The species composition of the tundra. Plants, Animals and Birds Tundra Area

Tundra is a flame flat hill, translated from Finnish.

Tundra is a territory for which the permafrost is characterized by a short summer and a long winter.

Geographical position

Tundra is located in the northern hemisphere of the Earth, while in the northern part of the Eurasian continent, North America, islands, which are included in the subpolar geographical belt.

Occupy almost 5% of all sushi on the planet. The borders are the Arctic - from the south, the Arctic deserts - in the north.

Characteristic tundra

Tundra is represented by three subspecies that differ in the vegetation:

• Forestandra or South, where you are growing, berries, mushrooms, shrubs represented by dwarf bires and alder bush;
• Arctic, where swamps and wetlands, mosses and lichens are dominated;
• Subarctic or typical medium for which mosses, shrubs, lichen, berries are characteristic.

tundra in summer photo

The Arctic Tundra is between the North Pole and Taiga. Winter here is very harsh, it is distinguished by the fact that the water always freezes, and the whole territory resembles a desert. In summer, the soil is capable of warm up only from 40 to 60 centimeters deep into. Summer - sad and gray, the greens appear not everywhere, and from afar resembling spots.

In the South Tundra, the summer is somewhat longer, and it contributes to a deeper warming of the Earth. Therefore, shrubs, moss and lichens are capable of them. For summer, the autopsy of rivers and lakes is also characteristic, which are surrounded by violent and bright vegetation.

dwarf birches in tundra photos

Somewhere in the middle of summer, a polar day may occur (the sun does not go beyond the horizon), lasting for several months. During this period, herbal plants are blooming here, shrubs and small trees are covered with leaves. Their height is no more than 50 centimeters.

Climate Tundra

The climate of the tundra refers to subarctic, which is characterized by the absence of summer as the season. When it comes, it can only last a few weeks and is cool, with a temperature of from 10 to 15 degrees of heat, and at night there are freezing.

Summer drops out, which is slightly larger than in the winter. The average annual precipitation in the tundra of 200 - 400mm. Moisture significantly exceeds evaporation, which contributes to the formation of wetlands. Winter lasts very long and is distinguished by cold. The temperature drops to -50 degrees. Snow Pokrov in Tundra lies from October to June.

Soil

The area is represented by several species:

• Stony;
• Peat;
• Swampy.

The soils were moistened, therefore presented with tundra arctic (north) and tundra gel (center and south). The gel process proceeds very actively, so the soil is distinguished by a naiz and green tint.

In soils, there is very little humus, because there are few shrubs and plants on the surface, the processes of humification and mineralization are very slow. Therefore, a peat layer is very thin.

Among other traits, the tundra should be noted the inability to find soil horizons, because they are constantly moving, which is related to the following processes:

• Swelling;
• Thinking.

Merzlota becomes more from the northern borders. Soils are sour, minerals and nutrients in them are not enough.

Flora and fauna tundra

The world of plants here is meager. Mostly it is mosses and lichens, shrubs. Dwarf trees (birch, Olchovenik, Willow) are found on the southern border of the tundra. But bloom in summer flowers that survived the harsh winter (buttercups, polar poppies, a richness, forget-me-not). Beautiful in August and September - the berries are growing, and the greens change its outfit on red, then yellow.

plants tundra photos

The tundra zone occupies an extensive territory in the extreme north of the USSR. In the European part of the USSR, it covers the northern half of the Kola Peninsula and further to the east of all the coast of the Ice Ocean several north of the polar circle. In Siberia, the south border of the tundra zone passes through the polar circle to the River Yenisei, where it rises to the north and stretches to the east to the 70th parallels to the Kolyma River; Next, it descends to the southeast, about the base of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The tundra zone also covers the islands of Vaigach, Kolguev, New Earth, Northern Earth, etc.

The southern border of the tundra almost completely coincides with the southern border of the cold belt, i.e. it goes almost exactly in the July air isotherm in + 10 °.

The space occupied by tundra is about 3 million. sq. km,or 15% of the entire territory of the USSR.

The study of the tundra zone in our country is paid great attention. Many of our scientists took part in the studies of this extensive zone: G. I. Tonfoliv, B.N. Gorodkov Yu. A. Liveurovsky, M. I. Skigin, E. I. Tsyklenkin, V. N. Sukachev, L. S. Berg , A. A. Grigoriev et al. Nevertheless, the nature of the tundra zone, in particular the soil cover, is still studied enough. What has already been done in this direction represents only the first step in the knowledge of this huge, peculiar and in its own way a very rich and promising edge.

Climate. The climatic conditions of the tundra are characterized by a low average annual temperature, long-term cold in winter, short summer and a small amount of precipitation, which is clearly seen from the data given in Table. eighteen.

By climatic peculiarities, the tundra area can be divided into 5 regions: Western - with a mild maritime climate, Eastern European - with a climate transition from maritime to continental; West Siberian - with a continental climate; East Sibirsk - with a sharp continental climate; Far Eastern - with a cold maritime climate.

The western part of the tundra (North of the European part of the USSR) is characterized by the most mild climate. The average annual temperatures here are negative, but slightly below zero. Temperatures of January about -10 °, and July about + 11 °. The amount of precipitation is about 400 mM.or more with an obvious predominance of winter precipitation over summer.

As you move to the east, the severity of the tundra climate is sharply growing. So, in the east of the European part of the USSR, annual temperatures fall to -4-5 ° at a temperature of January -18-19 °.

Even more sharp changes occur when moving to the Siberian tundra, where the average annual temperatures reach -15-17 °, and in the extreme east rises to -9 °. In the Chukotka Tundra Temperature January from -30 to -40 °. In the extreme east, they rise to -25 °. Temperatures of July are within 11 -13 °, i.e. higher than in the West.

Very low winter temperatures in the tundra zone of East Siberia are caused by the influence of the Asian pressure maximum, which causes clear weather, weak winds and strong air cooling over the snow cover. There is also a receipt of extremely cold continental air of moderate latitudes.

The annual rainfall is sharply reduced in the Siberian Tundra, which rarely reaches 250 mm,and in many items go down to 150-120 mm.

Thus, to the east, as in other zones, the continentality of the climate is growing, which is somewhat softened in the extreme east.

In winter, strong dry winds often blow, from which all the vegetation comes from under the snow. The snow period is very long (up to 280 days), but the thickness of the snow cover is small. The most precipitation falls in July - August and September, the least - in February - March.

The evaporation of moisture in this zone is very slightly and on average does not exceed 50 mM.in year. The predominance of atmospheric precipitation over evaporation creates conditions for large soil moistening, as a result of which the water and the development of soils are constantly delayed on the surface of the tundra, during the excess of moisture. Small power of snow cover makes it possible deep soil freezing.

In the western part of the tundra zone, under the influence of the warm current Golf Stream, the soil is thawing in the summer, but most of the tundra zone is abandoned by eternal Merzlot.

Eternal Merzlota in the tundra zone is a very important factor.

Under the eternal Merzlot, by definition prof. M. S. Sumina, understands such a layer of soil or soil at some depth of the day surface, which has a negative temperature, which is continuously at least 2 years, the maximum of millennia and dozens of millennia.

The geographical distribution of permafrost within our country is very large, especially in the Asian part of the USSR, east of Krasnoyarsk. Here, the southern border of the continuous spread of permafrost passes south of Irkutsk, Cheats, Khabarovsk and the mouth of the Amur.

The layer of permafrost has different power, but in many cases the thickness of it is very significant. For example, at the coast of the Kara Sea, in Amderma, on the northern tip of Pai-Hoy, forever, frozen stratum was passed into a depth of 400 m,in Transbaikalia, the station Bushules Eternal Merzlot has a power of 66-70 m,in the Far East - 50 m.etc. The power of the everlasting layer is gradually reduced, reaching 1-2 m.

Above the thickness of permafrost is a slight layer of land, freezing in winter and thawing in the summer. It is called an active layer. The depth of summer thawing fluctuates most often in the range of 30-150 cmdepending on the geographical latitude, as well as from the mechanical composition of the soil and the power of the peat. In the sandy soil, the thawing penetrates to 100-150 cm,in lug-in - up to 70-100 cm,in peat and up to 30-40 see B.this bounded layer occurs biological processes and soil develop.

The Merzlota has a huge effect on the active layer lying above her: it cools the soil, does not allow water to penetrate deep into and so promotes the stress of water on the surface of the soil. The presence of permafrost with a small amount of precipitation in summer periods often causes a peculiar phenomenon of physiological dryness, which plays a very important role in the life of arctic plants.

Moisture in the soil marzlot layer is not available for plants; If ice melts, then formed melting water, having a low temperature, are little suitable for plants.

There is no sharp verge of spring and summer in the tundra, and the transition of spring by summer and from summer to autumn can only be said conditionally. For the beginning of the summer, the disappearance of snow is usually taken on most of the tundra, and for its end - the first frost and snowfall in late August.

Summer in Tundra Short and cold, but with a long lighting day; Frosts happen in summer. The sun in the tundra is shown little, cloudy is very large and an average of about 3/4 sky is constantly covered with clouds. The relative air humidity in the winter is very low, and in the summer very high and in August often reaches 80-90%.

The growing season is on average equal to 2-2.5 months, but with heat onset due to the high length of the light day of the plant develop violently and quickly bloom.

Vegetation. Due to the harsh climatic conditions, the vegetation in the tundra is developed weakly and consists only of unpretentious northern plants that adopted to low temperatures of the short growing period. The essential feature of the tundra, giving reason to call it the Arctic steppe, is her cheerfulness.

The word "Tundra" (tunduri.), taken from the Finnish language, denotes flavored places.

Many reasons impede the development of the forest in the tundra, but the main points of them are low temperature of the soil and the presence of permafrost, pulling out for a short summer only on the insignificant depth, strong winds, high relative air humidity and significant territory wetlands. Under these conditions, the seeds of trees germinate weakly, and their shoots do not survive.

The flora of the tundra zone is generally very monotonous and poor compared to other natural zones and barely numbers 250-500 different types of plants.

Wide spreads in the tundra have mosses, lichens, some sources and cereals, which here, however, do not form solid vegetation cover, and grow individual bushes and turns.

Among the plants are prevailing the struts of a cruising type, the shrub of a heather type, blueberry, blueberry, etc. All the tundra plants discover numerous signs of xeromorphism, i.e., adaptability to arid living conditions.

A characteristic feature of the inherent vegetation of the tundra is the tendency of plants to grow with pillows, or by the villains, which gives them better protection from the wind, and therefore, from blowing, so destructive in the tundra. Svyaznoy Dernina meets only on lowlines, which in the winter are lined with snow, and in the summer abundantly moisturize.

It should also be noted that lichens are played in the tundra, especially the Yagel, or Moss deer, which is the main feed for deer.

Soil-forming breeds. As the soil-forming rocks in the tundra zone, mainly glacial sediments, then precipitation of boreal marine transgression and in a significant part of the eluvial formations of various crystalline rocks.

For mechanical composition, they are quite diverse: sometimes these are plastic gray clay, sometimes more sandy clay and loams, and sometimes sands. Very often they layers and contain the remains of the sea fauna, and often boulders.

Among these applications, there are places and exits of various indigenous rocks, including crystalline.

In Eastern Siberia, Tundra is located on stony rocks and products of their weathered.

Relief. Significant spaces of the tundra zone are represented mainly by plain and low violence. The plain relief of the tundra is very often diversified by the presence of closed slides engaged in lakes, the presence of river valleys and spurs of the mountain ranges crossing this extensive zone in many places. In the mountainous areas of Siberia, rocky mountain tundra is common.

According to the natural conditions, the zone of the tundra is not monotony and can be divided into the following subzones: arctic, shrub, southern tundra and forest tundra.

The Arctic Tundra is located on the northern outskirts of the country, where there are neither trees or shrubs; The latter, if and appear, then only by the flow of rivers. Spotted tundra is strongly distributed. Spotted tundra consists of bare clay spots with a plate or wheel, usually completely deprived of vegetation. The stains are enclosed in a dry tundra, covered with vegetation, or only bordered from moss, lichens, small Osks, etc.

The origin of these spots is not yet fixed. According to the majority of researchers, the stains in the tundra are formed as follows. The naked clay surface during freezing and drying is cracking and disintegrating on the wrong polygons or rounded areas; The edges of the cracks are then squeezed, and vegetation is settled in the resulting loshals, but the surface of the spot remains bare, since, due to strong winds, vegetation cannot be rooted; In the spring, bare spots are quickly thawing and blurred. In context, there are no buried vegetable layers and humus horizon. At the same time, traces of fluffing in the soil profile are clearly detected. Safagna peatlands in this subzone are absent.

Shrub, or typical, Tundra is south of the arctic and occupies huge spaces; There are also no trees here, and shrubbirds are found not only by the flow of rivers, but also in transmission spaces. The vegetation, which is peculiar to this part of the tundra, disintegrates 3 tiers: upper - shrub, medium - herbaceous and lower - lichen-moss.

In the first tier, the birch erynik, a rustic, shrub, blueberry, and others, is dominated by an average, grassy, \u200b\u200byarus, a wide development of a wide development, and dr. In the lower, directly covering the soil, the tier are dominated by brown and green moss and lichens. . Here, sphagnum peatlands are often found in the form of bugs with a height of 1-3 g, very typical for the so-called buggy tundra. These peat bugs consist mainly of moss and lichens.

The surface of the bugarhs is usually covered with creeping rolling plants: a richness, aquicker, blueberry, a lingonberry, a subhead, a swamp heath, a dwarf birch and a dwarf polar yoy. Significant areas are busy here with lichen (beglings) and lichen-moss associations.

In the valleys of rivers, the same shrubs grow as on watersheds, but here they reach a more significant height, sometimes 1 -1.5 m.On the shores of the river and the lakes often occur in the Osks, and in the valleys of the Ernya rivers; Everywhere in abundance there is a dwarf birch.

South Tundra is located south of shrub. A characteristic feature of this subzone is the presence of forest vegetation, located only along the flow of rivers. On water-seated spaces among shrubs, occasionally there are separate trees (spruce, birch and larch). Wide development has sphagnum mosses forming small peatlands.

Latstone is a transition band from the tundra zone to the forest. It is located in the southern outskirts of the tundra, on the border with the area of \u200b\u200bsolid forests. In this subzone, the forests are growing not only along the rivers, but in small isons there are in the interfluve, on water-seated spaces.

Polar types of birch are usually held here andlarch, always covered with lichens and strongly oppressed. The harsh conditions of the tundra, soil poverty with nutrients, the presence in most of the tundra at the shallow depth of permafrost very difficult to grow and develop wood plants. Trees, numbers of 200-300 years, short-sided, clouds, bumps, have a diameter of about 5-8 cm.

The forests are usually confined to a small, but very numerous sandy and clay hollys, lowering between which are engaged in the swampy spaces or dense thickets of shrubs from a shallow willow, a dwarf birch, and where the terrain is higher, also juniper.

At dry places, the soil is covered with lichens, hypinous and other mhams; On wet places there are sphagnum mobby swamps; Puffy bumps are thickly thriving with cloudberry, moss, birch erynik, winery, and sometimes juniper. Safagna peatlands in this subzone are strongly developed.

The natural zone of Tundra is mainly located for the polar circle and is limited from the north of Arctic (polar) deserts, and from the south - forests. It is located in the subarctic belt between 68 and 55 degrees of northern latitude. On those small territories where cold air masses from the Arctic Ocean in the summer, the path is blocking the mountains - these are the valleys of the Yana rivers, Kolyma, Yukon - Taiga rises to the subarctic. One should distinguish between the mountain tundra, characterized by a change in nature with the height of the mountains.

The word "Tundra" comes from Finnish Tunturi, which means "flavored, naked elevation". In Russia, Tundra takes the coast of the seas of the Northern Ocean and the territories adjacent to it. Its area is about 1/8 of the total area of \u200b\u200bRussia. In Canada, the natural zone of Tundra has a significant part of the northern territories that are practically not intended. In the US, Tundra takes most of the state of Alaska.

a brief description of

• The natural zone of Tundra takes about 8-10% of the total area of \u200b\u200bRussia;
• In the tundra a very short summer with an average temperature in the very warm month, July, from +4 degrees and north to +11 degrees in the south;
• Winter in the tundra is long and very harsh, accompanied by strong winds and snowstorms;
• Cold winds blow throughout the year: in summer - by the Northern Ocean, and in the winter - with a cooled mainland Eurasia;
• For the tundra is characterized by the eternal Merzlot, that is, the upper level of the Earth is simply thoroughly, some of which pulls away in the summer only a few dozen centimeters.
• In the TundR zone there are very few precipitation - only 200-300 mm per year. Nevertheless, the soils in the tundra are universally converted due to an impermeable long-term milling at a small depth of surface cover and weak evaporation due to low temperatures even with strong winds;
• Soils in the tundra are usually low-grade (due to blowing humus by winds) and are very wetrated due to the freezing of harsh winter and only partial warm-up warm season.

Tundra - Natural Zone of Russia

As everyone knows from school lessons, nature and climate in Russia has a clearly pronounced zonality of processes and phenomena. This is due to the fact that the territory of the country has a greater length from the north to south, and it mainly dominates the plain relief. Each natural zone is characterized by a certain ratio of heat and moisture. Natural zones are sometimes called landscaped or geographical.

Tundra occupies a territory adjacent to the coast of the Northern Ice Ocean and is the most severe populated nature area of \u200b\u200bRussia. The north of the natural zone of the tundra is only the Arctic desert, and the south of the forest zone begins.

The following planes are presented following natural zonesstarting from the north:

• Arctic deserts;
• Foresty
• Steppe
• Semi-desert
• Desert
• Subtropics.

And in the mountainous regions of Russia, the high-altitude explanation is clearly expressed.

Natural zones of Russia on the map

Tundra is characterized by harsh climatic conditions, a relatively small amount of precipitation and the fact that its territory is mainly for polar circular. We list the facts about the tundra:

• The natural zone of Tundra is the north of the taiga zone;
• In the mountains of Scandinavia, Urals, Siberia, Alaska and Northern Canada there are mountain tundra;
• The tundra zones are stretched by a 300-500 km wide strip along the northern coasts of Eurasia and North America;
• The climate of the tundra is subarctic, it is rather harsh and is characterized by a long winter with polar nights (when the sun is practically not coming out due to the horizon) and a short summer. Especially hard climate is observed in the continental districts of the tundra;
• Winter in the tundra lasts 6-9 months a year, it is accompanied by strong winds and low air temperature;
• Frosts in the tundra sometimes reach minus 50 degrees Celsius;
• Polar night in the tundra continues 60-80 days;
• Snow in the tundra lies from October to June, its height in the European part is 50-70 centimeters, and in Eastern Siberia and in Canada 20-40 cm. In winter in the tundra frequent tumans;
• Summer in Tundra Short, with a long polar day;
• August in Tundra is considered the warmest month of the year: there are positive average daily temperatures to + 10-15 degrees, but it is possible to occur on frosts on any summer day;
• Summer is characterized by high humidity, fog frequencies and drizzling rains;
• In the composition of the tundra vegetation there are 200-300 types of flowering plants and about 800 species of moss and lichen.

Basic classes in Tundra:

• Reindeer herding;
• Fisheries;
• Hunting on the fur and marine beast.

The population of the tundra is limited in the choice of occupations due to the peculiarities of natural conditions and relative isolation from large cities, as well as the population on, isolated on small islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

The following types of tundra are distinguished in the northern hemisphere, having characteristic vegetation:

• Arctic tundra (dominate the swampy soils and moss-lichen plants);
• Subarctic tundra or typical middle tundra (moss, lichen and shrub plants, berries);
• Or South Tundra (shrub plants - dwarf birch birch, bush alder, various types of Yves, as well as berries and mushrooms).

Arctic tundra

In the Arctic, on the northern edge of the European and Asian parts of Russia, and in the extreme north of North America is the Arctic Tundra. It occupies the coastal territory of the northern seas and is a flat swampy territory. Summer there brings only a short thaw, and plants are not found because of the cold climate. The long-term permafrost is covered with thawed lakes from the monstering snow and ice. Perennial plants in such conditions are able to grow only by a short term - at the end of July and August, grouped in low and protected places, and annual plants here do not take root, because because of the harsh natural conditions is very short vegetative period. The predominant species are mosses and lichens, and shrubs do not grow at all in the Arctic Tundra.

More southern Tundra types to the zone of Ferreadra call Subaristic. Here, the cold Arctic air during the summer period is inferior to the warmer air of the moderate belt. The day there is long, and under the influence of the penetration of a warmer climate, the plants of the tundra have time to develop. These are mainly dwarf plants, which are pressed to radiating small heat. So they are hiding from the winds and from the freezing, trying to overvarily under the snow cover as if in a fur coat.

IN middle tundra Mixes, lichens and small shrubs are found. Small rodents are found here - lemmings (mothers), which feed on sands and polar owls. Most animals in winter in the tundra are covered with snow-white fur or plumage, and in the summer they become brown or gray. From large animals in medium tundra, northern deer (wild and home), wolves, tundra partridges are inhabited. Because of the abundance of marshes in Tundra, there is simply a giant number of all sorts of midges, attracting in summer to remove chicks in the tundra of wild geese, ducks, swans, Kulikov and Gahar.

Agriculture in subarctic tundra is impossible in any form due to the low temperature of the soil and its poverty with nutrients. The territory of the middle tundra is used by reindeer herds as summer deer pastures.

On the border of the tundra and forest zones are lesotundra. It is significantly warmer than in the tundra: in some areas the average daily temperature exceeds +15 degrees within 20 days per year. During the year in the forest tundra, up to 400 mm of precipitation falls, and this is much more evaporated moisture. Therefore, the soils of Fundra, as well as subarctic tundra, were strongly moistened and wetched.

There are rare trees growing with rareered groves or single. Forests consist of low-spirited bent birches, firings and larchs. Usually, the trees are far away from each other, since their root system is located in the upper part of the soil, above the long-term Marzlot. There are both tundra and forest plant species.

In the eastern part of Fondundra are located tundrolsa, distinguished by thickets of low-spirited trees. The mountain tundra and fruitless stony surfaces are dominated in subarctic mountainous areas, on which only mosses grow, lichens, and small rock flowers. A yagel in Festundra grows much faster than in subarctic tundra, so for deer here Razdat. In addition to deer, moose, brown bears, sands, hares, Belyaki, Glukhari and Ryabchiki live in Fierotandra.

Agriculture in Tundra

In Forestandre is possible vegetable growing in open soilHere you can grow potatoes, cabbage, turnips, radishes, salad, green onions. And also developed techniques for creating high-yielding meadows on the territory.

Do you know what ...

In Iceland, entirely in the natural zone of the tundra, potatoes were bred in the past and even cultivated barley. A good harvest was obtained, because Icelanders are humming and hardworking people. But now more profitable occupation has come to replace open agriculture - growing plants in greenhouses heated with warm hot sources. And today, various tropical cultures are perfectly growing in the tundra of Iceland, especially bananas. Their Iceland even exports to Europe.

There are also mountain tundra, which form a high-rise zone in the mountains of a moderate and subarctic belt. They are located above the boundaries of mountain forests and are characterized by the domination of lichens, mosses and some cold-resistant herbs, shrubs and shrubs. Three belts stand out in the mountain tundra:

• Shrub belt - It is formed on stony soils, as well as flat tundra.
• Mossy-lichen belt Located above the bush, its characteristic vegetation is represented by semi-shops and some herbs.
• Top belt Mountain tundras is the poorest on vegetation. Here among stone soils and on rocky formations only lichens and mosses are growing, as well as squat shrubs.

Mountain tundra (highlighted with purple color)

Antarctic Tundra

On the Antarctic Peninsula and Islands in high latitudes of the southern hemisphere there is a natural zone similar to the tundra. She was named Antarctic Tundra.

Tundra in Canada and USA

In the northern part of Canada and in Alaska, the United States is very significant areas in the natural zone of Tundra. It is located in the Arctic in the northern regions of Western Cordiller. Select 12 TundR types in Canada and USA:

• Tundra of the Alaskan Range and Mountains of St. Ilya (USA and Canada)
• Coast Tundra of Buffin Earth
• Tundra Range Brooks and British Mountains
• Tundra Nagrai Delisova Strait
• Tundra Mount Torgant
• Alpine Tundra of Inland Areas
• Alpine Tundra Oglvi and McKenzi
• Polar Tundra
• Polar tundra
• Polar tundra
• Tundra and ice fields of the mountains of the Pacific coast
• Arctic tundra

Flora and fauna tundra

Since the entire tundra is characterized by a long-term permafrost and strong winds, plants and animals have to adapt to life in difficult cold conditions, pressed against the ground or stones.

Plants in the tundra have characteristic forms and properties reflecting their adaptation to harsh continental climate. There are many moss and lichens in the tundra. Due to the short and cold summer and long winter, most of the plants of the tundra are represented by perennial and evergreen plants. Lingonberry and cranberries are examples of such perennial sustained plants. They start their height right away as soon as the snow melts (often only in early July).

But a bushy lickey yagel ("Deer Moss") grows very slowly, just 3-5 mm per year. It becomes clear why reindeer herds constantly roame from one pasture to another. They are forced to do this not at all from a good life, but from the fact that the restoration of deer pastures takes place very slowly, it takes 15-20 years. Among the plants in the tundra there are many blueberry, clouders, princeniki and blueberries, and also there are thickets of bush willow. And in wetlands, sources and cereals predominate, some of which have evergreen leaves are covered with a naesome wax, giving dull paints.

1	Blueberry
2	Lamberry
3	Voronik Black
4	Cloudberry
5	Loyady Late
6	Round bow
7	Princenica
8	Pascoon vaginal
9	Social Merochet
10	Birch dwarf
11	Iva Clinoliste

A distinctive feature of the tundra is a big number, but small precious composition of animals. This is due to the fact that Tundra is literally on the very edge of the earth, where there are very few people. Only a few species, such as lemmings, sands, northern deer, white partridge, Polar owl, hare-whites, wolf, ohovybike, adapted to harsh conditions of the tundra.

In the summer, a mass of migratory birds appeared in the tundra, attracted by a variety of insects, watering in a swampy terrain in excess and especially active in summer. They bring and feed the chicks here in order to fly into warm edges.

Numerous rivers and lakes Tundra are rich in different fish. There are Omul, Rocky, Chir and Nelma. But cold-blooded reptiles and amphibians in the tundra are practically not found due to low temperatures that limit their livelihoods.

1	White Gagara	29	Sanding
2	Small swan	30	Hare-white
3	Goose Gumennik	31	Varacusha
4	White Gus	32	Lapland plantain
5	Canadian Kazarka	33	Punch
6	Black Camera	34	Red Country Cross
7	Church of Kazarka	35	Horhoronok
8	Pink Chaika	36	Long-dead susslik
9	Long-dead Pesor.	37	Black-haired leaving
10	Vilokhvosta Seagull	38	Siberian Lemming
11	American swan	39	Hoofed lemming
12	White Gus	40	Norwegian lemming
13	Blue goose	41	Polevka Middondorfa
14	Small white goose	42	Zhuravl Steher
15	Seaper	43
16	Point Gaga.	44	White partridge
17	Gaga Grebenushka	45	Kulik Turukhtan
18	Crested blackfriend, male and female	46	Kulik Podchnik.
19	Merlin	47	Golden Rzhanka
20	Sapsan	48	Kulik Chernoobik
21	Mokhnogo Kanyuk.	49	Floorous swimmer
22	Caress	50	Small Ventern
23	Ermine	51	Bekasovyovy Veretnik
24	Earthowing - Barozubka.	52	Snow ram
25	Wolf	53	Gallozub
26	White Owl	54	Malma
27	Sheby	55	Arctic Goles.
28	Reindeer	56	Dalia

Tundren Partridge - One of the most famous tundra birds

Check out an interesting video about the natural zone of Tundra:

The south of the Arctic desert zone is a beautiful harsh zone without a forest, a long summer and warmth - Tundra. The nature of this climate is very beautiful and most often snow-white. Winter cold can reach -50⁰. Winter in the tundra lasts about 8 months, also has a polar night. The nature of the tundra is diverse, each plant and the animal adapted to a cold climate and frost.

1. During the short summer period, the tundra surface warms up on average half a meter into depth.
2. There are many swamps and lakes in the tundra, since because of constant low temperatures, water from the surface is slowly evaporated.
3. In the vegetable world, the tundra is a large variety of moss. There is a lot of yagel, it is a favorite food for in cold winters.
4. Due to the strengths of the trees in this climate, there is little, most often the plants of the tundra is low, since the cold wind is less felt near the earth.
5. In the summer, many swans, cranes and geese arrive in the tundra. They try to quickly get off the offspring in order to have time to grow chicks before the arrival of winter.
6. In the tundra there are searching for minerals, oil and gas. Technique and transport for work violate the soil, which leads to the death of plants that are important for animal life.

Basic Tundra

Tundra are usually divided into three zones:

1. Arctic tundra.
2. Middle tundra.
3. Southern Tundra.

Arctic tundra

For the Arctic tundra is characterized by very harsh winters and cold winds. Summer is cool and cold. Despite this, in the Arctic climate, the tundra lives:

• seals;
• walru;
• seals;
• shessbikes;
• wolves;
• sands;
• hares.

Most of this region is behind the polar circle. A characteristic feature of this region is that high trees do not grow in it. In the summer of snow partially melting and form a small swamp.

Middle tundra

The medium or typical tundra is richly destroyed by Mkhami. In this climate there are growing a lot of sources, she loves to eat in winter northern deer. Since in the middle tundra the weather is softer than in the Arctic tundra, dwarf birch and willow appear in it. Mossiy, lichens and small shrubs are also found in medium tundra. Here lives a lot of rodents, they feed on owls and sands. Because of the marshes in typical tundra there are many moshcars and mosquitoes. For people, this territory is used for breeding. Too cold summer and winter do not allow any farming here.

Southern Tundra

Southern Tundra is often called "forest", because it is located on the border with the forest area. This area is significantly warmer than in the rest of the zones. On the hottest month of summer, the weather for several weeks comes to + 12⁰. In the South Tundra, separate trees or forests are growing from low fir trees or birches. The advantage of a person is that it can already grown vegetables, such as potatoes, cabbage, radishes and green onions. Yagel and other favorite deer plants grow here much faster than in other areas of the tundra, therefore, the northern deer prefer southern territories.

Where the Taiga has already ended, but the Arctic has not yet begun, the tundra zone stretches. More than three million squares occupies this territory, has a width of about 500 kilometers. What a zone of permafrost looks like, there are almost no plants here, very few animals. Many amazing secrets keep this mysterious territory.

Tundrow zone

On the shores of the northern seas, the tundra zone stretches. Wherever you will see, a cold plain spread out for thousands of kilometers, absolutely not having forests. Polar night lasts two months. Summer is very short and cold. And even at the occurrence, frosts often happen. Cold sharp winds are walking on the tundra every year. Many days in a row in the winter of Purga is the mistress of plains.

The top layer of the soil thaws only 50 centimeters in a depth of the cold nonlaskaya summer. Below this level runs the layer of permafrost, which never melts. Neither thaia nor rainwater passes to the depth. The tundra zone is a huge number of lakes and swamps, soil is wet everywhere, because due to low temperatures, the water evaporates extremely slow. Very severe climate in the tundra, creating almost unbearable conditions for all living things. However, life here is somewhat diverse than in the Arctic.

Vegetable world

What does the tundra look like? Its surface for the most part is very large bumps. Their size reaches a height of up to 14 meters and up to 15 meters of width. Boca steep, they consist of peat, the inner part is almost always frowning. Between the fights in the intervals of up to 2.5 meters there are swamps, the so-called Eresi Samoyov. Boka Bugrov is covered with ms and lichens, often find cloudberry immediately. Their body is formed by moss and tundra shrubs.

Closer to the rivers, to the south, where the tundra forests can be observed, the buggy zone goes into sphagnum peatlands. Here grows closure, buggy, cranberries, gonobol, birch erynk. deeply go to the forest area. Eastern Taman's ridge bugs are very rare, only in low, wetlands.

Tundra subzones

The smooth areas of Siberia are busy peat tundra. Mosses and tundra shrubs are pulled by a solid film on the surface of the earth. Mostly the yagel covers the ground, but you can meet the glads of cloudberries. This type of tundra between Pechor and Timan is especially common.

At high places where water is not stored, but the wind walks, the fractured tundra is located. Dry, covered by the cracks of the soil is broken into small platforms, on which there is nothing but frozen land. Cracks can hide cereals, shrubs and stomachs.

Those interested in what the tundra looks like, it will be useful to know that there are fertile soil here. The herbal-shrub tundra is rich in shrubs, almost no moss and lichens are found.

The most characteristic of this natural zone of the yagel and lichen, thanks to which the tundra is painted into light gray. In addition, standing out against the background of the Yagel stains, small shrubs are pumped to Earth. Southern regions can boast of small islets of the forest. Frequently common dwarf types of Yves and birch erynik.

Animal world

The Tundra looks like, does not affect the number of animals permanently residing in this region. One of the ordinary inhabitants of the tundra is a pier-legged nest right on Earth or rocks. Orlen-Belochvost - a rooted tundra - lives on the seashore. Greets found in the northernmost regions of the region is the most common bird area. All feathers hunt for partridges and small rodents.

In this natural zone, not only feathered, but also a shaggy, and different sizes live. So, it is the most adapter to the climate-adequate view. In Europe, he is almost extinct, representatives only remained in Norway. Deer and on the Kola Peninsula are also rare. To replace them came homemade deer.

Deer, except for a person, have a natural enemy - wolf. These predators have much more thick undercoat than their forest fellow. In addition to these animals, there are white bears, sheeps, sands, gophers, lemming, hares, Belyaki and Wolverine in Tundra.

Climate

The climate of the tundra is very harsh. The temperature of a short summer does not rise above 10 degrees, the average temperature in winter is not higher than minus 50. The thick layer of the snow falls by September, only increasing the layers with each month.

Despite the fact that the sun is almost not shown over the horizon throughout the long winter night, it does not rely with impermeable meal. What does the tundra polar night look like? Even in the moonless periods, light enough. After all, there is a dazzling white snow, perfectly reflecting the light of distant stars. In addition, excellent lighting gives the Northern Light, aparting the sky with different colors. In some hours, thanks to him, it becomes light, as the day.

What looks like a tundra in summer and winter

In general, summer is difficult to name warmth, because the average temperature does not rise above 10 degrees. In such months, the sun does not leave the skyskle at all, trying to have time to warm the frozen land. But what does the tundra look like in the summer?

In the relatively warm months of the tundra space covers water, turning extensive territories into huge swamps. The natural zone of the tundra is covered in a lush color at the very beginning of summer. Given that it is very short, all plants seek to have time to complete the development cycle in the shortest possible time.

In winter, there is a very thick layer of snow. Since almost all the territory runs down the polar circle, the natural zone of the tundra is deprived of sunlight most of the year. Winter lasts long, much longer than in other areas of the globe. There are no adjacent seasons on this territory, that is, neither spring nor autumn.

Miracles tundra

The most famous miracle, of course, the Northern Lights. Dark January nights on a black background of velvet sky suddenly lighting stripes of bright colors. Green and blue columns having pink and red splashes slide across the sky. The dance of the radiance is similar to the rims of the giant campfire, reaching the sky. People who have seen the Northern Lights for the first time will never be able to forget this amazing spectacle, the expaning mind of people for thousands of years.

Our ancestors believed that the lights in the sky brings happiness, because they are a manifestation of the celebration of the gods. And if the gods have a holiday - certainly gifts will merge and people. Others thought that the radiance was anger of God the fire, angry with the human race, so they waited from multicolored heavenly splashes of only troubles and even misfortunes.

No matter how believing you, see the Northern Lights. If this opportunity once appears, it is better to be in the tundra in January, when the Northern Lights especially frequently flashes in heaven.