Scandinavian Taiga

A boreal forest ecoregion of about 2.15 million square kilometers, the largest in Europe, covering Norway, Sweden and Finland and extending into northwestern Russia as a transition between Arctic tundra to the north and temperate forest to the south. Coniferous stands of pine and spruce dominate, with Siberian spruce and Siberian larch mixed in toward the east and birch, aspen and alder along rivers; extensive peatlands provide crucial breeding grounds for birds such as the aquatic warbler and lesser white-fronted goose, alongside threatened mammals including the European mink and Eurasian otter. Fire-adapted pine stands hold the drier ground while fire-intolerant spruce favors wetter sites. Past glaciation left the region with comparatively low endemism, and agricultural clearing has reduced forest cover in its southern reaches.