Tundra Biome
What is the biome and what are its characteristics and distribution across the world and Australia (if applicable)?
The term 'tundra' is Finnish and means 'treeless plain'. As the name suggests, there are little to no trees or other forms of plantation across the biome. This is because of its very chilled temperatures, limited drainage and poor nutrients. It is most commonly found far into the Northern hemisphere; very close to the North Pole. Although, lately it has become apparent that parts of the Southern hemisphere have also been forming into Tundra (such as Antarctica) as a result of global warming. Its latitude ranges from the 60° to 70° north, however the longitude cannot be specified due to its broad stretch over Asia, Europe and Canada. Considering Australia is in the Southern hemisphere, this biome is not found anywhere nearby. Within this biome there are three smaller ones, they are: Arctic Tundra, Alpine Tundra, and Antarctic Tundra.
Arctic Tundra
Arctic Tundra is found across Northern parts of Alaska, Siberia and Canada. It has extended bitter winters and short, chilled summers. This biome has a unique property as in some places, its grounds are permanently frozen over, and this is called permafrost. In some other parts of Arctic Tundra however, permafrost does not develop. In these areas it only snows and in the warmer seasons, melts to water. This biome is considerably flat thus, when the snow melts the water has nowhere to go and massive pools of water form over the land. |
Antarctic Tundra
Antarctic Tundra is special because it is found in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere between the (North and South) Pole and the Coniferous forests or Taiga. This biome has lots of rainfall, snow and extremely cold temperatures. The average temperature will only exceed 0° for up to a month but will not experience averages any higher than 10°. For two or three months a years, the ground is not covered with snow enabling plant life to grow and complete their entire life cycle in roughly 50 days. The plants that do grow are often very little because of the fast paced lifecycle. Tundra usually becomes one very big puddle (with an average depth of 25cm) when it comes to summer because of the ice that begins to melt from the mountains above. Because of the 24-hour sunshine period, the water warms and is the perfect place for mosquito larvae to thrive. Antarctic tundra is one of the places with permafrost, this often prevents shrubs from growing any taller than 30cm in height. The snowy owl and migrating geese are two very strong animals that endure the extremely jarring tundra climates. |
Alpine Tundra
Alpine Tundra is found on the long ranges of great mountains of the world and is not restricted to any certain latitudes. There must be an altitude of at least 10, 000 feet for Alpine Tundra to form just below the snow line. Parts of the Alpine biome include: Cascade, Sierra, The Rockies, The Andes, Himalayas and Pyrenees. These are not the only places however, they are the places in which Alpine Tundra is expected to form. Alpine Tundra is a very difficult place for plants to grow or animals to live because of its relatively extreme conditions. The few animals that do make use of the areas are: Yellow-bellied marmots, Hoary marmots, Clark’s nutcrackers, Chickaree, Pikas, Tundra Foxes, Eagles and Ptarmigans. Plants that have adapted to the Alpine Tundra environment include: Coniferous trees, firs, pines, wildflowers, mosses, and succulents. Each of these organisms developed ways of getting around the harsh weather, and limited amount of food. |