38 THE TAIGA, OR CONIFEROUS 



their slow rate of transpiration makes conifers more 

 tolerant than broad-leaved trees of unfavourable con- 

 ditions. The consequence is that in Asia we find 

 a band of predominantly coniferous forest separating 

 the tundra from the steppes of the central region, this 

 forest, which is markedly uniform in character, being 

 called the taiga. Its important trees are the Siberian 

 larch and the Siberian fir ; the Cembra pine, important 

 for its edible seeds, eagerly relished by many animals ; 

 with many minor forms, such as juniper, bird cherry, 

 mountain ash, &c., important in that they bear edible 

 fruits. In addition the taiga resembles the tundra in 

 its great wealth of berry-bearing bushes, such as 

 cranberries, crowberries, whortleberries, &c., especially 

 abundant in clearings, and in areas devastated by 

 forest fires. 



Lianes and creepers are typically absent, and the 

 taiga as a whole is much less dense than the tropical 

 forest. The result is that we have no animals of purely 

 arboreal habit, such as occur in the equatorial forests, 

 and on the whole arboreal adaptations are few. Very 

 many of the inhabitants of the taiga possess the power 

 of climbing without showing any great modification of 

 structure. 



In North America, especially in the eastern part of 

 Canada, a belt of forest of very similar characters occurs. 

 The species of conifers are different, but the general 

 aspect of the forest is the same, and its inhabitants 

 show a general resemblance to those in the Old World. 

 Under the name of taiga animals, therefore, we shall 

 describe the inhabitants of the coniferous forests of 

 both the eastern and western hemispheres. 



The important mammals of the taiga belong to three 

 orders ; they are ungulates, or rodents, or carnivores. 



