost taiga regions (Perelman, Kasimov, 1999). 

Critical load calculation and mapping of S and N acidity and eutrophication compounds in the vast area of Eurasia along the natural gas pipeline Yamal-West were conducted to estimate the environmental risks due to pollutant emission. The taiga forest ecosystems are predominant in the area of potential impact and accordingly for >60% of ecosystems the CL(S) are 500-1,000 eq/ha/yr. Ecosystems with CL(Nnutr) values <750 eq/ha/yr are predominant, and >50% have critical loads <500 eq/ha/yr. 

Nikitina, I. B. (1973). The geochemistry of ultra-fresh waters in the Northern Taiga Permafrost Landscapes of South Yakut area. In Landscape Geochemistry and Hypergenesis, Nauka Publishers, Moscow, pp. 24-35. 

It was concluded in Chapter 5.2 that the contrasting needs of detail and conciseness in describing the local-geographic distribution of natinal products can be best met by subdividing land into biomes. Traditionally, these comprise the tropical rain forest, grassland and savanna, scrub and deciduous forest, tenq)erate grassland, deciduous forest, chaparral, and taiga and tundra (Fig. 6.1). 

The northern conifer forest (taiga) extends at high latitudes, above the temperate deciduous and rain forest and grasslaixl (Fig. 6.1). It is dominated by spruces, Picea spp., and firs, Abies spp. It is an immense continuum, only interrupted by the Atlantic Ocean, fi om Alaska to above the Kamchatka Peninsula, comprising also islands, like Iceland. 

Representative metabolites fi om the taiga are volatile lower terpenes and abietane dherpenes, produced by the gymnosperms (Chart 6.3). 

The tundra extends fi om the northern border of the taiga to the Arctic circle. It is a treeless groxmd with fi ozen subsoil that only allows mosses and lichens growing abundantly. Typical lichen metabolites are in the orcein-class of dyes (Chart 6.3). 

---