Boreal Forest Food Web
Terrestrial
Boreal Forests / Taiga
Circumpolar — Canada, Russia, Scandinavia, and Alaska
Description
The boreal forest or taiga is Earth's largest terrestrial biome, forming a circumpolar band of coniferous forest. Spruce budworm outbreaks and fire shape forest structure at landscape scales. Moose-wolf dynamics in the boreal forest provided some of ecology's foundational studies on predator-prey cycling.
Trophic Pyramid
Level 5
Decomposers
Wood-decay fungi
Bark beetles
Soil microbes
3 species
Level 4
Tertiary Consumers
Gray wolf
Wolverine
2 species
Level 3
Secondary Consumers
Canada lynx
Marten
Great horned owl
3 species
Level 2
Primary Consumers
Moose
Snowshoe hare
Spruce budworm
3 species
Level 1
Producers
Black spruce
Jack pine
Sphagnum moss
3 species
Apex Predators
Tertiary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
Primary Consumers
Producers
Key Interactions
- Canada lynx and snowshoe hare populations cycle with approximately 10-year periodicity
- Spruce budworm outbreaks defoliate vast areas of boreal forest
- Gray wolves maintain moose populations below carrying capacity
- Fire creates mosaic habitat supporting diverse successional stages