Taiga

From Glossary of Meteorology



taiga

The open northern part of the boreal forest.

It consists of open woodland of coniferous trees growing in a rich floor of lichen (mainly reindeer moss or caribou moss), and is generally cold and swampy. The taiga lies immediately south of the tundra. In spring, it is often flooded by water from northward flowing rivers, the lower reaches of which are still frozen.


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.