Misplaced Pages

#533466

121-472: The principal tree species, depending on the length of the growing season and summer temperatures, vary across the world. The taiga of North America is mostly spruce; Scandinavian and Finnish taiga consists of a mix of spruce , pines and birch ; Russian taiga has spruces, pines and larches depending on the region; and the Eastern Siberian taiga is a vast larch forest. Taiga in its current form

242-599: A loanword from the North Germanic languages ; " Skaði " is the jötunn stepmother of Freyr and Freyja in Norse mythology . It has been suggested that Skaði to some extent is modelled on a Sámi woman. The name for Skaði's father Þjazi is known in Sámi as Čáhci , "the waterman"; and her son with Odin, Sæmingr , can be interpreted as a descendant of Saam , the Sámi population. Older joik texts give evidence of

363-666: A brief but disastrous war between Denmark and Prussia (supported by Austria). Schleswig-Holstein was conquered by Prussia and after Prussia's success in the Franco-Prussian War a Prussian-led German Empire was created and a new power -balance in the Baltic region was established. The Scandinavian Monetary Union , established in 1873, lasted until World War I . The term Scandinavia (sometimes specified in English as Continental Scandinavia or mainland Scandinavia )

484-409: A fire regime to burn an area equivalent to the total area of an ecosystem is its fire rotation (Heinselman 1973) or fire cycle (Van Wagner 1978). However, as Heinselman (1981) noted, each physiographic site tends to have its own return interval, so that some areas are skipped for long periods, while others might burn two-times or more often during a nominal fire rotation. The dominant fire regime in

605-525: A growing season of eight months or more. In colder climate areas where they cannot be directly sowed in the ground, these plants are usually started indoors in a greenhouse and transplanted outside in late spring or early summer. The Pyrenees , Alps , and Southern Carpathians effectively divide Europe into two regions. Southern Europe and the Mediterranean are in general south of the 45th parallel . The growing seasons last six months or more, and

726-483: A modern and more inclusive demonym . In the ethnic or cultural sense the term Scandinavian traditionally refers to speakers of Scandinavian languages , who are mainly descendants of the peoples historically known as Norsemen , but also to some extent of immigrants and others who have been assimilated into that culture and language. In this sense the term refers primarily to native Danes , Norwegians and Swedes as well as descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as

847-451: A number of adaptations specifically for survival in harsh taiga winters, although larch, which is extremely cold-tolerant, is deciduous . Taiga trees tend to have shallow roots to take advantage of the thin soils, while many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing, called "hardening". The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, also help them shed snow. Because

968-484: A patch of sun; mosses and lichens thrive on the damp ground and on the sides of tree trunks. In comparison with other biomes, however, the taiga has low botanical diversity. Coniferous trees are the dominant plants of the taiga biome. Very few species, in four main genera, are found: the evergreen spruce, fir and pine, and the deciduous larch. In North America, one or two species of fir, and one or two species of spruce, are dominant. Across Scandinavia and western Russia,

1089-558: A polar species, some southern herds of muskoxen reside in the taiga of Russia's Far East and North America. The Amur -Kamchatka region of far eastern Russia also supports the snow sheep , the Russian relative of the American bighorn sheep , wild boar , and long-tailed goral . The largest animal in the taiga is the wood bison of northern Canada/Alaska; additionally, some numbers of the American plains bison have been introduced into

1210-407: A relatively small variety of highly specialized and adapted animals, due to the harshness of the climate. Canada's boreal forest includes 85 species of mammals , 130 species of fish, and an estimated 32,000 species of insects . Insects play a critical role as pollinators , decomposers , and as a part of the food web. Many nesting birds, rodents, and small carnivorous mammals rely on them for food in

1331-583: A visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism. In a letter describing the poem to a friend, he wrote: "All at once I understood how related the Swedes, the Danes and the Norwegians are, and with this feeling I wrote the poem immediately after my return: 'We are one people, we are called Scandinavians! ' ". The influence of Scandinavism as a Scandinavist political movement peaked in

SECTION 10

#1732772726534

1452-410: A warmer climate. The mature boreal forest pattern in the south shows balsam fir dominant on well-drained sites in eastern Canada changing centrally and westward to a prominence of white spruce , with black spruce and tamarack forming the forests on peats, and with jack pine usually present on dry sites except in the extreme east, where it is absent. The effects of fires are inextricably woven into

1573-760: Is 38.0 °C in Målilla (Sweden). The coldest temperature ever recorded is −52.6 °C in Vuoggatjålme , Arjeplog (Sweden). The coldest month was February 1985 in Vittangi (Sweden) with a mean of −27.2 °C. Southwesterly winds further warmed by foehn wind can give warm temperatures in narrow Norwegian fjords in winter. Tafjord has recorded 17.9 °C in January and Sunndal 18.9 °C in February. The words Scandinavia and Scania ( Skåne ,

1694-584: Is Finnish (usually from the 3rd grade), while for Finnish-speakers it is Swedish (usually from the 3rd, 5th or 7th grade). Finnish speakers constitute a language minority in Sweden and Norway. Meänkieli and Kven are Finnish dialects spoken in Swedish Lapland and Norwegian Lapland . The Sámi languages are indigenous minority languages in Scandinavia. They belong to their own branch of

1815-522: Is a phonotactic structure of alien origin. Although the term Scandinavia used by Pliny the Elder probably originated in the ancient Germanic languages, the modern form Scandinavia does not descend directly from the ancient Germanic term. Rather the word was brought into use in Europe by scholars borrowing the term from ancient sources like Pliny, and was used vaguely for Scania and the southern region of

1936-500: Is a subregion of Northern Europe , with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. Scandinavia most commonly refers to Denmark , Norway , and Sweden . It can sometimes also refer to the Scandinavian Peninsula (which excludes Denmark but includes a part of northern Finland ). In English usage, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for Nordic countries . Iceland and

2057-857: Is a relatively recent phenomenon, having only existed for the last 12,000 years since the beginning of the Holocene epoch, covering land that had been mammoth steppe or under the Scandinavian Ice Sheet in Eurasia and under the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America during the Late Pleistocene . Although at high elevations taiga grades into alpine tundra through Krummholz , it is not exclusively an alpine biome, and unlike subalpine forest , much of taiga

2178-575: Is a threat to taiga, and how the carbon dioxide absorbed or emitted should be treated by carbon accounting is controversial. Taiga covers 17 million square kilometres (6.6 million square miles) or 11.5% of the Earth's land area, second only to deserts and xeric shrublands . The largest areas are located in Russia and Canada. In Sweden taiga is associated with the Norrland terrain . After

2299-407: Is also due to the fact that that Swedish was the dominant language when Finland was part of Sweden. Finnish-speakers had to learn Swedish in order to advance to higher positions. Swedish spoken in today's Finland includes a lot of words that are borrowed from Finnish, whereas the written language remains closer to that of Sweden. Finland is officially bilingual, with Finnish and Swedish having mostly

2420-585: Is based on the degree of mutual comprehensibility between the languages in the two branches. The populations of the Scandinavian countries, with common Scandinavian roots in language, can—at least with some training—understand each other's standard languages as they appear in print and are heard on radio and television. The reason Danish, Swedish and the two official written versions of Norwegian ( Nynorsk and Bokmål ) are traditionally viewed as different languages, rather than dialects of one common language,

2541-554: Is because they have two official written standards, in addition to the habit of strongly holding on to local dialects. The people of Stockholm , Sweden and Copenhagen , Denmark have the greatest difficulty in understanding other Scandinavian languages. In the Faroe Islands and Iceland, learning Danish is mandatory. This causes Faroese people as well as Icelandic people to become bilingual in two very distinct North Germanic languages, making it relatively easy for them to understand

SECTION 20

#1732772726534

2662-559: Is different from usage in the Scandinavian languages themselves (which use Scandinavia in the narrow meaning), and by the fact that the question of whether a country belongs to Scandinavia is politicised. People from the Nordic world beyond Norway, Denmark and Sweden may be offended at being either included in or excluded from the category of "Scandinavia". Nordic countries is used unambiguously for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, including their associated territories Greenland,

2783-406: Is found in the smaller areas with oceanic influences; in coastal areas of Scandinavia and Finland, the growing season of the closed boreal forest can be 145–180 days. The shortest growing season is found at the northern taiga–tundra ecotone , where the northern taiga forest no longer can grow and the tundra dominates the landscape when the growing season is down to 50–70 days, and the 24-hr average of

2904-427: Is further evidence pointing to a long and intimate association with fire. Seven of the ten most common trees in the boreal forest— jack pine , lodgepole pine , aspen , balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera ), paper birch , tamarack , black spruce – can be classed as pioneers in their adaptations for rapid invasion of open areas. White spruce shows some pioneering abilities, too, but is less able than black spruce and

3025-554: Is home to many types of berries . Some species are confined to the southern and middle closed-boreal forest (such as wild strawberry and partridgeberry ); others grow in most areas of the taiga (such as cranberry and cloudberry ). Some berries can grow in both the taiga and the lower arctic (southern regions) tundra, such as bilberry , bunchberry and lingonberry . The forests of the taiga are largely coniferous , dominated by larch , spruce , fir and pine . The woodland mix varies according to geography and climate; for example,

3146-532: Is lowlands. The term "taiga" is not used consistently by all cultures. In the English language, "boreal forest" is used in the United States and Canada in referring to more southerly regions, while "taiga" is used to describe the more northern, barren areas approaching the tree line and the tundra . Hoffman (1958) discusses the origin of this differential use in North America and how this differentiation distorts established Russian usage. Climate change

3267-416: Is not a limiting factor, the ground freezes during the winter months and plant roots are unable to absorb water, so desiccation can be a severe problem in late winter for evergreens. Although the taiga is dominated by coniferous forests, some broadleaf trees also occur, including birch , aspen , willow , and rowan . Many smaller herbaceous plants, such as ferns and occasionally ramps grow closer to

3388-471: Is ordinarily used locally for Denmark, Norway and Sweden as a subset of the Nordic countries (known in Norwegian, Danish , and Swedish as Norden ; Finnish : Pohjoismaat , Icelandic : Norðurlöndin , Faroese : Norðurlond ). However, in English usage, the term Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym or near-synonym for what are known locally as Nordic countries . Usage in English

3509-663: Is still a hotly debated issue, both in scholarly discussions and in the nationalistic discourse of various European countries. The form Scadinavia as the original home of the Langobards appears in Paul the Deacon ' Historia Langobardorum , but in other versions of Historia Langobardorum appear the forms Scadan , Scandanan , Scadanan and Scatenauge . Frankish sources used Sconaowe and Aethelweard , an Anglo-Saxon historian, used Scani . In Beowulf ,

3630-674: Is that each is a well-established standard language in its respective country. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have since medieval times been influenced to varying degrees by Middle Low German and standard German. That influence was due not only to proximity, but also to the rule of Denmark—and later Denmark-Norway—over the German-speaking region of Holstein, and to Sweden's close trade with the Hanseatic League . Norwegians are accustomed to variation and may perceive Danish and Swedish only as slightly more distant dialects. This

3751-424: Is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth . While each plant or crop has a specific growing season that depends on its genetic adaptation , growing seasons can generally be grouped into macro-environmental classes. Axial tilt of the Earth inherently affect growing seasons across the globe. Geographic conditions have major impacts on

Taiga - Misplaced Pages Continue

3872-613: Is year-round in many areas with hot summers and mild winters. Cool season crops such as peas, lettuce, and spinach are planted in fall or late winter, while warm season crops such as beans and corn are planted in late winter to early spring. In the desert Southwest, the growing season effectively runs in winter, from October to April as the summer months are characterized by extreme heat and arid conditions, making it inhospitable for plants not adapted to this environment. Certain crops such as tomatoes and melons originated in subtropical or tropical regions. Consequently, they require hot weather and

3993-547: The Bering land bridge , a number of animal and plant species , more animals than plants, were able to colonize both land masses, and are globally-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 poplar . These grow mostly in areas further south of

4114-485: The Dfd and Dwd climate zones continuous permafrost occurs and restricts growth to very shallow-rooted trees like Siberian larch . The growing season , when the vegetation in the taiga comes alive, is usually slightly longer than the climatic definition of summer as the plants of the boreal biome have a lower temperature threshold to trigger growth than other plants. Some sources claim 130 days growing season as typical for

4235-699: The Eastern Canadian forests ecoregion (of the higher elevations of the Laurentian Mountains and the northern Appalachian Mountains ) in Canada is dominated by balsam fir Abies balsamea , while further north, the Eastern Canadian Shield taiga (of northern Quebec and Labrador ) is mostly black spruce Picea mariana and tamarack larch Larix laricina . Evergreen species in the taiga (spruce, fir, and pine) have

4356-518: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . A key ancient description of Scandinavia was provided by Pliny the Elder , though his mentions of Scatinavia and surrounding areas are not always easy to decipher. Writing in the capacity of a Roman admiral, he introduces the northern region by declaring to his Roman readers that there are 23 islands "Romanis armis cognitae" ("known to Roman arms") in this area. According to Pliny,

4477-486: The Faroe Islands are sometimes included in Scandinavia for their ethnolinguistic relations with Sweden, Norway and Denmark. While Finland differs from other Nordic countries in this respect, some authors call it Scandinavian due to its economic and cultural similarities. The geography of the region is varied, from the Norwegian fjords in the west and Scandinavian mountains covering parts of Norway and Sweden, to

4598-639: The Icelanders and the Faroese . The term is also used in this ethnic sense, to refer to the modern descendants of the Norse, in studies of linguistics and culture. Additionally the term Scandinavian is used demonymically to refer to all modern inhabitants or citizens of Scandinavian countries. Within Scandinavia the demonymic term primarily refers to inhabitants or citizens of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In English usage inhabitants or citizens of Iceland,

4719-496: The Köppen climate classification scheme, meaning that the short summers (24 h average 10 °C (50 °F) or more), although generally warm and humid, only last 1–3 months, while winters, with average temperatures below freezing, last 5–7 months. In Siberian taiga the average temperature of the coldest month is between −6 °C (21 °F) and −50 °C (−58 °F). There are also some much smaller areas grading towards

4840-578: The Scandinavian Peninsula since prehistory—the North Germanic languages (Scandinavian languages) and the Uralic languages , Sámi and Finnish . Most people in Scandinavia today speak Scandinavian languages that evolved from Old Norse , originally spoken by ancient Germanic tribes in southern Scandinavia. The Continental Scandinavian languages— Danish , Norwegian and Swedish —form a dialect continuum and are considered mutually intelligible. The Insular Scandinavian languages— Faroese and Icelandic —on

4961-679: The Scots pine is a common component of the taiga, while taiga of the Russian Far East and Mongolia is dominated by larch . Rich in spruce and Scots pine (in the western Siberian plain), the taiga is dominated by larch in Eastern Siberia, before returning to its original floristic richness on the Pacific shores. Two deciduous trees mingle throughout southern Siberia: birch and Populus tremula . The boreal forest/taiga supports

Taiga - Misplaced Pages Continue

5082-705: The Sámi people in northern Scandinavia. The North Germanic languages of Scandinavia are traditionally divided into an East Scandinavian branch (Danish and Swedish) and a West Scandinavian branch (Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese), but because of changes appearing in the languages since 1600 the East Scandinavian and West Scandinavian branches are now usually reconfigured into Insular Scandinavian ( ö-nordisk / øy-nordisk ) featuring Icelandic and Faroese and Continental Scandinavian ( Skandinavisk ), comprising Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The modern division

5203-431: The Uralic language family and are unrelated to the North Germanic languages other than by limited grammatical (particularly lexical) characteristics resulting from prolonged contact. Sámi is divided into several languages or dialects. Consonant gradation is a feature in both Finnish and northern Sámi dialects, but it is not present in southern Sámi, which is considered to have a different language history. According to

5324-419: The golden eagle , rough-legged buzzard (also known as the rough-legged hawk), Steller's sea eagle (in coastal northeastern Russia-Japan), great gray owl , snowy owl , barred owl , great horned owl , crow and raven . The only other viable adaptation is seed-eating birds, which include several species of grouse , capercaillie and crossbills . Fire has been one of the most important factors shaping

5445-517: The lowest reliably recorded temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere were recorded in the taiga of northeastern Russia. Taiga has a subarctic climate with very large temperature range between seasons. −20 °C (−4 °F) would be a typical winter day temperature and 18 °C (64 °F) an average summer day, but the long, cold winter is the dominant feature. This climate is classified as Dfc , Dwc , Dsc , Dfd and Dwd in

5566-444: The middle boreal (closed forest), and the southern boreal , a closed-canopy, boreal forest with some scattered temperate, deciduous trees among the conifers. Commonly seen are species such as maple, elm and oak. This southern boreal forest experiences the longest and warmest growing season of the biome. In some regions, including Scandinavia and western Russia, this subzone is commonly used for agricultural purposes. The boreal forest

5687-496: The peatlands . During the last quarter of the twentieth century, the zone of latitude occupied by the boreal forest experienced some of the greatest temperature increases on Earth. Winter temperatures have increased more than summer temperatures. In summer, the daily low temperature has increased more than the daily high temperature. The number of days with extremely cold temperatures (e.g., −20 to −40 °C; −4 to −40 °F) has decreased irregularly but systematically in nearly all

5808-466: The "clarissima" ("most famous") of the region's islands is Scatinavia , of unknown size. There live the Hilleviones . The belief that Scandinavia was an island became widespread among classical authors during the 1st century and dominated descriptions of Scandinavia in classical texts during the centuries that followed. Pliny begins his description of the route to Scatinavia by referring to

5929-558: The 1960s: although this trend was weak or even non-existent in the eastern forests, it was particularly pronounced in the western coniferous forests. However, in 2016, a study found no overall Canadian boreal forest trend between 1950 and 2012: while it also found improved growth in some southern boreal forests and dampened growth in the north (contrary to what the hypothesis would suggest), those patterns were statistically weak. Scandinavia Nordic territories that are not part of Scandinavia: Chronological history Scandinavia

6050-465: The Cordilleran region, fire is most frequent in the valley bottoms, decreasing upward, as shown by a mosaic of young pioneer pine and broadleaf stands below, and older spruce–fir on the slopes above. Without fire, the boreal forest would become more and more homogeneous, with the long-lived white spruce gradually replacing pine, aspen, balsam poplar, and birch, and perhaps even black spruce, except on

6171-523: The Faroe Islands and Finland are sometimes included as well. English general dictionaries often define the noun Scandinavian demonymically as meaning any inhabitant of Scandinavia (which might be narrowly conceived or broadly conceived). There is a certain ambiguity and political contestation as to which peoples should be referred to as Scandinavian in this broader sense. Sámi people who live in Norway and Sweden are generally included as Scandinavians in

SECTION 50

#1732772726534

6292-693: The Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands. The geological term Fennoscandia (sometimes Fennoscandinavia ) refers to the Fennoscandian Shield (or Baltic Shield ), which includes the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland and Karelia , and excludes Denmark and other parts of the wider Nordic world. The terms Fennoscandia and Fennoscandinavia are sometimes used in a political sense to refer to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. The term Scandinavian may be used with two principal meanings, in an ethnic or cultural sense and as

6413-530: The Finnish population. The coastal province of Ostrobothnia has a Swedish-speaking majority, whereas plenty of areas on this coastline are nearly unilingually Finnish, like the region of Satakunta . Åland, an autonomous province of Finland situated in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden, are entirely Swedish-speaking. Children are taught the other official language at school: for Swedish-speakers this

6534-590: The Hudson Bay area), chum salmon , Siberian taimen , lenok and lake chub . The taiga is mainly home to a number of large herbivorous mammals , such as Alces alces ( moose ), and a few subspecies of Rangifer tarandus ( reindeer in Eurasia; caribou in North America). Some areas of the more southern closed boreal forest have populations of other Cervidae species, such as the maral , elk , Sitka black-tailed deer , and roe deer . While normally

6655-569: The Russian Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 and Norway ( de jure in union with Denmark since 1387, although de facto treated as a province) becoming independent in 1814, but thereafter swiftly forced to accept a personal union with Sweden. The dependent territories Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, historically part of Norway, remained with Denmark in accordance with the Treaty of Kiel . Sweden and Norway were thus united under

6776-440: The Russian far-east, as part of the taiga regeneration project called Pleistocene Park , in addition to Przewalski's horse . Small mammals of the taiga biome include rodent species such as the beaver , squirrel , chipmunk , marmot , lemming , North American porcupine and vole , as well as a small number of lagomorph species, such as the pika , snowshoe hare and mountain hare . These species have adapted to survive

6897-502: The Swedish king Gustav I led Sweden to independence. It also saw numerous wars between the nations, which shaped the modern borders. The most recent union was the union between Sweden and Norway , which ended in 1905. In modern times the region has prospered, with the economies of the countries being amongst the strongest in Europe. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Finland all maintain welfare systems considered to be generous, with

7018-548: The Swedish monarch, but Finland's inclusion in the Russian Empire excluded any possibility for a political union between Finland and any of the other Nordic countries. The end of the Scandinavian political movement came when Denmark was denied the military support promised from Sweden and Norway to annex the (Danish) Duchy of Schleswig , which together with the (German) Duchy of Holstein had been in personal union with Denmark. The Second war of Schleswig followed in 1864,

7139-728: The Sámi Information Centre of the Sámi Parliament of Sweden , southern Sámi may have originated in an earlier migration from the south into the Scandinavian Peninsula. German is a recognized minority language in Denmark. Recent migrations has added even more languages. Apart from the Sámi languages and the languages of minority groups speaking a variant of the majority language of a neighboring state, Yiddish , Romani Chib/Romanes, Scandoromani and Karelian are amongst those protected in parts of Scandinavia under

7260-535: The US-Canadian border to 25° north at the southern tip of the US-Mexican border. Most populated areas of Canada are below the 55th parallel. North of the 45th parallel, the growing season is generally 4–5 months, beginning in late April or early May and continuing to late September-early October, and is characterized by warm summers and cold winters with heavy snow. South of the 30th parallel, the growing season

7381-446: The availability of water, with little growth in the dry season. Unlike in cooler climates where snow or soil freezing is a generally insurmountable obstacle to plant growth, it is often possible to greatly extend the growing season in hot climates by irrigation using water from cooler and/or wetter regions. This can in fact go so far as to allow year-round growth in areas that without irrigation could only support xerophytic plants. In

SECTION 60

#1732772726534

7502-437: The boreal forest is high-intensity crown fires or severe surface fires of very large size, often more than 10,000 ha (100 km), and sometimes more than 400,000 ha (4000 km). Such fires kill entire stands. Fire rotations in the drier regions of western Canada and Alaska average 50–100 years, shorter than in the moister climates of eastern Canada, where they may average 200 years or more. Fire cycles also tend to be long near

7623-470: The boreal forest, typically with abrupt, irregular boundaries circumscribing homogenous stands, is indirect but compelling testimony to the role of fire in shaping the forest. The fact is that most boreal forest stands are less than 100 years old, and only in the rather few areas that have escaped burning are there stands of white spruce older than 250 years. The prevalence of fire-adaptive morphologic and reproductive characteristics of many boreal plant species

7744-526: The boreal region, allowing better survival for tree-damaging insects. In Fairbanks, Alaska , the length of the frost-free season has increased from 60 to 90 days in the early twentieth century to about 120 days a century later. It has been hypothesized that the boreal environments have only a few states which are stable in the long term - a treeless tundra/steppe, a forest with >75% tree cover and an open woodland with ~20% and ~45% tree cover. Thus, continued climate change would be able to force at least some of

7865-509: The climate is characterized by hot summers and milder winters. Precipitation mainly falls between October and March, while summers are dry. In the extreme south of Europe, the growing season can be year-round. Vegetation on the Mediterranean islands is often evergreen because of the relatively warm winters. Northern and Central Europe extend north from the 45th parallel past the Arctic Circle. The growing seasons are shorter because of

7986-523: The composition and development of boreal forest stands; it is the dominant stand-renewing disturbance through much of the Canadian boreal forest. The fire history that characterizes an ecosystem is its fire regime , which has 3 elements: (1) fire type and intensity (e.g., crown fires, severe surface fires, and light surface fires), (2) size of typical fires of significance, and (3) frequency or return intervals for specific land units. The average time within

8107-487: The dark winters, depending on latitude. The areas of the taiga inside the Arctic Circle have midnight sun in mid-summer and polar night in mid-winter. The taiga experiences relatively low precipitation throughout the year (generally 200–750 mm (7.9–29.5 in) annually, 1,000 mm (39 in) in some areas), primarily as rain during the summer months, but also as snow or fog . Snow may remain on

8228-422: The days become shorter than 10 hours, and resume after winter as the daylight increases above 10 hours. A hothouse — a greenhouse which is heated and illuminated — creates an environment where plants are fooled into thinking it is their normal growing season. Though this is a form of season extension for the grower, it is not the usual meaning of the term. The continental United States ranges from 49° north at

8349-408: The demonymic sense; the Sámi of Finland may be included in English usage, but usually not in local usage; the Sámi of Russia are not included. However, the use of the term "Scandinavian" with reference to the Sámi is complicated by the historical attempts by Scandinavian majority peoples and governments in Norway and Sweden to assimilate the Sámi people into the Scandinavian culture and languages, making

8470-538: The dense vegetation growth including large trees. This explains the striking difference in biomass per square metre between the Taiga and the Steppe biomes, (in warmer climates), where evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation, restricting vegetation to mostly grasses. In general, taiga grows to the south of the 10 °C (50 °F) July isotherm , occasionally as far north as the 9 °C (48 °F) July isotherm, with

8591-457: The ease with which plants can use its nutrients. The relative lack of deciduous trees, which drop huge volumes of leaves annually, and grazing animals, which contribute significant manure, are also factors. The diversity of soil organisms in the boreal forest is high, comparable to the tropical rainforest . Fallen leaves and moss can remain on the forest floor for a long time in the cool, moist climate, which limits their organic contribution to

8712-630: The economic and social policies of the countries being dubbed the " Nordic model ". The geography of Scandinavia is extremely varied. Notable are the Norwegian fjords , the Scandinavian Mountains covering much of Norway and parts of Sweden, the flat, low areas in Denmark and the archipelagos of Finland, Norway and Sweden. Finland and Sweden have many lakes and moraines , legacies of the ice age , which ended about ten millennia ago. The southern regions of Scandinavia, which are also

8833-546: The first Europeans to reach North America. These exploits saw the establishment of the North Sea Empire which comprised large parts of Scandinavia and Great Britain, though it was relatively short-lived. Scandinavia was eventually Christianized , and the coming centuries saw various unions of Scandinavian nations, most notably the Kalmar Union of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, which lasted for over 100 years until

8954-457: The forest history of an area 280 km north of the then-current tree line at Ennadai Lake, District Keewatin, Northwest Territories. Two lines of evidence support the thesis that fire has always been an integral factor in the boreal forest: (1) direct, eye-witness accounts and forest-fire statistics, and (2) indirect, circumstantial evidence based on the effects of fire, as well as on persisting indicators. The patchwork mosaic of forest stands in

9075-644: The forms Scedenige and Scedeland are used while the Alfredian translation of Orosius and Wulfstan 's travel accounts used the Old English Sconeg . The earliest Sámi joik texts written down refer to the world as Skadesi-suolu in Northern Sámi and Skađsuâl in Skolt Sámi , meaning " Skaði 's island". Svennung considers the Sámi name to have been introduced as

9196-401: The goddess Skaði may have once been a personification of the geographical region of Scandinavia or associated with the underworld. Another possibility is that all or part of the segments of the name came from the pre-Germanic Mesolithic people inhabiting the region. In modernity, Scandinavia is a peninsula, but between approximately 10,300 and 9,500 years ago the southern part of Scandinavia

9317-403: The ground for as long as nine months in the northernmost extensions of the taiga biome. The fog, especially predominant in low-lying areas during and after the thawing of frozen Arctic seas, stops sunshine from getting through to plants even during the long summer days. As evaporation is consequently low for most of the year, annual precipitation exceeds evaporation, and is sufficient to sustain

9438-519: The ground. Periodic stand-replacing wildfires (with return times of between 20 and 200 years) clear out the tree canopies, allowing sunlight to invigorate new growth on the forest floor. For some species, wildfires are a necessary part of the life cycle in the taiga; some, e.g. jack pine have cones which only open to release their seed after a fire, dispersing their seeds onto the newly cleared ground; certain species of fungi (such as morels ) are also known to do this. Grasses grow wherever they can find

9559-510: The growing season compared with a low-lying area of the same latitude. Season extension in agriculture is any method that allows a crop to be grown beyond its normal outdoor growing season and harvesting time frame, or the extra time thus achieved. To extend the growing season into the colder months, one can use unheated techniques such as floating row covers , low tunnels, caterpillar tunnels, or hoophouses . However, even if colder temperatures are mitigated, most crops will stop growing when

9680-503: The growing season for any given area. Latitude is one of the major factors in the length of the growing season. The further from the equator one goes, the angle of the Sun gets lower in the sky. Consequently, sunlight is less direct and the low angle of the Sun means that soil takes longer to warm during the spring months, so the growing season begins later. The other factor is altitude, with high elevations having cooler temperatures which shortens

9801-493: The harsh winters in their native ranges. Some larger mammals, such as bears , eat heartily during the summer in order to gain weight, and then go into hibernation during the winter. Other animals have adapted layers of fur or feathers to insulate them from the cold. Predatory mammals of the taiga must be adapted to travel long distances in search of scattered prey, or be able to supplement their diet with vegetation or other forms of food (such as raccoons ). Mammalian predators of

9922-470: The inclusion of the Sámi as "Scandinavians" controversial among many Sámi. Modern Sámi politicians and organizations often stress the status of the Sámi as a people separate from and equal to the Scandinavians, with their own language and culture, and are apprehensive about being included as "Scandinavians" in light of earlier Scandinavian assimilation policies. Two language groups have coexisted on

10043-486: The interior of the continents, with the driest climates, the boreal forests might grade into temperate grassland . There are two major types of taiga. The southern part is the closed canopy forest , consisting of many closely-spaced trees and mossy groundcover. In clearings in the forest, shrubs and wildflowers are common, such as the fireweed and lupine . The other type is the lichen woodland or sparse taiga , with trees that are farther-spaced and lichen groundcover;

10164-428: The language of the church and law courts remained Icelandic. The Scandinavian languages are (as a language family) unrelated to Finnish and the Sámi languages , which as Uralic languages are distantly related each other. Owing to the close proximity, there is still a great deal of borrowing from the Swedish and Norwegian languages in Finnish and the Sámi. The long history of linguistic influence of Swedish on Finnish

10285-423: The latter is common in the northernmost taiga. In the northernmost taiga, the forest cover is not only more sparse, but often stunted in growth form; moreover, ice-pruned , asymmetric black spruce (in North America) are often seen, with diminished foliage on the windward side. In Canada, Scandinavia and Finland, the boreal forest is usually divided into three subzones: The high boreal (northern boreal/taiga zone),

10406-521: The low and flat areas of Denmark in the south, as well as archipelagos and lakes in the east. Most of the population in the region live in the more temperate southern regions, with the northern parts having long, cold winters. The region became notable during the Viking Age , when Scandinavian peoples participated in large-scale raiding, conquest, colonization and trading mostly throughout Europe. They also used their longships for exploration, becoming

10527-589: The lower angle of the Sun and generally range from five months to as little as three in the highlands of Scandinavia and Russia. Climate on the Atlantic coast is considerably moderated by humid ocean air, which makes winters comparatively mild, and freezing weather or snow are rare. Because summers are also mild, many heat-loving plants such as maize do not typically grow in Northwestern Europe . Further inland, winters become considerably colder. Despite

10648-682: The middle of the 19th century, between the First Schleswig War (1848–1850) and the Second Schleswig War (1864). The Swedish king also proposed a unification of Denmark, Norway and Sweden into a single united kingdom. The background for the proposal was the tumultuous events during the Napoleonic Wars in the beginning of the century. This war resulted in Finland (formerly the eastern third of Sweden) becoming

10769-474: The most extreme winter weather. The Dahurian larch tolerates the coldest winters of the Northern Hemisphere, in eastern Siberia. The very southernmost parts of the taiga may have trees such as oak , maple , elm and lime scattered among the conifers, and there is usually a gradual transition into a temperate, mixed forest, such as the eastern forest-boreal transition of eastern Canada. In

10890-458: The most populous regions, have a temperate climate . Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle , but has relatively mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream . Many of the Scandinavian mountains have an alpine tundra climate. The climate varies from north to south and from west to east: a marine west coast climate ( Cfb ) typical of western Europe dominates in Denmark,

11011-604: The mountain of Saevo ( mons Saevo ibi ), the Codanus Bay ("Codanus sinus") and the Cimbrian promontory. The geographical features have been identified in various ways. By some scholars, Saevo is thought to be the mountainous Norwegian coast at the entrance to Skagerrak and the Cimbrian peninsula is thought to be Skagen , the north tip of Jutland , Denmark. As described, Saevo and Scatinavia can also be

11132-598: The northwestern coast. A small area along the northern coast east of the North Cape has tundra climate (Et) as a result of a lack of summer warmth. The Scandinavian Mountains block the mild and moist air coming from the southwest, thus northern Sweden and the Finnmarksvidda plateau in Norway receive little precipitation and have cold winters. Large areas in the Scandinavian mountains have alpine tundra climate. The warmest temperature ever recorded in Scandinavia

11253-490: The oceanic Cfc climate with milder winters, whilst the extreme south and (in Eurasia) west of the taiga reaches into humid continental climates ( Dfb , Dwb ) with longer summers. According to some sources, the boreal forest grades into a temperate mixed forest when mean annual temperature reaches about 3 °C (37 °F). Discontinuous permafrost is found in areas with mean annual temperature below freezing, whilst in

11374-415: The old Sámi belief about living on an island and state that the wolf is known as suolu gievra , meaning "the strong one on the island". The Sámi place name Sulliidčielbma means "the island's threshold" and Suoločielgi means "the island's back". In recent substrate studies, Sámi linguists have examined the initial cluster sk - in words used in the Sámi languages and concluded that sk -

11495-490: The other are only partially intelligible to speakers of the continental Scandinavian languages. The Uralic languages are linguistically unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Finnish is the majority language in Finland, and a recognized minority language in Sweden. Meänkieli and Kven , sometimes considered as dialects of Finnish, are recognized minority languages in Sweden and Norway, respectively. The Sámi languages are indigenous minority languages in Scandinavia, spoken by

11616-529: The other two Mainland Scandinavian languages. Although Iceland was under the political control of Denmark until a much later date (1918), very little influence and borrowing from Danish has occurred in the Icelandic language. Icelandic remained the preferred language among the ruling classes in Iceland. Danish was not used for official communications, most of the royal officials were of Icelandic descent and

11737-405: The patterns of vegetation on the landscape, which in the east favour black spruce, paper birch, and jack pine over balsam fir, and in the west give the advantage to aspen, jack pine, black spruce, and birch over white spruce. Many investigators have reported the ubiquity of charcoal under the forest floor and in the upper soil profile. Charcoal in soils provided Bryson et al. (1965) with clues about

11858-428: The peninsula. The term was popularised by the linguistic and cultural Scandinavist movement , which asserted the common heritage and cultural unity of the Scandinavian countries and rose to prominence in the 1830s. The popular usage of the term in Sweden, Denmark and Norway as a unifying concept became established in the 19th century through poems such as Hans Christian Andersen 's "I am a Scandinavian" of 1839. After

11979-443: The permanent ice caps and tundra , taiga is the terrestrial biome with the lowest annual average temperatures, with mean annual temperature generally varying from −5 to 5 °C (23 to 41 °F). Extreme winter minimums in the northern taiga are typically lower than those of the tundra. There are taiga areas of eastern Siberia and interior Alaska- Yukon where the mean annual temperature reaches down to −10 °C (14 °F), and

12100-470: The pines to disperse seed at all seasons. Only balsam fir and alpine fir seem to be poorly adapted to reproduce after fire, as their cones disintegrate at maturity, leaving no seed in the crowns. The oldest forests in the northwest boreal region, some older than 300 years, are of white spruce occurring as pure stands on moist floodplains . Here, the frequency of fire is much less than on adjacent uplands dominated by pine, black spruce and aspen. In contrast, in

12221-422: The presently existing taiga forests into one of the two woodland states or even into a treeless steppe - but it could also shift tundra areas into woodland or forest states as they warm and become more suitable for tree growth. In keeping with this hypothesis, several studies published in the early 2010s found that there was already a substantial drought-induced tree loss in the western Canadian boreal forests since

12342-578: The region can also be found in Pytheas , Pomponius Mela , Tacitus , Ptolemy , Procopius and Jordanes , usually in the form of Scandza . It is believed that the name used by Pliny may be of West Germanic origin, originally denoting Scania. According to some scholars, the Germanic stem can be reconstructed as * skaðan- , meaning "danger" or "damage". The second segment of the name has been reconstructed as * awjō , meaning "land on

12463-490: The same place. Pliny mentions Scandinavia one more time: in Book VIII he says that the animal called achlis (given in the accusative, achlin , which is not Latin) was born on the island of Scandinavia. The animal grazes, has a big upper lip and some mythical attributes. Growing season A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season

12584-570: The same status at national level. Finland's majority population are Finns , whose mother tongue is either Finnish (approximately 95%), Swedish or both. The Swedish-speakers live mainly on the coastline starting from approximately the city of Porvoo (Sw: Borgå) (in the Gulf of Finland) up to the city of Kokkola (Sw: Karleby) (in the Bay of Bothnia). The Swedish-speaking population is spread out in pockets in this coastal stretch and constitutes approximately 5% of

12705-461: The short growing season in parts of Scandinavia and northern Russia , the extreme length of daylight during summer (17 hours or more) allows plants to put on significant growth. In some warm climates, such as the tropical savanna climates ( Aw ), the hot semi-arid climates ( BSh ), the hot desert climates ( BWh ) or the Mediterranean climates ( Cs ), the growing season is limited by

12826-415: The soil. Acids from evergreen needles further leach the soil, creating spodosol , also known as podzol , and the acidic forest floor often has only lichens and some mosses growing on it. In clearings in the forest and in areas with more boreal deciduous trees, there are more herbs and berries growing, and soils are consequently deeper. Since North America and Eurasia were originally connected by

12947-434: The southern limit more variable. Depending on rainfall, and taiga may be replaced by forest steppe south of the 15 °C (59 °F) July isotherm where rainfall is very low, but more typically extends south to the 18 °C (64 °F) July isotherm, and locally where rainfall is higher, such as in eastern Siberia and adjacent Outer Manchuria , south to the 20 °C (68 °F) July isotherm. In these warmer areas

13068-406: The southernmost part of Sweden and along the west coast of Norway reaching north to 65°N, with orographic lift giving more mm/year precipitation (<5000 mm) in some areas in western Norway. The central part – from Oslo to Stockholm – has a humid continental climate (Dfb), which gradually gives way to subarctic climate (Dfc) further north and cool marine west coast climate (Cfc) along

13189-651: The southernmost province of Sweden) are both thought to go back to the Proto-Germanic compound * Skaðin-awjō (the ð represented in Latin by t or d ), which appears later in Old English as Scedenig and in Old Norse as Skáney . The earliest identified source for the name Scandinavia is Pliny the Elder 's Natural History , dated to the 1st century AD. Various references to

13310-542: The summer months. The cold winters and short summers make the taiga a challenging biome for reptiles and amphibians , which depend on environmental conditions to regulate their body temperatures. There are only a few species in the boreal forest, including red-sided garter snake , common European adder , blue-spotted salamander , northern two-lined salamander , Siberian salamander , wood frog , northern leopard frog , boreal chorus frog , American toad , and Canadian toad . Most hibernate underground in winter. Fish of

13431-512: The sun is low in the horizon for most of the year, it is difficult for plants to generate energy from photosynthesis . Pine, spruce and fir do not lose their leaves seasonally and are able to photosynthesize with their older leaves in late winter and spring when light is good but temperatures are still too low for new growth to commence. The adaptation of evergreen needles limits the water lost due to transpiration and their dark green color increases their absorption of sunlight. Although precipitation

13552-527: 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 where oak and hornbeam appear and join the conifers, birch and Populus tremula . The area currently classified as taiga in Europe and North America (except Alaska)

13673-531: The taiga include Canada lynx , Eurasian lynx , stoat , Siberian weasel , least weasel , sable , American marten , North American river otter , European otter , American mink , wolverine , Asian badger , fisher , timber wolf , Mongolian wolf , coyote , red fox , Arctic fox , grizzly bear , American black bear , Asiatic black bear , Ussuri brown bear , polar bear (only small areas of northern taiga), Siberian tiger , and Amur leopard . More than 300 species of birds have their nesting grounds in

13794-401: The taiga must be able to withstand cold water conditions and be able to adapt to life under ice-covered water. Species in the taiga include Alaska blackfish , northern pike , walleye , longnose sucker , white sucker , various species of cisco , lake whitefish , round whitefish , pygmy whitefish , Arctic lamprey , various grayling species, brook trout (including sea-run brook trout in

13915-803: The taiga. In Canada and Scandinavia, the growing season is often estimated by using the period of the year when the 24-hour average temperature is +5 °C (41 °F) or more. For the Taiga Plains in Canada, growing season varies from 80 to 150 days, and in the Taiga Shield from 100 to 140 days. Other sources define growing season by frost-free days. Data for locations in southwest Yukon gives 80–120 frost-free days. The closed canopy boreal forest in Kenozersky National Park near Plesetsk , Arkhangelsk Province , Russia, on average has 108 frost-free days. The longest growing season

14036-406: The taiga. Siberian thrush , white-throated sparrow , and black-throated green warbler migrate to this habitat to take advantage of the long summer days and abundance of insects found around the numerous bogs and lakes. Of the 300 species of birds that summer in the taiga, only 30 stay for the winter. These are either carrion -feeding or large raptors that can take live mammal prey, such as

14157-465: The tree line in the subarctic spruce-lichen woodlands. The longest cycles, possibly 300 years, probably occur in the western boreal in floodplain white spruce. Amiro et al. (2001) calculated the mean fire cycle for the period 1980 to 1999 in the Canadian boreal forest (including taiga) at 126 years. Increased fire activity has been predicted for western Canada, but parts of eastern Canada may experience less fire in future because of greater precipitation in

14278-403: The warmest month of the year usually is 10 °C (50 °F) or less. High latitudes mean that the sun does not rise far above the horizon, and less solar energy is received than further south. But the high latitude also ensures very long summer days, as the sun stays above the horizon nearly 20 hours each day, or up to 24 hours, with only around 6 hours of daylight, or none, occurring in

14399-579: The water" or "island". The name Scandinavia would then mean "dangerous island", which is considered to refer to the treacherous sandbanks surrounding Scania. Skanör in Scania, with its long Falsterbo reef, has the same stem ( skan ) combined with - ör , which means "sandbanks". Alternatively, Sca(n)dinavia and Skáney , along with the Old Norse goddess name Skaði , may be related to Proto-Germanic * skaðwa- (meaning "shadow"). John McKinnell comments that this etymology suggests that

14520-406: Was recently glaciated . As the glaciers receded they left depressions in the topography that have since filled with water, creating lakes and bogs (especially muskeg soil) found throughout the taiga. Taiga soil tends to be young and poor in nutrients, lacking the deep, organically enriched profile present in temperate deciduous forests. The colder climate hinders development of soil, and

14641-621: Was an island separated from the northern peninsula, with water exiting the Baltic Sea through the area where Stockholm is now located. The Latin names in Pliny's text gave rise to different forms in medieval Germanic texts. In Jordanes' history of the Goths (AD 551), the form Scandza is the name used for their original home, separated by sea from the land of Europe (chapter 1, 4). Where Jordanes meant to locate this quasi-legendary island

#533466