Tundra

A tundra is a special kind of landscape where it is too cold and the growing season is too short for trees to grow tall. It is found in three main places: the Arctic, high mountain areas known as Alpine regions, and around the Antarctic. Because of the cold, the plants that live here are low to the ground, including tiny shrubs, sedges, grasses, mosses, and lichens. In some parts of the tundra, a few scattered trees can be found.

The land where the tundra meets the forest is called the tree line or timberline. The soil in the tundra is rich with nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, and it stores a lot of carbon in the form of methane and carbon dioxide because of frozen ground called permafrost. When the Earth gets warmer, this permafrost can melt, releasing these gases into the air. This creates a cycle that makes the planet even warmer, playing an important role in climate change.

Etymology

The word "tundra" comes from the Russian word "ту́ндра". It was first used in English in 1824, originally spelled "toundra". The Russian word might have come from the Sámi language family, meaning "fell", "elevated wasteland", or "marshy plain". Some sources also suggest it may have origins in the Finnish language.

Arctic

See also: Arctic vegetation

Arctic tundra is found in the far north of the Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt. The ground there is frozen deep under the surface, called permafrost, which makes it hard for trees to grow. Instead, the land is covered with low plants like moss, lichen, and small shrubs.

The Arctic tundra has two main seasons: a very cold winter and a short, cool summer. In winter, temperatures can drop below -28°C, while in summer they rise to around 12°C. The ground thaws a little in summer, creating marshes and lakes. This area is home to animals like reindeer, Arctic foxes, and snowy owls, and people such as the Sámi who live by herding reindeer.

Antarctic

Antarctic tundra is found in Antarctica and on several nearby islands such as South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the Kerguelen Islands. Most of Antarctica is covered by ice fields or cold deserts, but some areas, especially the Antarctic Peninsula, have rocky soil where plants can grow. These plants include around 300–400 species of lichens, 100 mosses, 25 liverworts, and about 700 different algae species. The two flowering plants found here are the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis).

Unlike the Arctic, the Antarctic tundra does not have large land animals because of its distance from other continents. However, sea mammals and seabirds like seals and penguins live near the coast. Some small animals such as rabbits and cats have been introduced by people to some of the nearby islands. The plants and animals in this area are protected by the Antarctic Treaty System.

Alpine

Main article: Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is a cold, treeless area found on mountains around the world. Trees cannot grow here because the air is too cold and the soil is not right for them. The plants that live in alpine tundra, like grasses, mosses, and lichens, stay close to the ground to stay safe from the harsh weather.

This type of tundra has very cold temperatures and a short time each year when plants can grow. It changes to forests below a certain height, called the tree line, where trees can finally start to grow.

Climatic classification

Tundra climates are very cold, usually fitting into a special group called ET in climate studies. This means that while one month might be warm enough to melt snow (reaching about 0 °C or 32 °F), no month gets warmer than 10 °C (50 °F). These cold areas are often near places where trees can’t grow, and the weather is always chilly.

Even though these regions can have different amounts of rain or snow, they don’t usually get much. The air is so cold that it holds very little moisture, so the ground often stays wet, creating marshes and bogs. The plants and animals that live in tundra areas depend more on how warm it gets than how much rain or snow falls.