Average Precipitation
6-10 inches of rain a year (including melted snow)
Average Temperature
The temperature ranges from -10° F to 50° F.
The average temperature per year is 16 degrees °F.
Wind Patterns
Winds can blow between 30 to 60 miles (48 to 97 kilometers) per hour.
Soil Composition/Profile
The tundra has a very thin layer of soil (dirt). Beneath the soil is the tundra’s permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of earth. During the short summers the top layer of soil may thaw just long enough to let plants grow and reproduce. Since water can’t sink into the ground, water from melting permafrost and snow form lakes and marshes each summer.
Geographic Features
· The tundra is low, vast, and swampy.
· Generally on top of mountains
· Treeless
· Most of the rain and fog are in the summertime
· Water collects in bogs and ponds (A bog is wet, spongy ground with soil composed mainly of decayed vegetable matter)
· Water evaporates very slowly
· Subsoil (permafrost) is permanently frozen
· high-altitude ecosystems (generally above 3,000 meters depending on the latitude)
it is a very wet place
Solar Radiation
The increase in temperature in the summertime result a global warming trend that has led to a longer snow-free season and an increase in the extent of woody vegetation. Both of these changes increase the amount of solar radiation that goes into heating rather than being reflected back to the atmosphere.
Limiting Factors
· Low annual precipitation
· Cold Temperatures (Limit growth possibilities)
· Extremely cold climate
· Low biotic diversity – extreme weather and permafrost limit species diversity to a few species of hibernating mammals (musk ox, wolf/fox, and bear) that live year-round in the tundra while other animals like the caribou migrate during the warmer months.
· Simple vegetation structure – Extreme weather and permafrost limit plants to a stunted vegetative cover lichens, mosses, and grasses)
· Limitation of drainage
· Short season of growth and reproduction
· Predictable Large population shifts
· 6 months of darkness
6-10 inches of rain a year (including melted snow)
Average Temperature
The temperature ranges from -10° F to 50° F.
The average temperature per year is 16 degrees °F.
Wind Patterns
Winds can blow between 30 to 60 miles (48 to 97 kilometers) per hour.
Soil Composition/Profile
The tundra has a very thin layer of soil (dirt). Beneath the soil is the tundra’s permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of earth. During the short summers the top layer of soil may thaw just long enough to let plants grow and reproduce. Since water can’t sink into the ground, water from melting permafrost and snow form lakes and marshes each summer.
Geographic Features
· The tundra is low, vast, and swampy.
· Generally on top of mountains
· Treeless
· Most of the rain and fog are in the summertime
· Water collects in bogs and ponds (A bog is wet, spongy ground with soil composed mainly of decayed vegetable matter)
· Water evaporates very slowly
· Subsoil (permafrost) is permanently frozen
· high-altitude ecosystems (generally above 3,000 meters depending on the latitude)
it is a very wet place
Solar Radiation
The increase in temperature in the summertime result a global warming trend that has led to a longer snow-free season and an increase in the extent of woody vegetation. Both of these changes increase the amount of solar radiation that goes into heating rather than being reflected back to the atmosphere.
Limiting Factors
· Low annual precipitation
· Cold Temperatures (Limit growth possibilities)
· Extremely cold climate
· Low biotic diversity – extreme weather and permafrost limit species diversity to a few species of hibernating mammals (musk ox, wolf/fox, and bear) that live year-round in the tundra while other animals like the caribou migrate during the warmer months.
· Simple vegetation structure – Extreme weather and permafrost limit plants to a stunted vegetative cover lichens, mosses, and grasses)
· Limitation of drainage
· Short season of growth and reproduction
· Predictable Large population shifts
· 6 months of darkness