ALPINE TUNDRA

WHERE THEY AT DOE

• High altitudes
• Any latitude
• Mountain slopes
• Ridges above timberlines

CLIMATE

• Cold, polar-like
• Low air pressure
• Intense radiation, wind, and ice
• Soil forms extremely slowly, very rocky
• Permafrost creates depleted soils

-35 TO 11 CELCIUS

FLORA

• Grows only close to the ground to avoid winds
• Grasses, low woody shrubs, cushion plants, and lichen
• No trees
• Very small flowering plants
• Red colored pigments to produce their own heat from light

FLORA

FAUNA

• Small Rodents: Marmots, Chinchillas, and Pikas
• Mountain Goats
• Caribou
• Most be nutrient efficient, able to migrate, or able to burrow
• Harsh winters require fur and sustainable body heat

ALPINE PIKA

Marmot

HUMAN EFFECT

• Ski Resorts: Swiss Alps have greatly been transformed
• Mining: Destruction of mountain tops, limiting land area
• Hunting: Massive Caribou hunts, decrease population size
• Chinchillas are on the verge of going extinct

CARIBOU HUNTS

• Decreasing male population
• "In it for the antlers"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/608909/tundra/302379/Effects-of-h...
• http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_tundra
• http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/alpine.htm
• http://bealbio.wikispaces.com/file/view/Tundra+Period+6.pptx
• http://www.nps.gov/romo/naturescience/alpine_tundra_ecosystem.htm