WHAT IS TUNDRA Tundra is a cold dry and barren biome The word tundra comes from a word meaning treeless plain in the Finnish language and the most obvious thing about tundra is that there are no trees Treeless plains Trees cannot survive in tundra because there is not enough water available in tundra soil for these large plants to grow and survive throughout the year However there are lots of plants that do thrive in the extremely cold harsh tundra conditions These include wiry shrubs such as heathers and bilberries and tough grasses and sedges especially in wetter areas There are scattered patches of spongy mosses on the ground and colorful lichens surviving on the rocks Tundra landscapes are snow-covered for much of the year until summer brings a burst of wildflowers Fact Focus Biome or Habitat Biomes are regions of the world that have a similar climate plants and animals such as deserts forests rivers oceans tundra and grassland A habitat is the specific place in a biome where a plant or animal lives 4
Tundra survivors Many animals manage to survive in the challenging tundra biome The low plants are teeming with animal life from spiders and midges to moths and bumblebees Some of these help to pollinate the flowers so they can produce seeds and berries Hares lemmings geese mountain goats and caribou feast on the tundra plants Hunters in the tundra Tundra is a hunting ground for lots of predators In the air eagles and owls fly silently on the lookout for a tasty bird or mammal to catch and eat On the ground tundra predators can be as small as shrews or foxes or as large as wolves and bears Amazing Adaptation Adaptations are body parts or ways of behaving that living things develop over time to help them survive in a biome Arctic bumblebees shake their wings very very fast to stay warm as they fly around in the cold air feeding on tundra flowers In winter the Arctic fox’s fur is white to blend in with the snow This makes hunting prey easier In summer the fur turns brown for camouflage against the rocks and plants 5
WHERE IS TUNDRA FOUND The tundra biome covers over one-tenth of our planet’s surface Most tundra is in Arctic regions but some is at the top of mountains Arctic lands The Arctic is a region of Earth centered on the North Pole Arctic tundra is the land surrounding the Arctic Ocean and covers the northernmost parts of northern Canada Alaska Greenland Iceland Sweden Norway Finland and Russia There is only 10 inches 25 cm of actual rainfall each year which falls during the milder summers The rest of the year it snows and the snow freezes on the land Most water in the soil is frozen for much of the year Tree roots cannot draw up enough water to survive or grow deep enough roots to support the tall structure of a tree Fact Focus Treelines Bordering the tundra there is often a treeline This marks the beginning of slightly warmer and wetter conditions where trees can survive Much of the forests here are coniferous Trees have needles and cones This northern biome is called the boreal forest 6 At this treeline in Alaska there is no straight line of conifers marking the end of the boreal forest and the start of the tundra Instead trees are dotted among the pink bilberry and heather plants
Arctic seasons If you visited Arctic tundra you would need to wrap up warm all year round Winter temperatures can drop to a freezing 25 F 32 C but even in summer it is very chilly Winters are dark cold and windy and last for over half the year Summers are short but also full of sunlight The northern part of Earth tilts toward the sun in summer so the Arctic is sunlit for 24 hours a day No wonder it is called the Land of the Midnight Sun Alpine tundra A smaller part of the world’s tundra is found below the tops of high mountains Temperatures decrease the higher up a mountain you go At high altitudes it is too windy and cold for many plants to survive Alpine tundra can be found in mountains in cold regions such as the Himalayas or Alps but also at the tops of the tallest mountains in hot regions such as Africa Alpine tundra starts higher up mountains in warmer parts of the world On Mount Kenya alpine tundra plants such as giant groundsel survive cold nights by closing their leaves to trap moisture and keep them from freezing or drying out North America Paci(cid:31)c Ocean Atlantic Ocean South America Arctic Ocean Europe Africa Antarctica Asia Indian Ocean Paci(cid:31)c Ocean Australia The purple areas on this map show where the tundra biome is found around the world 77
