As you travel south from the tundra you will enter the circumpolar belt of coniferous forests which stretches across North America to Eurasia, this region is called taiga, a world derived from Russian word meaning ‘primeval forest'. The taiga is a land of lakes, bogs and marshes. The climate is cold with long winters and short summers. The dominant trees are conifers like spruce, pines and firs with needle like leaves, that can survive extremely cold winters. Typical animals found in this region include moose, wolves, lynx, bears, gray jays. Many of these rely on their stored body fat for survival during the cold months.