Rainforest vs Taiga

Two forests, two worlds

The tropical rainforest is hot, wet and bursting with life. The taiga, or boreal forest, is cold, quiet and slow to grow. Both are important, and both are under threat, but the dangers they face are very different. This module compares them side by side.

Rainforest and taiga compared

The climate of each biome shapes everything else about it.

The language of the biosphere

Four ideas run through this topic:

Build the rainforest, top to bottom

Put the layers of a tropical rainforest in order from the TOP down to the ground.

• Emergent layer: the tallest trees poking above the rest
• Canopy: the dense, continuous roof of leaves
• Understorey: shrubs and young trees in the shade
• Forest floor: dark, with fast-rotting leaf litter

Match each rainforest adaptation to its job

Where is life richest?

Which biome has the greater biodiversity?

• The tropical rainforest
• The taiga
• They have exactly the same
• Neither has any biodiversity

Where the goodness is stored

In the rainforest, warmth and rain make dead leaves rot fast. Most nutrients are held in the living plants, the biomass, not in the thin soil, and are quickly taken up again. That is why clearing the trees is so damaging: the store of nutrients is removed with them, leaving poor soil behind.

Why the rainforest is cleared

Select the TWO causes of tropical rainforest deforestation.

• Clearing land for farming and cattle ranching
• Commercial logging for timber
• Heavy snow snapping conifer branches
• Acid precipitation drifting from industry

Match each taiga adaptation to its job

A danger to the far north

Which of these is a threat to the taiga (boreal) forest?

• Acid precipitation drifting from distant industry
• Warm, wet weather feeding fast growth
• Losing its drip-tip leaves
• Buttress roots rotting away

Two biomes in words

The tropical rainforest is hot and wet, with very high _____. Its nutrients are mostly stored in the _____, not the thin soil. It is threatened by _____ to clear land for farming and timber. The taiga is a cold _____ forest with slow growth, threatened by logging and by _____ that drifts from industry.

Rainforest against taiga

Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE.

• The tropical rainforest has more biodiversity than the taiga.
• Acid precipitation is a threat to the taiga forest.
• The taiga is hotter and wetter than the rainforest.
• Most rainforest nutrients are stored in deep, fertile soil.
• CITES and REDD are schemes for protecting the taiga.

Name the biome and the threat

Work out which biome each situation belongs to.

• In a hot, wet forest near the Equator, land is cleared for cattle ranching. Which biome and process is this?
• Countries agree to control trade in endangered rainforest species and pay to keep forests standing. Which schemes are these?
• A cold northern forest is damaged by pollution drifting from distant factories. What is the threat?

Compare and protect

Explain why the tropical rainforest has higher biodiversity and productivity than the taiga, and describe one way each biome can be protected.

• Describe the climate of each biome
• Explain how climate affects growth and biodiversity
• Give one way to protect the rainforest, for example CITES, REDD or sustainable livelihoods
• Give one way to protect the taiga, for example national parks or sustainable forestry