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The flora of the alpine tundra is characterized by plants that grow close to the ground, including perennial grasses, sedges, forbs, cushion plants, mosses, and lichens. [28] The flora is adapted to the harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation, and a short growing season.
By adapting to these harsh conditions, animals and plants represent iconic characteristics of the tundra. Plants grow in aggregated formations which provide shelter from wind, and ice and also improve seed success. [1] Animals have adapted with specialized organs, such as a rete mirabile, an organ that efficiently transfers heat.
Herbivory is of extreme ecological importance and prevalence among insects.Perhaps one third (or 500,000) of all described species are herbivores. [4] Herbivorous insects are by far the most important animal pollinators, and constitute significant prey items for predatory animals, as well as acting as major parasites and predators of plants; parasitic species often induce the formation of galls.
According to the theory of predator–prey interactions, the relationship between herbivores and plants is cyclic. [62] When prey (plants) are numerous their predators (herbivores) increase in numbers, reducing the prey population, which in turn causes predator number to decline. [62] The prey population eventually recovers, starting a new cycle.
Arctic ecology is the scientific study of the relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in the arctic, the region north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33’N). [1] This region is characterized by two biomes: taiga (or boreal forest) and tundra. [2]
Plant-animal interactions are important pathways for the transfer of energy within ecosystems, where both advantageous and unfavorable interactions support ecosystem health. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Plant-animal interactions can take on important ecological functions and manifest in a variety of combinations of favorable and unfavorable associations, for ...
The remainder is consumed by animals while still alive and enters the plant-based trophic system. After plants and animals die, the organic matter contained in them enters the detritus-based trophic system. [15] Ecosystem respiration is the sum of respiration by all living organisms (plants, animals, and decomposers) in the ecosystem. [16]
The Arctic hare [2] (Lepus arcticus) is a species of hare highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra and other icy biomes. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a thick coat of fur.