Forests play a huge role in human life. Recently, their number on Earth has decreased by almost half. A man cuts down trees for his needs, not paying attention to the fact that he destroys the forest and all its inhabitants.
The largest forest zone of our planet and the richest source of oxygen is taiga. It extends south of the tundra in a large territory of Siberia and the Far East and extends almost throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Taiga is in Finland and Canada. It occupies more than a third of all the forests of the planet.
To some, the taiga may seem monotonous - some
conifers, occasionally birch
trees are found. In a vast space you can not find housing and roads. Only trees and swamps. Sometimes this forest looks gloomy and dark, because coniferous spreading trees obscure the light. Therefore, in the lower tier almost nothing grows, except for mosses and lichens.
Taiga plants are not very diverse. In the southern part of the zone, many relict species have survived, but some of them are on the verge of extinction due to human fault. To preserve them, the Kedrovaya Span Reserve was created on the shore of the Amur Bay and the Ussuri Nature Reserve.
The nature of taiga forests in southern Siberia is unusual and beautiful. They are somewhat reminiscent of the jungle due to the fact that taiga plants are located on several levels. There are even creepers in the taiga. This is actinidia. It is also called taiga grape, and it is a
relic plant. There is also lemongrass, which has a very strong unusual taste and is used in medicine. In this zone, another plant lives, which is considered the best doctor in the world for many diseases - ginseng. Animals are also preserved in the reserves. These are the Amur leopard, the
Ussuri tiger, the mandarin duck, the
Amur snake and many others.
The taiga soils are not very rich in humus and often frozen at depths. Winter in these parts lasts a very long time, and only conifers, mainly cedar, fir and spruce can survive, mosses and lichens grow on the soil, which often form a thick carpet. There is almost no undergrowth in the taiga. There is a lot of rainfall that leaches nutrients from the top layer. These soils are also called podzolic for their light color.
Siberian taiga supplies about 90% of all coniferous forest reserves. It surpasses even
tropical forests in area. On its territory there are many swamps and various rivers and lakes. Taiga plants feed the inhabitants of the north. It is rich in berries and edible mushrooms, there are many small and large animals, and rivers and lakes are rich in fish.
Moose, deer, wolverines, beavers, bears and wolves are the most common inhabitants of the taiga. There are also many fur-bearing animals (mink, sable, marten, ermine) that are exterminated because of their valuable fur.
The most valuable plant found only in the taiga is Siberian cedar. Furniture, pencils and musical instruments are made from its wood, nuts and juice are used in medicine, cedar oil is also very useful. Other common taiga plants are pine, larch and fir. They are also used by people in traditional medicine.
If a person continues to cut down the forest uncontrollably, then soon there will be no places that enrich the entire planet with oxygen.