1. “The Land Above the Trees”
ALPINE TUNDRA
“The Land Above the Trees”

2. Tundra Extent
Extent of Alpine Tundra Biome:
Alpine tundra: more uniform throughout northern hemisphere than any other biome on Earth!! WHY?

3. Environment What is the environment like in the Alpine zone?
How do changes in 4 major climatic factors affect vegetation?
What adaptations must plants have to these conditions?

4. Alpine Plants:

5. Alpine Plants:

6. Alpine Plants: Cushions

7. Only Annual plant in Rocky Mountain Alpine:
Koenigia islandica
Circumpolar species

8. Alpine Animals:
What adaptations must animals have to live in the tundra?
Do any live in the tundra year round?
Why? OR – Why not?
What kinds of animals are missing from the tundra?

9. Alpine Animals:
White-tailed Ptarmigan
What do they eat?

10. Alpine Animals:
Pika (“rock rabbit”)

11. Alpine Animals:
Marmot

12. Alpine Animals:
Big horn sheep
Mountain Goat

13. Treeline: What do trees look like at treeline?
“krummholz” = “elfin wood”
“flagging”

14. Treeline:
A dynamic equilibrium

15. Treeline: Tree waves moving across the landscape
Dwarf spruce & fir trees:

16. Treeline: What factors control treeline?
How do these factors interact?

17. Climate Change?
What impact will warming global climate have on the alpine tundra life zone/biome?

18. Loss of pika populations during the 20th century in the intermountain West, at different elevations and latitudes. Open circles represent sites in the interior Great Basin where pikas remain extant, and closed circles represent pika populations that became extirpated in the late 20th century.