The Vir­gin Komi Forests cov­er 3.28 mil­lion ha of tun­dra and moun­tain tun­dra in the Urals, as well as one of the most exten­sive areas of vir­gin bore­al for­est remain­ing in Europe. This vast area of conifers, aspens, birch­es, peat bogs, rivers and nat­ur­al lakes has been mon­i­tored and stud­ied for over 50 years. It pro­vides valu­able evi­dence of the nat­ur­al process­es affect­ing bio­di­ver­si­ty in the taiga.