In 2015 Zimov's experiment seemed to be working at least on a small scale On a 124 acre 50 ha area within the reserve grasses had replaced the original tundra plants Seventy plant eaters were helping prevent the permafrost from thawing Grasses are better at reflecting continuous summer sunshine than trees or lichens This helps keep the ground colder During the winter snowy season the animals keep the ground exposed to the frigid Arctic air They do this by tramping down the snow making it a poor insulator They also sweep away the snow to eat the grasses beneath Temperature measurements showed the grazed area's permafrost was 3 6 degrees Fahrenheit 2°C colder than nongrazed areas According to Nikita Zimov that would be enough to keep the permafrost solid ALPINE TUNDRA Alpine tundra is found around the world in high mountain altitudes The high reaches of the Andes mountains in Peru the Himalayas in Nepal and the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the United States are examples where alpine tundra exists Trees cannot grow there Like the Arctic tundra short small plants survive Some of the animals that live on the alpine tundra include mountain goats elk and marmots pictured REAL SOLUTION OR DAYDREAM Sergey Zimov's experiment is groundbreaking in tundra conservation But for his experiment to preserve the tundra permafrost the experiment would need to be greatly expanded Millions of large plant eating animals would need to be reintroduced to the tundra in Siberia It would take decades to accomplish this Many nations would need to work
together to prevent the disastrous permafrost carbon release But in 2015 Terry Chapin an ecologist at TUNDRA RESEARCH STATION the University of Alaska Fairbanks pointed out that The NESS was founded in 1989 Sergey Zimov and his son Nikita Zimov run the station In only two solutions to preserving the permafrost had addition to the scientists Nikita Zimov's wife three children and other family members live at been put forward One was to cut global greenhouse the station The location of the NESS gives great gas emissions The other was to implement access to the Russian tundra for scientific study Funding for the station comes from the Russian Zimov's research Science Foundation the US Department of Energy the National Science Foundation and the WHAT IS THE TUNDRA Soros Foundation Tundra is a treeless landscape found above the Arctic circle and in the alpine regions of high mountains globally It is covered with short grasses sedges or marsh plants forbs flowering herbs that are not grasses and small shrubs In the Northern Hemisphere Arctic tundra stretches across parts of northern Canada Alaska Siberia Greenland and Scandinavia In the Southern Hemisphere it covers Antarctic islands the high mountains in Chile and southern Chile and Argentina Scientists often categorize tundra into Arctic tundra which is in the northern hemisphere Antarctic tundra in the southern hemisphere and alpine tundra which is in the mountains The tundra landscape may be one of Earth's youngest biomes A biome is an area on Earth that has plants and animals that have adapted to living in the climate of that area The tundra is believed to be approximately 10 000 years old forming during and after the last
ice age The tundra biome makes up 20 percent of Earth's surface Winter in the tundra lasts up to ten and a half months often beginning in late September and lasting until early June in the Northern Hemisphere It is bitterly cold and portions of the soil are permanently frozen In Arctic tundra the sun may stay completely below the southern horizon for days Winter temperatures average from 20 degrees Fahrenheit 29°C to 30 degrees Fahrenheit 34°C During the short summer season near Earth's poles the sun shines 24 hours a day Summer only lasts six to ten weeks Even during the summer tundra temperatures do not go above 54 degrees Fahrenheit 12 2°C The summer warmth thaws the top layer of soil This is called the active layer During the summer the tundra supports many ecosystems Wet sedge ecosystems lie along lakes and rivers and support sedges moist areas not near lakes or rivers support small shrubs mosses and lichen and dry upland Many plants lie dormant during the long tundra winters
