Editing Taiga (section)

==Fauna==
[[File:Brown-bear-in-spring.jpg|thumb|A [[Brown bear]], [[Kamchatka peninsula]]. Brown bears are among the largest and most widespread taiga [[omnivore]]s.]]

The boreal forest/taiga supports 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 [[insect]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=354 |title= Canada's Boreal Forest  |publisher=Hinterland Who's Who |access-date=21 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103083916/https://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=354 |archive-date=3 January 2011 }}</ref> Insects play a critical role as [[pollinator]]s, [[decompose]]rs, and as a part of the food web. Many nesting birds, rodents, and small carnivorous mammals rely on them for food in the summer months.

The cold winters and short summers make the taiga a challenging biome for [[reptile]]s and [[amphibian]]s, which depend on environmental conditions to regulate their body temperatures. There are only a few species in the boreal forest, including [[common garter snake|red-sided garter snake]], [[vipera berus|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 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 (fish)|cisco]], [[lake whitefish]], [[round whitefish]], [[pygmy whitefish]], [[Arctic lamprey]], various [[Thymallus|grayling]] species, [[brook trout]] (including sea-run brook trout in the Hudson Bay area), [[chum salmon]], [[Hucho taimen|Siberian taimen]], [[lenok]] and [[lake chub]].

[[File:Snowscape (6701322581).jpg|thumb|[[Seney National Wildlife Refuge]].]]

The taiga is mainly home to a number of large [[Herbivore|herbivorous]] [[mammal]]s, 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 [[Caspian red deer|maral]], [[elk]], [[Sitka black-tailed deer]], and [[roe deer]]. While normally 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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=98 |title= North American Elk  |publisher=Hinterland Who's Who |access-date=21 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103152034/https://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=98 |archive-date=3 January 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.borealforest.org/world/mammals/western_roe_deer.htm |title=Western roe deer  |publisher=Borealforest.org |access-date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526003203/http://www.borealforest.org/world/mammals/western_roe_deer.htm |archive-date=26 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 the Russian far-east, as part of the taiga regeneration project called ''[[Pleistocene Park]]'', in addition to [[Przewalski's horse]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/elkisland/ne/ne5.aspx|title=Government of Canada to Send Wood Bison to Russian Conservation Project |website=Parks Canada |date=23 January 2012 |access-date=11 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209204726/https://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/elkisland/ne/ne5.aspx|archive-date=9 February 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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 the harsh winters in their native ranges. Some larger mammals, such as [[bear]]s, 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 [[raccoon]]s). Mammalian predators of 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 (animal)|fisher]], [[Subspecies of Canis lupus|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 [[bird]]s have their [[nest]]ing grounds in the taiga.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.borealbirds.org/forest.shtml |title=Boreal Forest |publisher=Boreal Songbird Initiative |access-date=21 February 2011}}</ref> [[Siberian thrush]], [[white-throated sparrow]], and [[black-throated green warbler]] [[bird migration|migrate]] to this [[Habitat (ecology)|habitat]] to take advantage of the long summer days and abundance of [[insect]]s found around the numerous bogs and lakes. Of the 300 species of birds that summer in the taiga, only 30 stay for the winter.<ref>Sayre, 28.</ref> These are either [[carrion]]-feeding or large [[Bird of prey|raptor]]s that can take live mammal prey, such as 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 [[crossbill]]s.