Ecosystems

Tundra

Tundra biome

The Tundra in the world

The biome of the tundra covers the northernmost lands of Europe, Siberia and north-America. Overall, the tundra covers 5% of lands above sea level. Some areas of tundra can also be found at the southern end of south-America. In the Austral hemisphere, large expanses of perennial ice cover Antarctica; mosses and lichens grow, however, in some very small areas along the borders of the mainland. The mountains of the temperate areas, above 2,000 metres a.s.l., do not have trees either, because of the cold, so they look like the tundra. This is the Alpine tundra, the so-called parámo, on the Andes. The Alpine tundra has some of the same plants as the real tundra, for instance dwarf willows, and some of the same species of insects. The Alpine tundra has no permafrost, day and night alternate every 24 hours and sunlight is more intense. Its typical animals are marmots, chamois, ptarmigans and chaffinches.