Mammals Most animals of the boreal forest are well adapted to the cold and survive it easily if they have enough food to maintain energetic balance through the winter. Because a winter snowpack is a dependable feature of the taiga several animals display considerable adaptation to it. In the summer they eat willow and broadleaf tree leaves, and also spend time completely submerged while consuming aquatic plants in lakes and ponds. Moose depend on high quality feeding areas in the shrub zone along river floodplains and the early successional growth of woody plants in burned or cutover forest. Intensive browsing by moose can alter the composition of the forest in its early stages of growth, often increasing the dominance of conifers which they do not eat in as great an amount as broadleaf trees.
Wolves prey on moose and caribou across most of the boreal forest.
Some scientists and game managers believe that once moose numbers are depressed wolf predation can keep moose populations low. As a result wolf trapping or shooting programs are carried out as a game management measure in order to increase prey numbers. Some people place a high value on the regulation of large mammals by natural predators such as wolves and oppose wolf control measures. Other factors control moose numbers, such as restricted access to browse plants during years of deep snow, and lack of early successional woody plant growth caused by forest maturation. Where the boreal forest is extensively cut for forest products, moose numbers have increased greatly, often to levels that are considered undesirable for forest regeneration.