Schmidt Peninsula, Sakhalin Island, Russia Photograph by FARREX   Russia Boreal Forests/Taiga   26,500 square miles (68,700 square kilometers) -- about thrice the size of New Hampshire Vulnerable

· Where the Tundra Ends
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Where the Tundra Ends

The Sakhalin Island separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Sea of Japan in the Far East of Russia. Like other taiga forests, it is a moist subarctic coniferous forest dominated by spruce and fir trees that begin growing where the tundra ends. Kurile larch thrives in swampy soil in the north, while Yeddo spruce and Sakhalin fir cover the mountain slopes of the Western Range.

Special Features

Sakhalin Island is not completely isolated. The Tatar Strait separates Sakhalin from mainland Russia by only five miles and can freeze over (joining island to continent) in winter. The watersheds of the Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri Rivers are biologically rich and diverse. Here the endemic Sakhalin fir supports many species of birds.

	Some animals use the Tartar strait as a walkway between island and mainland when it freezes over in the winter.

Wild Side

Blackistonās fish owl, long-billed murrelet, Siberian spruce grouse, and Mandarin duck all find refuge in the tall evergreens. The Mandarin duck nests in these forests. Many species of salmon, including pink, chum, masu-cherry, coho, and Sakhalin taimen spawn here.

Cause for Concern

The major threat to biodiversity here is the logging of the forests. Natural gas and oil drilling are additional threats.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.