ALPINE TUNDRA

“The Land Above the Trees”

 “Tundra”
• Russian: “land of no trees”
• Has great appeal to people…. Why?
• Everything in miniature:
– “Sky the size of forever & flowers the size of a
millisecond” (Ann Zwinger)
 Tundra Extent
Extent of Alpine Tundra Biome:
• Alpine tundra = more
uniform throughout
northern hemisphere
thtan any other biome
on Earth!! WHY?
 Environment
• What is the environment like in the Alpine
zone?
• How do changes in 4 major climatic factors
affect vegetation?
• What adaptations must plants have to these
conditions?
Alpine Plants:
Alpine Plants:
Alpine Plants: Cushions
Only Annual plant in Rocky Mountain
Alpine:
• Koenigia islandica
• Circumpolar species
 Alpine Animals:
• What adaptations must animals have to live in
the tundra?
• Do any live in the tundra year round?
– Why? OR – Why not?
• What kinds of animals are missing from the
tundra?
 Alpine Animals:
• White-tailed Ptarmigan
• What do they eat?
 Alpine Animals:
• Pika (“rock rabbit”)
 Alpine Animals:
• Marmot
 Alpine Animals:
• Big horn sheep
• Mountain Goat
 Treeline:
• What do trees look like
at treeline?
• “krummholz” = “elfin
wood”
• “flagging”
 Treeline:
• A dynamic equilibrium
 Treeline:
• Tree waves moving across the landscape
• Dwarf
spruce &
fir trees:
 Treeline:
• What factors control treeline?
• How do these factors interact?
 Climate Change?
• What impact will warming global climate have
on the alpine tundra life zone/biome?
Loss of pika populations
during the 20th century in
the intermountain West, at
different elevations and
latitudes. Open circles
represent sites in the interior
Great Basin where pikas
remain extant, and closed
circles represent pika
populations that became
extirpated in the late 20th
century.

www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Pika2.htm