Tundra Land Biome Description and Characteristics

Biomes are the world's major habitats. We identify biomes by the vegetation and animals that populate them and determine the location of each by the regional climate. The tundra biome is characterized by extremely cold temperatures and treeless, frozen landscapes. There are two types of tundra: Arctic and alpine.

Tundra

The Arctic tundra is located between the north pole and the coniferous forests or taiga region. It is characterized by extremely cold temperatures and land that remains frozen year-round. Arctic tundra occurs in frigid mountaintop regions at exceptionally high elevations.

Alpine tundra is found in high elevations worldwide, even in tropical regions. Although alpine tundra is not frozen year-round as in Arctic tundra areas, these lands are typically covered in snow for most of the year.

Climate

The Arctic tundra is located around the north pole in the extreme northern hemisphere. This area experiences low precipitation, less than 10 inches yearly (mostly in the form of snow), and exceptionally cold temperatures for most of the year (averaging below minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in winter). In summer, the sun remains in the sky day and night, and temperatures average between 35-55 degrees Fahrenheit.

The alpine tundra biome is also a cold climate region with temperatures averaging below freezing at night. This area receives more precipitation yearly than the Arctic tundra; the average annual is around 20 inches and most of this precipitation is in the form of snow. The alpine tundra is a windy area with strong winds blowing at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

Location

Some locations of Arctic and alpine tundra include:

Arctic Tundra

• North America - Northern Alaska, Canada, Greenland
• Northern Europe - Scandinavia
• Northern Asia - Siberia

Alpine Tundra

• North America - Alaska, Canada, U.S.A., and Mexico
• Northern Europe - Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden
• Asia - Southern Asia (Himalayan Mountains), and Japan (Mt. Fuji)
• Africa - Mt. Kilimanjaro
• South America - Andes Mountains

Vegetation

Vegetation in Arctic tundra regions is limited due to dry conditions, poor soil quality, frigid temperatures, and permafrost. Arctic tundra plants must adapt to the cold, dark conditions of the tundra as the sun does not rise during the winter months. These plants experience brief growth periods during summer when temperatures are warm enough for vegetation, such as short shrubs and grasses, to thrive. The frozen ground prevents deep-rooted plants, like trees, from growing.

Tropical alpine tundra areas are treeless plains on mountains at extremely high altitudes. In alpine tundra regions, unlike in the Arctic tundra, the sun remains in the sky for about the same amount of time throughout the year enabling vegetation to grow at a near-constant rate. Vegetation in these areas consists of short shrubs, grasses, ​and rosette perennials (i.e. lichens, mosses, sedges, perennial forbs, rosette, and dwarfed shrubs).

Wildlife

Animals in the Arctic and alpine tundra must adapt to cold and harsh conditions. Large Arctic mammals, such as musk ox and caribou, are heavily insulated against the cold and migrate to warmer areas in the winter. Smaller mammals, like the Arctic ground squirrel, survive by burrowing and hibernating during the winter. Other Arctic tundra animals include snowy owls, reindeer, polar bears, white foxes, lemmings, Arctic hares, wolverines, caribou, migrating birds, mosquitoes, and black flies.

Animals of the alpine tundra biome migrate to lower elevations in winter to escape the cold and find food. Animals in this biome include marmots, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, grizzly bears, springtails, beetles, grasshoppers, and butterflies.