TUNDRA
Location
The distribution of Tundra across the globe.
As you can see from the picture, Tundra extends continuously across Asia, Europe, Canada, and Alaska. Compared to other biomes in the world, Tundra is a massive biome.
Tundra is divided between two major areas/types:
- Artic Tundra:
North America - Northern Alaska, Canada, Greenland
Northern Europe - Scandinavia
Northern Asia - Siberia
- Alpine Tundra:
North America - Alaska, Canada, U.S.A., and Mexico
Northern Europe - Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden
Asia - Southern Asia (Himalayan Mountains), and Japan (Mt. Fuji)
Africa - Mt. Kilimanjaro
South America - Andes Mountains
Climate
The two types of Tundra have similar climate with only tiny differences.
Artic Tundra:
Since Artic Tundra is located around the north pole (polar ice) and in the northern hemisphere, it suffers intense cold temperatures throughout the year and low precipitation. Artic Tundra usually receives less than 25 cm of precipitation (mostly snow) in a year. The temperature in the winter usually goes below minus 1 degree Celsius. In the summer, the temperature ranges from 2 degree Celsius to 13 degree Celsius.
Alpine Tundra:
Similar to Artic Tundra, Alpine Tundra is also located in regions with cold climate. In addition, most of the precipitation are in the form of snow. However, Alpine Tundra receives more precipitation than Alpine Tundra; 50.8 cm of precipitation in a year. Finally, unlike Artic Tundra, Alpine Tundra is a very windy area with an average wind speed of more than 100 miles/hour.
Wildlife
Tundra looks like a barren and frozen grassland.
Vegetation:
There is little presence of vegetation in a tundra biome due to the dry conditions, poor soil quality, and frozen ground (permafrost). The little plants that are present however, have to adapt to the harsh conditions mentioned before as well as cold, sunless days. The only growing season available is a short period of 8 weeks during the summer. All the factors above prevent significant vegetation, such as large trees, from growing. Some examples of the vegetation here are grasses, mosses, reindeer lichen, sedge, perennial forbs, and rosette
Animal:
Similar to the plants, the animals have to adapt to cold and harsh environment. Most animals migrate south to warmer parts of the world during winter. Some, especially small mammals like squirrels, hibernate during the winter. Some examples of the animals present in this biome are artic foxes, artic ground squirrels, caribous, reindeer, and wolverines.