Arctic Tundra Biome Project by Quentin clapp
Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Dead organic material functions as a nutrient pool. The two major nutrients are nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen is created by biological fixation, and phosphorus is created by precipitation.
Calliergon giganteum (or arctic moss) is an aquatic plant found on lake beds in tundra regions. It has no wood stems or flowers, and has small rootlets instead of roots.
The bearberry is a low, much-branched shrub trailing over the ground and having numerous leathery evergreen leaves about 1 inch in length. The waxy flowers, which appear in May, are few and are borne in short, drooping clusters at the ends of the branches. They are white with a pinkish tinge, 5-lobed, and somewhat bell-shaped in form. Smooth, red, globular fruits containing five nutlets follow the flowers.
The Labrador tea plant grows to be 4 to 5 feet. It will grow up straight in the southern latitudes of the tundra, but in the colder northern latitudes it will creep over the ground forming a carpet. It has woolly branches with narrow 1 to 2 inch leaves which are smooth on the upper side, with rusty hairs underneath. They droop slightly and edges are rolled under, and are a leathery green in color. At the ends of the branches are tiny clusters of white flowers with protruding stamen, which bloom in June and July.
Tufted Saxifrage is a small perennial that grow in thick mats on the tundra. It has several straight flower stems which can get 3-15 cm high. The leaves are rigid and very hairy and only 5-10 mm long. Their tips divide into 3 lobes.
The Pasque flower has several stems that rise 6-8 inches off the ground. On each stem is one flower with 5-8 petals. The range of color in the petals is from dark lavender to almost white. In the center of the flower are yellow stamens. Below the flower, around the stem is a leaf covered in silky hairs, as is the rest of the plant. The fruit of the plant is a plum that is achenial, which means that one seed is attached to the ovary wall, like a strawberry seed.
Abiotic limiting factors for the arctic tundra biome include low temperatures, high winds, low precipitation, and permafrost. While an example of biotic limiting factor is for example mosses they need to adapt to the very long cold winters because the sun doesn't come up in the winter.
