Tundra+Factual+Page

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The tundra is an often treeless, rolling plain that sits above the taiga in polar regions. The vegetation is scarce, consisting of low shrubs, small herbs, mosses, and lichens. Many animals have adapted to the harsh conditions including musk ox, wolves, lemmings, and arctic foxes. In the alpine tundra, however, many animals, such as the mountain sheep and wildcats, descend to warmer climate zones during the winter. The alpine tundra has a more moderate climate and receives more rainfall than the freezing arctic. The freezing climate of the tundra biome produces a permanently frozen layer of soil called permafrost. The word "tundra" actually is usually only used when describing the area where the subsoil is permafrost. __**The Animal Kingdom**__ In the tundra, many animals have adapted to the harsh conditions and climate. The animals that have fur usually have a thicker, warmer coat for the long winters (as with the arctic hare below) and a shorter, lighter coat for the short arctic summers. The arctic fox (//Lagapus alopex//) has a white coat for blending in with the snow in the winter and a shorter ,brownish-grey coat for the summers. Other mammals in the arctic tundra biome include the large grizzly bear (//Ursus arctoshorribilis//), the small and quick ermine (//Mestrela erminea//), the ferocious lynx (//Felis lynx//), the large-eared pika (//Ochotona callaris//), and the top predator of the food web, the grey wolf (//Canis lupus//). Other animals in the tundra, including birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles, are the snowy owl (//Nyctea scandiaca//), the bald eagle (//Haliaeetus leucocephalus//), the loon (//Gavia stellata//), the siberian salamander (//Salamandrella keyserlingi),// and the arctic char (//Salvelinus alpinus).// These animals have all adapted to life in the tundra environment. Invertebrates in the arctic are rare and hard to find. Some few mollusks and arthropods live in the bitter conditions of the tundra, including the clam //(Spisula solidissima//) and the arctic bumblebee (//B. polaris//). __**The Plants**__ The plants have also adapted, living with shallow roots to soak up the moisture when it falls as rain sporadically. They include many species of mosses, lichens, low-to-the-ground shrubs, and sparse trees and flowering plants. Some mosses are the caribou moss or the reindeer lichen (//Cladonia rangifernia)//, the flowering plant Labrador Tea, and the evergreen shrub heath or heather (//Erica cinerea//). The fungi in this biome include the threadlike fungi lichen (//disambiguation//) and mold (//Aspergillus fumigatus//), the club fungi rust //(Ravenelia),// and the macrolichen (//Cladina stellaris//). The protists in the tundra include the //Tracheleugly phadenata, D. ovifomis,// and //A. muscorm//. The bacteria in the tundra include 8 gram-negative rods, known as //Achromobacter//, //Alcaligenes, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas,// and 4 coliforms (//Aerobacter aerogenes, A.c loacae, Escherichia freundiai,// and //E. intermeida//). The three gram-positive forms identified were //Bacillus, Micrococcus,// and //Streptococcus faecalis//.
 * __The Fungi__**
 * __The Protists__**
 * __The Bacteria__**



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