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| Preface | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Geography of the Taiga | |
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| What is taiga? | |
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| Where is taiga? | |
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| Why conifers? | |
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| Taiga landscapes | |
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| Dark and light taiga | |
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| Harsh survivors | |
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| North American taiga | |
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| Threats to Canada's taiga | |
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| Pacific coast rain forest | |
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| European taiga | |
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| Conifer forests in European mountains | |
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| Scotland's Caledonian Forest | |
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| Siberian taiga | |
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| The Tien Shan Mountains of central Asia | |
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| Far Eastern taiga | |
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| East Asia's rare large mammals | |
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| Geology of the Taiga | |
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| Earth's structure | |
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| North American landforms today | |
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| The work of glaciers | |
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| Taiga soils | |
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| Bogs, peat, and forest | |
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| Hidden history | |
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| Deadly pitchers | |
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| Permafrost | |
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| Taiga Climate | |
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| Weather, climate, and atmosphere | |
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| What is radiation? | |
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| Solar heating and air movement | |
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| The effect of Earth's rotation | |
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| Global air circulation | |
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| The changing seasons | |
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| North American taiga and the polar front | |
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| Air masses | |
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| The effect of the Great Lakes | |
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| Ocean currents and taiga | |
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| Snow | |
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| Taiga blizzards | |
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| Surviving supercooling | |
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| Taiga advance and retreat | |
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| Global warming and the taiga | |
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| The greenhouse effect | |
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| Taiga Biology | |
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| Dark or light taiga? | |
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| Dark conifers | |
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| What is a cone? | |
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| Light conifers | |
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| Broad-leaved trees of the taiga | |
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| Beneath the canopy | |
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| Death of a tree | |
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| Partners beneath the soil | |
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| Mosses and lichens | |
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| Sphagnum moss | |
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| Pollination and seed dispersal | |
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| Origins of the taiga animals | |
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| Taiga insects | |
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| Amphibians and reptiles | |
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| Bird life | |
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| Small mammals | |
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| A pale shadow | |
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| Large mammals | |
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| Wood bison | |
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| Salmon feast | |
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| Taiga Ecology | |
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| Energy flow, food chains, and food webs | |
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| Types of symbiosis | |
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| Renewal and succession | |
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| Fire in the taiga | |
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| Fire shapes the taiga | |
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| Animals surviving winter | |
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| Size matters | |
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| Migrations | |
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| Predator-prey cycles | |
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| The Taiga in History and Prehistory | |
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| Origins of taiga peoples | |
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| The Bering land bridge (Beringia) | |
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| The first Americans | |
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| Siberian hunters | |
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| Traditional codes of conduct | |
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| Hunters and fishers | |
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| The modern North American taiga | |
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| Using cedar and birch | |
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| Toems and totem poles | |
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| Taiga medicine | |
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| The modern Eurasian taiga | |
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| Meeting today's challenges | |
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| Uses of the Taiga | |
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| Hunting and fur farming | |
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| Fur farms | |
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| Sable fur | |
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| Taiga tree products | |
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| The timber, pulp, and paper industries | |
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| Christmas trees | |
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| Forestry | |
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| Annual allowable cut | |
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| Agriculture | |
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| Hydroelectric power | |
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| Fishing | |
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| Mining | |
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| Uranium City | |
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| The mixed economy | |
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| Threats to the Taiga | |
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| Overhunting | |
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| Habitat change, habitat loss | |
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| Clear-cutting | |
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| The Great Bear Rainforest | |
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| Fragmentation | |
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| Fires | |
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| Introductions of exotic species | |
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| Hydroelectricity | |
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| Air pollution | |
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| Acidity and acid rain | |
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| Mining, oil and gas, and pulp and paper industries | |
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| Climate change | |
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| Conclusion: Managing the Taiga | |
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| Mapping a forest | |
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| Forests and freshwater | |
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| The age of Canada's trees | |
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| Biodiversity | |
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| Endangered species in Canada's taiga | |
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| Maintaining genetic diversity | |
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| The world's biggest clone? | |
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| Tree harvesting | |
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| Assisting forest regeneration | |
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| Fire as a management tool | |
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| Controlling forest pests | |
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| Protected areas | |
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| The future demand for wood | |
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| Certification | |
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| Taiga: carbon sink or carbon source? | |
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| Accommodating alternative views of the taiga | |
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| A local mixed economy | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Further reading | |
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| Web sites | |
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| Index | |