The West Siberian taiga blankets the vast lowland West Siberian Plain in Russia, stretching from the Ural Mountains east to the Yenisei River, with the Ob River winding through it. This is a sweeping expanse of boreal coniferous forest interlaced with swamps, bogs, and fens; the "dark taiga" is dominated by Siberian spruce (Picea obovata), Siberian fir (Abies sibirica), and Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica), alongside Scots pine, Siberian larch (Larix sibirica), and downy birch. The climate is subarctic with a mild continental influence, bringing long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Roughly 40 percent of the territory is lowland bog and marsh, and the region holds the most extensive peatlands on Earth, an area the size of Texas that acts as a major carbon sink. Plant diversity is relatively low under these harsh, waterlogged conditions, though over 1,500 lichen species occur and wilderness here still shelters brown bears, grey wolves, Eurasian lynx, reindeer, and the flagship Siberian flying squirrel.

At a glance

About the boreal forests/taiga biome

The vast northern forest belt of spruce, fir, pine, and larch, defined by long, severe winters and short growing seasons. Often underlain by permafrost and wetlands, the taiga forms one of the world’s largest terrestrial carbon stores.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions