The biome with long cold winters of heavy snowsfall and three to six months of growing season is the taiga. Coniferous trees, such as spruce, fir, pine, and hemlock, bear their seeds in cones. They do not shed their leaves at one time. The soil of the taiga does not support many decomposers.
Smaller animals live in the canopy and trees, while larger animals live on the forest floor.
Large areas of Canada and northern Europe have coniferous forests. These forests also occur at high elevations in the western United States and in such states as Maine and Michigan. Animals in the Taiga Life in the Taiga is cold and dreary. Find out how animals like the Least Weasel and Rose Breasted Grosbeak survive in this environment. Very few species can survive, let alone thrive in such an environment like the Taiga.