What Are the Natural Resources of the Taiga?
A taiga biome’s natural resources include shields, gas and oil deposits and metallic minerals. The Canadian Taiga Shield, one of the largest taiga biomes or boreal forest, is rich in mineral deposits, such as gold, iron, copper, silver, zinc, uranium and nickel.
A taiga biome is the largest terrestrial biome on Earth and is characterized by needleleaf or coniferous forests. It stretches from North America to Eurasia and is situated just below the tundra biome near the Arctic Circle. The largest taiga biome is found in Russia, where boreal forest covers most of the northern part of the country. Most of Russia’s natural resources, such as coal, oil and natural gas, come from under the large expanse of boreal forest in central and eastern Siberia as well as in the Ural Mountains and around Moscow. The Russian taiga is also mined for its aluminium ore and diamond deposits.
Extensive coal mining, logging, road building, and oil and gas and hydroelectric developments pose a threat to the taiga biome. Aside from the threats from the ever-growing human population, global climate change, ozone depletion and air pollution can inversely affect the biome. In Russia, pollution comes in the form of acid rain due to nickel, lead and cadmium smelting plants. The acidic rainwater damages the trees and also pollutes the water around the boreal forest.
