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Tundra vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges, grasses, mosses, and lichens. Scattered trees grow in some tundra regions. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region) between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline. The tundra soil is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. [2]
Animal species that are endangered in the tundra include the Arctic fox, caribou, and polar bears. These animals have been endangered due to overhunting, an infestation of disease, loss of diet and habitat due to climate change, and human destructive activities, such as searches for natural gas and oil, mining, and road building. [10]
Taiga trees tend to have shallow roots to take advantage of the thin soils, while many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing, called "hardening". [36] The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, also help them shed snow. [36]
Ukok Plateau, one of the last remnants of the mammoth steppe [1]. The mammoth steppe, also known as steppe-tundra, was once the Earth's most extensive biome.During glacial periods in the later Pleistocene it stretched east-to-west, from the Iberian Peninsula in the west of Europe, then across Eurasia and through Beringia (the region including the far northeast of Siberia, Alaska and the now ...
Krummholz Pinus albicaulis in Wenatchee National Forest Wind-sculpted krummholz trees, Ona Beach, Oregon. Krummholz (German: krumm, "crooked, bent, twisted" and Holz, "wood") — also called knieholz ("knee timber") — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped by continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds.
The Arctic tundra now releases more carbon than it naturally draws down from the sky, as wildfires burn down its trees and permafrost thaw releases potent gases from its soil.
The Arctic tundra has historically helped reduce global emissions. But rising temperatures and wildfires in the region are changing that, scientists say. Arctic tundra becoming a source of carbon ...
The tundra region remains a source of methane and the boreal forest region is still a carbon sink. The carbon emissions from the region, Rogers said, would probably be significant.