Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Justin Antoni G.
Man-on
Members:
Eladio Glicerio
Anino VIII
Rogel Mark Pucio
Introduction
• Tundra, Arctic plains encompassing
most of Earth’s terrain north of the
coniferous forest belt, dominated by
cotton grass, heath, lichen, moss,
sedge, and willow. Similar plains, called
alpine tundra, occur above the
timberline in the high mountains of the
world. The Antarctic region has a few
areas of tundra as well.
CLIMATE AND LAND
FORMATION
• Tundra climate is characterized by
harsh winters, low average
temperatures, little snow or rainfall,
and a short summer season. The
Arctic tundra, in particular, is
influenced by permafrost, a layer of
permanently frozen subsoil in the
ground. The surface soil, which tends
to be rocky, thaws in summer to
varying depths.
•The combination of frozen ground and flat
terrain on the tundra impedes the drainage of
water. Held at the surface or saturating the
upper layer of soil, the water forms ponds and
bogs that provide moisture for plants, thereby
counteracting the low precipitation.
•In relatively well-drained locations, the
periodic freezing and thawing of the soil forms
cracks in the ground in regularly patterned
polygons. Poorly drained areas produce
irregular landforms such as hummocks, or
knolls, frost boils, and earth stripes.
•Thawing of slopes in the summer may move
soil down slope to produce solifluction, or
“flowing soil” terraces. All of these patterns,
clearly visible on the Arctic tundra, also appear
on a smaller scale on the alpine tundra.
Common to the alpine tundra is bare rock-
covered ground, called fell-fields, supporting a
growth of lichens. The numerous microhabitats
provided by these landforms give variety to
the tundra landscape.
Plant Life
•The number of plant species on the tundra is
few, and their growth is low, with most of the
biomass concentrated in the roots. The
growing season is short, and plants are more
likely to reproduce vegetatively by division and
budding than sexually by flower pollination.
Typical Arctic vegetation comprises cotton
grass, sedge, and dwarf heath, together with
associated mosses and lichens. These plant
communities are adapted to sweeping winds
and to soil disturbance from frost heaves.
They carry on photosynthesis at low
temperatures, low light intensities, and long
periods of daylight. Alpine plant communities
consist of mat-forming and cushion-forming
plants, rare in the Arctic. These plants are
adapted to gusting winds, heavy snows, and
widely fluctuating temperatures. They carry
on photosynthesis under brilliant light in
short periods of daylight.
Arctic Tundra
Tundra, or low-
growing vegetation
including shrubs,
grasses, mosses, and
herbs, covers the
plains and coastal
regions of the Arctic.
Shown here is tundra
in Denali National
Park and Preserve,
Alaska
Animal Life
• Arctic wildlife is circumpolar; the same or
closely related species are found around the
world. The variety of animal life is also limited
in the challenging environment. Musk-ox,
caribou, and reindeer are the dominant large
grazers, feeding on grass, sedge, lichen, and
willow. Arctic hare, or snowshoe rabbit, and
lemming feed on grass and sedge. Predators
include the wolf, arctic fox, and snowy owl.
Polar bears, and sometimes brown bears, are
seen.
•Many birds nest in the tundra shrubbery in
summer, migrating to milder climates before
the winter season sets in. Invertebrate life is
scarce, but insects such as black flies and
mosquitoes are abundant. Alpine animal life
includes the mountain goat, big-horned
sheep, pika, marmot, and the ptarmigan, a
grouselike bird. Flies are scarce but
butterflies, beetles, and grasshoppers are
abundant.
•The tundra ecosystem is extremely sensitive
to disturbance with little ability to restore
itself. Disruption of vegetative cover causes
permafrost to melt deeply, with consequent
collapse of ground and loss of soil. Vehicular
tracks cause deep gullies that persist for
years. The tundra wildlife is vulnerable to
habitat destruction, to overhunting, and to
extinction through loss of any of the animal or
plant species that make up the fragile, highly
interdependent tundra community of life.
Effect of Global Warming to
Tundra
•Recent studies have demonstrated that global
warming is impacting areas of tundra,
particularly the Arctic tundra. Impacts include
the melting of permafrost and the expansion
of the timberline, which in turn decreases the
areas of tundra. Both impacts contribute
further to global warming, creating a so-called
positive feedback loop that makes it more
difficult to halt the warming trend.
The expanded timberline results in more
sunlight being absorbed by trees, which
warms the Earth’s surface. Trees have a low
albedo compared with the tundra. The tundra
tends to reflect sunlight back into space,
especially when it is snow-covered and has a
high albedo, thereby cooling Earth’s surface.
An expanded timberline and decreased areas
of tundra therefore lead to more heat being
absorbed at the surface.
Types of Tundra
& it’s
Characteristics
Arctic tundra
•Arctic tundra is located in the northern
hemisphere, encircling the north pole and
extending south to the coniferous forests of
the taiga. The arctic is known for its cold,
desert-like conditions. The growing season
ranges from 50 to 60 days. The average
winter temperature is -34° C (-30° F), but the
average summer temperature is 3-12° C (37-
54° F) which enables this biome to sustain
life.
•Rainfall may vary in different regions of the
arctic. Yearly precipitation, including melting
snow, is 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches). Soil is
formed slowly. A layer of permanently frozen
subsoil called permafrost exists, consisting
mostly of gravel and finer material. When
water saturates the upper surface, bogs and
ponds may form, providing moisture for
plants.
There are no deep root systems in the
vegetation of the arctic tundra, however,
there are still a wide variety of plants that are
able to resist the cold climate. There are
about 1,700 kinds of plants in the arctic and
sub arctic, and these include:
•low shrubs, sedges, reindeer mosses,
liverworts, and grasses
•400 varieties of flowers
•crustose and foliose lichen
Kinds of animals
•Herbivorous mammals: lemmings, voles,
caribou, arctic hares and squirrels
•Carnivorous mammals: arctic foxes, wolves,
and polar bears
•Migratory birds: ravens, snow buntings,
falcons, loons, sandpipers, terns, snow birds,
and various species of gulls
•Insects: mosquitoes, flies, moths,
grasshoppers, black flies and arctic bumble
bees
•Fish: cod, flatfish, salmon, and trout
•Animals are adapted to handle long, cold
winters and to breed and raise young quickly in
the summer. Animals such as mammals and
birds also have additional insulation from fat.
Many animals hibernate during the winter
because food is not abundant. Another
alternative is to migrate south in the winter,
like birds do. Reptiles and amphibians are few
or absent because of the extremely cold
temperatures. Because of constant
immigration and emigration, the population
continually oscillates.
Alpine tundra
• Alpine tundra is located on mountains
throughout the world at high altitude where
trees cannot grow. The growing season is
approximately 180 days. The nighttime
temperature is usually below freezing. Unlike
the arctic tundra, the soil in the alpine is well
drained.
• The plants are very similar to those of the arctic
ones and include:
• tussock grasses, dwarf trees, small-leafed
shrubs, and heaths
Animals living in the alpine tundra are also
well adapted:
•Mammals: pikas, marmots, mountain
goats, sheep, elk
•Birds: grouse like birds
•Insects: springtails, beetles, grasshoppers,
butterflies
Example of alpine tundra
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