Editing Taiga (section)

===Growing season===
[[File:Shovel Point1.jpg|thumb|Boreal forest near Shovel Point in [[Tettegouche State Park]], along the northern shore of Lake Superior in [[Minnesota]].]]
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 the taiga.<ref name="Berkeley"/>

In Canada and Scandinavia, the growing season is often estimated by using the period of the year when the 24-hour average temperature is {{convert|+5|C}} or more.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/_live/documents/documentManagerUpload/Taiga_Shield_References.pdf|title=Canada: Taiga Shield reference|website=Enr.gov.nt.ca|access-date=28 February 2022}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> For the Taiga Plains in Canada, growing season varies from 80 to 150 days, and in the Taiga Shield from 100 to 140 days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geography.ridley.on.ca/CGC1D/Students/NORTH/Geography%20Project/Ecozones.htm |title=Climate of Canadian ecozones |publisher=Geography.ridley.on.ca |access-date=21 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505201153/https://geography.ridley.on.ca/CGC1D/Students/NORTH/Geography%20Project/Ecozones.htm |archive-date=5 May 2011 }}</ref>

Other sources define growing season by frost-free days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/taiga.htm |title=Taiga |publisher=Blueplanetbiomes |access-date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410093754/http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/taiga.htm |archive-date=10 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Data for locations in southwest Yukon gives 80–120 frost-free days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yukon.taiga.net/swyukon/frost.cfm |title=Southwest Yukon:Frost-free days |publisher=Yukon.taiga.net |access-date=21 February 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724091601/https://yukon.taiga.net/swyukon/frost.cfm |archive-date=24 July 2011 }}</ref> The closed canopy boreal forest in [[Kenozersky National Park]] near [[Plesetsk]], [[Arkhangelsk Oblast|Arkhangelsk Province]], Russia, on average has 108 frost-free days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wild-russia.org/bioregion2/2-KenozerskyNP/2_kenoz.htm |title=Kenozersky National Park |publisher=Wild-russia.org |access-date=21 February 2011}}</ref>

The longest growing season 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anzf31/anz31-123-129.pdf |title=University of Helsinki: Carabid diversity in Finnish taiga |access-date=21 February 2011}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/tundra.htm |title=Tundra |publisher=Blueplanetbiomes |access-date=21 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhptv.org/NatureWorks/nwep8a.htm |title=NatureWorks:Tundra |publisher=Nhptv.org |access-date=21 February 2011}}</ref> and the 24-hr average of the warmest month of the year usually is {{cvt|10|C|F}} or less.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/arctic/Aintro.html |title=The Arctic |publisher=saskschools.ca |access-date=21 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410080512/https://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/arctic/Aintro.html |archive-date=10 April 2011 }}</ref>

High [[latitude]]s 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 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.