Tundra how does it look like

This permafrost is a defining characteristic of the tundra biome. In the tundra summers, the top layer of soil thaws only a few inches down, providing a growing surface for the roots of vegetation. Precipitation in the tundra totals to mm a year, including melted snow. That's less than most of the world's greatest deserts! Still, the tundra is usually a wet place because the low temperatures cause evaporation of water to be slow. They must also be able to raise their young during the very short summer months.

Animals found in the tundra include the musk ox, the Arctic hare , the polar bear , the Arctic fox , the caribou , and the snowy owl. Many animals that live in the tundra, like the caribou and the semipalmated plover , migrate to warmer climates during the winter. Others, like the arctic ground squirrel , hibernate during the winter months.

There are very few reptiles and amphibians found in the tundra because the temperatures are so cold. Home Wild Files N. Tundra What Is the Tundra? Defrosting the Tundra The growing season in the tundra is very short, usually only 6 to 10 weeks.

For most of the year, the tundra biome is a cold, frozen landscape. This biome has a short growing season, followed by harsh conditions that the plants and animals in the region need special adaptations to survive. Tundra form in two distinct cold and dry regions. Arctic tundra are found on high-latitude landmasses, above the Arctic Circle—in Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia, for example—or on far southern regions, like Antarctica.

Alpine tundra are located at very high elevations atop mountains, where overnight temperatures fall below freezing. Tundra regions typically get less than 25 centimeters 10 inches of precipitation annually, which means these areas are also considered deserts. They have long, cold winters with high winds and average temperatures below freezing for six to ten months of the year.

On average, only six to ten weeks of the year have sufficiently warm temperatures and long days for plant growth. The soil in the Arctic is largely permafrost or soil that remains frozen year-round, leaving only a thin surface layer of thawed soil in summer for plant roots to grow in.

Tundra soil is also scarce in many of the nutrients that plants need to grow. Instead, the tundra has patchy, low-to-ground vegetation consisting of small shrubs, grasses, mosses, sedges, and lichens, all of which are better adapted to withstand tundra conditions.

Animals in the tundra are also adapted to extreme conditions, and they take advantage of the temporary explosion of plant and insect life in the short growing season. Tundra wildlife includes small mammals—such as Norway lemmings Lemmus lemmus , arctic hares Lepis arcticus , and arctic ground squirrels Spermophilus parryii —and large mammals, such as caribou Rangifer tarandus.

These animals build up stores of fat to sustain and insulate them through the winter. They also have thick coats of fur for further insulation. Some save energy by hibernating during the long winter months. Others migrate to warmer climes during winter. Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big.

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