The Plant Kingdom Living on Planet Earth © 2011 abcteach.com Tundra Plants Mountain and Tundra Plants (Part 2)

Mountain and Tundra Plants Plants growing in high altitudes and in Polar Regions are some of the hardiest species. We’ll look at how plants survive in mountain and arctic tundra biomes. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants The tundra describes an area of the Earth having low-growing vegetation and no trees. Alpine tundra is common in the higher mountain altitudes. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Arctic tundra is located in the north and south Polar Regions of the Earth. Tundra biomes are difficult for plants to live in because they have little moisture, extreme weather and poor soil conditions. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Alpine tundra has a wide variety of plant species both of the non-vascular and vascular varieties. These areas receive about 50 cm (20 inches) of rain each year, usually in the form of snow. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants The soils are frozen only for part of the year and so the water drains adequately enough for vascular plants to take root and flower. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Tundra plants have a short growing season and are exposed to severe winds and low temperatures. Flowering plants use the long hours of summer sunlight to quickly produce flowers. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Vascular plants commonly have cup-shaped flowers that direct the sun's rays towards the center of the flower so that the plants stay warmer than the air around them. Other flowers are darkly colored making them more able to absorb solar heat. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Tropical alpine tundra has one advantage. Because these mountains are near the equator, plants get the same amount of sunlight throughout the year allowing them to grow all year round. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants The Arctic Circle (North Pole) supports more plant life than does the continent of Antarctica. Most of the Antarctic Circle (South Pole) is covered by ice fields but some areas have rocky soil that supports vegetation. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Arctic tundra plants must adapt to cold, dark conditions because the sun doesn’t rise during the winter months. Arctic tundra is considered desert because it has very little rainfall (less than 25 cm or 10 inches annually). © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants These plants experience brief periods of growth in the summer when temperatures are warm enough for the shrubs and grasses to grow. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants In the summer only the top layer of soil thaws so plants develop shallow roots. Beneath the top soil is permafrost, a frozen layer of soil or rock that remains below 0 degrees Celsius throughout the year. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants This frozen ground prevents plants with deep roots, like trees, from growing. Many biologists include algae and lichens in their list of plants because they photosynthesize and enrich the soil for true plants. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Plants use the melting water and the long summer days to grow very quickly. The most common arctic plants are the non-vascular varieties of mosses and liverworts. They cover the ground and add warmth so that other plants may grow. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Many shallow pools of melted snow and ice are home to algae, mosses and flowering aquatic species. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants Vascular plants, mostly grasses, shrubs and herbaceous species make a thick and colorful carpet. Their small leaves help the plants retain moisture. © 2011 abcteach.com

Tundra Plants These flowering plants are protected from the strong wind by their short stature and fuzzy coverings on their stems, leaves, buds and seeds. © 2011 abcteach.com

Mountain and Tundra Plants It’s surprising how many plant and lichen species have adapted to these hostile tundra biomes with too much cold and too little rain. © 2011 abcteach.com

Mountain and Tundra Plants Some cling to bare rock, breaking it down to add nutrients to the soil. Others live in too much water. Most live in soils that lack nutrients or have too much toxic mineral. © 2011 abcteach.com

Mountain and Tundra Plants Yet these plants manage to survive another year or to produce offspring that provide food for many migrating animals. © 2011 abcteach.com

The Plant Kingdom Living on Planet Earth © 2011 abcteach.com Images Courtesy of: Alaska Geobotany Center Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks Microsoft Office Clip Art and Contributions from abcteach.com staff members, and others as identified