The Tundra Biome in Alaska

For those of you who are planning to travel in Alaska, you will encounter tundra. Based on www.alaskadenalitours.com, the word tundra is derived from the Finish word for treeless land.

There are two types of tundra: artic and alpine which are both present in Alaska. The artic tundra occurs at higher elevations while the alpine tundra occurs at lower elevations.




Tundra’s vegetation is low and is dominated by grasses, shrubs, mosses, and lichens.

Talking about lichens, have you ever touched lichens? It is so soft, I remember when I was a child and I used to take my shoes and socks off and walk on lichens.

This is a picture of a lichen:




The artic tundra covers about 20% of the entire North American continent (1).

If there is not too much vegetation that means that it will be hard for herbivores animals to feed. Carnivore animals will not be able to feed that well if there are no herbivores. This is the explanation why there are not too many species of animals in Alaska. There are only about 700 species of plants and that is a really low diversity of plants. Any ideas why plants can’t develop in a huge number? Well, one thing is for sure: it is cold and plants can easily freeze. Another reason is the soil which does not have a high level of nutrients and sometimes is waterlogged.
Believe it or not, two-thirds of flora is insect-pollinated and that means that there are a lot of flowers.






Even if there are low precipitations (about 10-50 cm/year), that does not indicate that we are in a desert, with no rivers at all. There is less evaporation because the weather is not warm, so that is a perfect balance between the precipitation and the amount of water needed for soil’s vegetation.

What would be the indicator animal species for tundra? Well, if see caribous &reindeers (rangifer tarandus) that could indicate that you are in a tundra biome.

And by the way, some parts of tundra are crossed by huge pipes which transport petroleum. This is one indicator which shows that even the beauty of some places can be “disturbed” by human’s actions. We need gas for ours cars, so why should be worry about the environment, right? :)

Resources:
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1) http://www.alaskadenalitours.com/alaska_natural_history/major_vegetation_types_of_alaska.html
2) http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/tundra.htm