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While the term “coniferous forest” can be applied to temperate rain forest and coniferous forest biomes in the western mountains, the terms “taiga” and “boreal forest” should be restricted to the northern forests. “Taiga” is also sometimes used in a more restricted way, to mean a subdivision of the boreal forest.

Great Slave Lake, ensconced in the boreal forest and undulating tundra of Canada's Northwest Territories, is the deepest lake in the continent, plumbed to a depth of 2,015 feet (614 meters). Except for the remnant (and some ongoing) contamination from mining on its northern shore and disruption from logging and road construction, Great Slave Lake anchors an almost pristine series of habitats, with intact forests, wetlands, shrublands, and tundra surrounding its clean, often ice-covered waters.

The boreal forest is the world's largest terrestrial biome, characterized by coniferous forests. It makes up 29 percent (about 20 million hectares) of the world's forest cover. It occurs in a broad band (50–70 degrees north latitudes) across northern North America, Europe, and Asia in regions with cool temperatures and adequate moisture. It forms a nearly unbroken belt of trees that circles the Earth. Fifty-eight percent of the Earth's boreal forest is in Russia, 24 percent in Canada, and 11 percent in the United States. Boreal forest is also known as taiga or northern coniferous forest. The term taiga is of Russian origin and means “marshy pine forest.” The term boreal forest is sometimes used to refer to the more southerly part of the biome, while the term taiga is often used to describe the more barren areas of the northernmost part.

DEFINITION: Coniferous forests within the Subarctic land biome, existing in a nearly continuous band throughout the northern regions of North America, Europe, and Asia

DEFINITION: Forests constituted primarily of evergreen trees that are species of conifers

The Alaska Peninsula montane taiga covers some 18,500 square miles (48,000 square kilometers) of rugged vertical terrain along the southern slopes of the Alaska Peninsula, the Kodiak Archipelago, and as far west as Unimak Island in the eastern Aleutian Islands chain. Situated below and around volcanic peaks of up to 8,000 feet (2,500 meters), floral and faunal features of this biome thrive in elevations of 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) and higher.

Summary: The sparse vegetative cover across most of Iceland, along with increasing concerns about soil erosion, put sustainable human practices under increased scrutiny here.