The document provides information about the tundra biome. It describes the tundra as having extremely cold temperatures, little precipitation, poor soils, and a short growing season. Plants and animals in the tundra have adapted to these harsh conditions by growing close to the ground, having hairy coverings, and migrating away during winter months. The document contrasts the Arctic and alpine tundra, noting that the Arctic tundra spans northern regions and has permafrost, while alpine tundra occurs at high elevations worldwide.

2.  It is the coldest of all the biomes.
 Comes from the Finnish word tunturia, meaning
treeless plain.
 It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely
low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients,
and short growing seasons.

3. •Trees do not grow there.
•Winters are very cold.
•Summers last for a very short time.

4.  Extremely cold climate
 Low biotic diversity
 Simple vegetation structure
 Limitation of drainage
 Short season of growth and reproduction
 Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic
material
 Large population oscillations

5.  Climate type that impact life in this biome include
extremely short growing season (6 to 10 weeks)
long, cold, dark winters (6 to 10 months with mean
monthly temperatures below 32° F or 0° C.) low
precipitation (less than five inches/year) coupled with
strong, drying winds.
 Snowfall is actually advantageous to plant and
animal life as it provides an insulating layer on the
ground surface.

6.  It has been called "the
land of the midnight
sun". But even the sun
can't warm the tundra
much. The short summer
lasts only 6 to 10 weeks.
It never gets any warmer
than 45 or 50° F.
 The warmer weather
causes a layer of
permafrost, ice that
never goes away in the
ground, to melt, creating
bogs and shallow lakes
that don't drain.
 They breed stinging
insects, which make life
even in the summer
miserable for the
inhabitants of the tundra.
The wind blows
constantly, whipping
around the small plants.

7.  During the long winter
months the sun barely
rises and it is dark for
most of the day. Bitter
cold winds scud across
the barren snow scape,
exposing high plateaus
to barren ground.
 The tundra climate spans
from most of Greenland
to parts of Alaska,
northern Canada, and
northern Russia.
 Tundra climates can be
found on the coastal
areas of the arctic. The
ocean water keeps the
climate from falling to the
extreme temperatures
found in the interior of
the continents.

9.  Alpine Tundra  Arctic Tundra

11. It is found on mountain tops
all over the world, at the
high altitudes (commonly at
10,000 feet or more) where
trees cannot grow.
The growing season is
approximately 180 days.
Night temperatures are
below freezing.
The soil in the alpine tundra
is well drained so bogs and
ponds do not form.
The plants are similar to
those in the arctic tundra
and include tussock
grasses, dwarf trees and
small-leafed shrubs.
Alpine biome lies just below
the snow line of a
mountain.

12.  In the summer average temperatures range from 10
to 15° C . In the winter the temperatures are below
freezing. The winter season can last from October to
May. The summer season may last from June to
September.
 Plants must adapt to heavy snow and wind in an
alpine biome. Plants grow in sandy and rocky soil.
Most plants protect themselves by hugging the
ground. They are small and grow slowly. There are
only about 200 kinds of alpine plants.
Copper Mountain at Colorado

13. Alpine animals have to deal with two types of
problems:
the cold and too much high UV wavelengths.
Alpine animals adapt to the cold by hibernating,
migrating to lower, warmer areas, or insulating their
bodies with layers of fat.
Animals will also tend to have shorter legs, tails, and
ears, in order to reduce heat loss
Animal Adaptations..

14.  There are many animals that live in the tundra.
Some of these animals include caribou, ermine,
water birds, mosquitoes, polar bears, arctic fox,
white wolves, grizzly bears, gray falcons, bald
eagles, bumble bees, squirrels, Norway lemmings,
shrew, and voles. Ptarmigan, ravens, snowy owls,
arctichares, pikas, and pocket gophers are also
found in this vast biome.
 Birds migrate from the tundra during the colder
months.
 During winter you may not see a lot of animals there.

15.  One of the animals found in the
tundra is a pika. A pika is a
hamster type animal. It is 20cm
long and is a cute, little, brown,
fuzzy tan animal.
 The pika eats grass and herbs,
therefore it is a herbivore.
 Many carnivores feed upon the
pika. It survives by living in
holes in the ground and storing
grass, flowers, and herbs. This
animal can also be found in
grassland biome. It is mostly
found in the tundras in North
America.

16. Alpine animals also
have larger lungs,
more blood cells and
hemoglobin because
of the increase of
pressure and lack of
oxygen at higher
altitudes. This is also
true for people who
have lived on
mountains for a long
time, like the Indians
of the Andes
Mountains in South
America and the
Sherpas of the
Himalayas in Asia.
Llamas
Mountain goats

17. Migratory species such as waterfowl, shorebirds and
caribou adapt to the tundra by avoiding the most
severe conditions of winter. Each year at the end of
the short growing season they move southward into
the boreal forest or beyond, but return to the tundra
to breed.

18.  Dark colors on alpine plants absorb more heat:
 Anthocyanins: pigments that create red or blue - they
convert light into heat.
 Plants are often slow growing. This makes them
vulnerable to human impacts.
 Most plants are long-lived perennial plants. They don't
grow stems, leaves, flowers and fruite each season.
 Plants are matted against the earth, this keeps them
away from the harmfull wind.
 Some plants have hairs, which allow them to trap heat
and diffuse the harmfull solar radiation.
 Some plants are succulents, storing water in their leaves
(waxy leaves that prevent dessication).

19. The animals in the tundra eat
these plants to survive and
gain energy to stay warm.
The plants adapt by growing
short and close to the ground
to avoid high winds. Hairy
stems also keep plants warm
in the tundra.
The Tundra has a lot of
plant
life within this biome:
• Bearberry
• Arctic moss
• Caribou moss
• Diamond leaf willow,
• Labrador Tea,
• Pasque Flower
• Tufted Saxifrage.

20. This plant survives in this biome by staying close
to the ground to avoid high winds. Hairy stems to
help keep safe from the extreme temperatures
Owls and birds in the tundra eat the berries on
the plant. The bearberry isn't found in any other
biome. The bearberry is the most common plant
in the tundra.

21. The Labrador Tea has a bunch
of red leaves that use
chlorophyll and the sun to
create heat and nourishment.
This plant also has a hairy stem
to keep warm.
No animal eats the Labrador
Tea.
The Labrador Tea is in the
middle of the bearberry and the
Diamond leaf willow in
population.

22.  Diamond leaf willow has green
leaves and small round twigs that
are soft, slender and bend easily.
 Just like the rest of the plants it
has a hairy stem and stays close
to the ground to keep as warm as
possible.
 Animals and people eat this
willow because it has a lot of
vitamin C, vitamin A, and Calcium.
 It is not as abundant as the other
plants because so many people
and animals eat it.

23. Lichen is an alga and fungi living
as a combined organism, sharing
the very few nutrients it may come
across so this is very much a
mutualistic relationship between
the two organisms and is a perfect
example of a symbiotic relations
going on in the Alps.
Although lichens are plants, they
are one of the few with no root or
vascular system (the transport of
water and nutrients from one part
of the plant to another).

24. Dwarfed shrubs also tend to
grow very slowly as other
plants here often do because
the alpine conditions are not
very accommodating for plant
life to grow , as the soils give
minimal nutrients and/or water
to draw upon.

25. Growing short and unnaturally low to
the ground (one of the adaptations the
plant has had to make). Heaths thrive
in acidic soil. The heath's leaves are
long and which allows the
continuation of the photosynthesis
process even in colder months in the
alpine tundra. Heath plants are able to
withstand the strongest of winds due
to being close to the ground and
having a very strong root system,
which is brutal enough to uproot
smaller plants.

26.  A perennial plant is a plant that
lives more than 2 years, or a
winter hardy plant. In the picture
you see is what you will see in
the very limited sunny or
growing period in the Alps. This
will only last no more than 1
and a ½ months in the tundra.
 Most of these plants a dwarfed
due to being there for
thousands of years and have
had to adapt to the powerful
winds and lack of water for
growing

28.  Arctic tundra is found across northern Alaska,
Canada, and Siberia.
 Has long cold winters and short cool summers.
 Has low precipitation (less than 10 inches per year)
and dry winds. (desert-like climate)
 Has a permafrost ground that
is permanently frozen.
WHERE IT IS FOUND?

29.  During the summer Arctic tundra is
characterized by lots of surface water.
 The growing season ranges from 50
to 60 days.
 Winter temperatures average -34° C ,
but the summer temperatures
average 3-12° C, which is warm
enough for plants and animals to
reproduce and grow.
 Rainfall varies around the Arctic, but
on average yearly rain and snow is 15
cm to 25 cm.

30. - a metre under the top layer of soil there is ground that is
permanently frozen.
- In the Arctic tundra, warmth and sunlight are in short
supply, even in the summer. The ground is frequently
covered with snow until June, and the Sun is always low
in the sky.
- Plants also have adapted to the Arctic tundra by
developing the ability to grow under a layer of snow, to
carry out photosynthesis in extremely cold temperatures,
and for flowering plants, to produce flowers quickly once
summer begins.

31.  Plants in the tundra are low-growing, and include:
low shrubs, sedges, mosses, liverworts, and
grasses;
400 varieties of flowers;
lichens.
 Plants group together to withstand the strong winds
and cold temperatures. They are protected by the
winter snows. They have adapted so that
photosynthesis (getting food from sunlight) can occur
in the low light and cold temperatures.

32.  Most of the plants are
small, grow close
together and close to
the ground. This
protects them from the
cold temperatures and
the strong winds.
 Some flowering plants
have fuzzy coverings on
the stems, leaves and
buds to provide
protection from the wind.
Some have woolly seed
covers.
Purple saxifrage
Anemone patens

33.  Flowering plants use the long
hours of sunlight to produce
flowers quickly in the short
growing season.
 Some plants have cup-shaped
flowers that face up to the sun,
so the sun's rays are directed
towards the centre of the flower.
 Only the top layer of soil thaws out so plants have shallow
roots.
 Small leaves help the plants retain moisture others are dark
coloured so the plants can absorb more solar heat.
 Because of the short growing season, most tundra plants
are perennials. Perennials do not die in the winter.
Arctic poppy

34.  Hibernation and Migration – behavioral adaptation
in Arctic tundra.
 During the summer, the brown bear's behavior is to
eat just about anything it can find; then it hibernates,
or sleeps, during the winter. (The bear's physical
adaptation allows the food eaten during the summer
to be stored as a layer of fat underneath its skin. The
layer of fat insulates the bear from the cold. While in
hibernation the fat is slowly converted into energy
that maintains life.)

35.  Herbivorous (plant eating) mammals such as;
lemmings, voles, caribou, arctic hares and squirrels
 Carnivorous (meat eating) mammals such as;
arctic foxes, wolves, and polar bears
 Migratory birds such as;
ravens, falcons, loons, ravens, sandpipers, terns and
snow birds
 Insects such as;
mosquitoes, flies, moths, grasshoppers, blackflies
and arctic bumble bees

36.  Animals in the tundra have
adapted to survive the long cold
winters. They have an extra
layer of fat to keep them warm,
and in winter their fur is longer
and thicker. Many hibernate
during the winter when food is
hard to find. Others migrate to
warmer places to avoid the
tundra winter. This means that
animal populations in the tundra
fluctuate with the seasons.
Animals breed and raise their
young in the short summer.
There are few reptiles and
amphibians in the tundra
because of the cold
Musk ox

37. Arctic fox Owl Arctic hare

38. Beluga whale Tundra swan
Red foxCanada lynx