Did You Know?

• The word "tundra" comes from Russia.
• The average winter temperature in the Arctic Tundra is about -30ƒC.
• Summers can be relatively warm, enough that vegetables will grow.
• Photoperiods are long in summer and short in winter.
• Everywhere just under the surface of the soil is a frozen layer of soil called "permafrost".
• Large trees don't grow here, instead there are huge areas of swampy plains with low-lying bushes and grasses called "muskeg".

Where is Arctic Tundra?

Arctic Tundra exists at high latitudes beyond the tree line in Eurasia, North America, Greenland and Iceland.

Richard Brewer, "The Science of Ecology", 1988

What are some threats to the Arctic Tundra?

• The discovery of oil on the North Slope in 1968 led to one of the major environmental battles of the early 1970's over the construction of a trans-Alaska pipeline across 800 miles of tundra.

What organisms (plant or animal) are typically found in the arctic tundra?

• Plants include grasses, sedges, mosses and lichens.
• Herbs, when they occur, often have large, bright flowers (poppys).
• Woody plants might include dwarf willows and birches.
• Animals and include lemmings, voles, caribou, snowy owls, polar bears, ringed seals.
• No reptiles or amphibians live in the tundra.