Pechoro-Ilych Reserve, Russia Photograph by Per Angelstorm   Palaearctic Boreal Forests/Taiga   67,400 square miles (174,600 square kilometers) -- about the size of Washington Vulnerable

· Between Taiga and Tundra
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Between Taiga and Tundra

The Ural Mountains, aside from being the natural border between Europe and Asia, are also the meeting point for two main vegetation zones in the far north--taiga and tundra. Amid a rich mosaic of plant species live many animals adapted to mountain environments.

Special Features

The Ural Mountains run for about 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from north to south. Climate and vegetation on the western slopes vary greatly from the eastern side of the mountains. Western slopes receive 20 to 27 inches (500-700 mm) of annual precipitation, while the eastern side is influenced by arctic air masses and gets only 12 to 19 inches (300-480 mm) of rain each year. Vegetation types found in the ecoregion are divided into stony lichen tundra, with sparse mosses and lichens; typical tundra, with a well-developed moss layer; dwarf shrub tundra; and dark-needle taiga. Higher elevations contain shrubby birch or sparse spruce-fir forests. This ecoregion also contains golets--bare rocky caps with sparse alpine or tundra vegetation.

	A caribou’s foot is broad and flat, with deeply cleft hooves, which allows the animal to walk across winter snows and spongy arctic tundra in the summer. However, when the animals walk, tendons snap across a bone in the foot, making a clicking sound. Hunters often listen for this noise to locate the animals.

Wild Side

Common to taiga and tundra regions throughout the world are several mammals that can also be found here: wolves, brown bears, and lynx. Once extinct in this ecoregion, the European beaver was reintroduced in 1949 and has made such a strong comeback that it is now common. Moose and elk have also made a comeback due to conservation measures. The caribou, however, once on the same trend as its distant relatives, has remained on the decline due to competition with domestic reindeer. A few other animals are also struggling to survive here, including pallid harriers, short-toed eagles, Imperial eagles, lesser kestrels, black storks, and ospreys.

Cause for Concern

The main threats to this ecoregion include clear-cutting of old-growth forests, pasturing, mining, air pollution from the chemical industry, recreation, and agriculture. However, threats differ in various parts of the ecoregion. For example, mountain tundra is significantly altered throughout the ecoregion, except in certain protected areas. Middle and southern-area taiga zones are also heavily altered by forestry and mining. But northern taiga landscapes are still relatively well preserved.

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