Tundra
Tundra
The tundra is characteristic of severe,
cold climatic regions, especially treeless
Arctic regions and high mountaintops.
Plant life must adapt itself to a
short growing season of about 60 days
and to a soil that remains frozen for
most of the year. Average annual precipitation
is usually less than 25 cm
(10 inches) and the annual temperature
averages about 10° C (14° F).
Most tundra regions are covered
with bogs, marshes, ponds, and a
spongy mat of decayed vegetation,
although high tundras may be covered
only with lichens and grasses. Despite
the thin soil and short growing season,
vegetation of dwarf woody plants,
grasses, sedges, and lichens may be
quite profuse. Plants of the alpine tundra
of high mountains, such as the
Rockies and Sierra Nevadas, differ
from the Arctic tundra in some
respects. Characteristic animals of the
Arctic tundra are the lemming, caribou
(Figure 39-10), musk-ox, arctic fox,
arctic hare, ptarmigan, and (during the
summer) many migratory birds.
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| Figure 39-10 A large male caribou on the Alaskan tundra. The gregarious caribou travel in large herds, feeding in summer on grasses, dwarf willow, and birch, but in winter almost exclusively on lichen. |
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