The Tundra & Taiga (and Alpine) Environments

Biome v. Ecosystem

A regional scale assemblage of plants and animals

A local scale set of interactions between biotic and abiotic elements

Source: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

Tundra

The Tundra

Tundra comes from the Finnish ‘tunturia’, which means barren or treeless land. Trees do not grow in the tundra because ?

Photo © Anna Grandfield.

Permafrost: Ground that is frozen for more than 2 years. In some places in Alaska it will be up to 700m deep, although in Siberia it can be closer to 1500m.

Describe the Location of continuous permafrost

Extent: Found in approximately 20% of the world. Permafrost is widespread in the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere, where it occurs in 85 percent of Alaska, 55 percent of Russia and Canada, and probably all of Antarctica.

Source: permafrost." Encyclopædia Britannica. Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008

The Arctic tundra climate

Secondary consumers(Large carnivores/omnivores)

Polar bears, arctic wolf

Secondary consumers(Small carnivores/omnivores)

Arctic fox, snowy owl, golden eagle

Primary consumersCaribou, lemming, musk ox, arctic hare

ProducersGrasses and sedges, mosses and lichens, woody shrubs

and herbaceous plants

Caribou, for example, are remarkably well adapted to life in the far north. Caribou hooves have a snowshoe-like spread that is much wider than any member of the deer family; under each hoof is a pad that thins in winter, making the hoof sharp-edged for traction on ice. Their coats provide such efficient insulation that they remain warm until temperatures plummet below -70 F. Caribou are also able to smell and locate lichens beneath the snow and can subsist on this nutrient-poor food for some time.

http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/boreal/page2.asp

Taiga

Alpine

What is an Alpine environment?

Describes any high mountains, but more accurately refers to areas characterized by glacial erosion with a cold but not dry climate.

What are mountains? “In general, mountains can

be said to be higher than 300 m but it is more appropriate to discuss them in terms of zones of similar altitude, slope and vegetation type.”

Alpine environments

Source: http://www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id=DTI/0957/PA

Chamois