Alpine Tundra Animals Adaptations

Climate Location Plants and Animals.

Alpine tundra animals adaptations. Adaptations for survival amidst drying winds and cold temperatures may make tundra vegetation seem very hardy but in some respects it remains very fragile. Animal adaptations to the the alpine tundra Similar to the arctic tundra we can divide animals that live here into two groups. Humans expand their lungs in order to be able to take in more oxygen when they breathe which is scarcer at the higher alpine.

PIKA These adorable mammals are found in the alpine tundra where they have plenty of food for herbivores such as grass fruits leaves flowers and roots. Alpine tundra plants can photosynthesize under widely. There are many animals living and adapting to their environment everyday due to climate plants landforms and other animals that they can eat or that might eat them.

Lemmings arctic hares and arctic ground squirrels are a few animals that have adapted to the cold. Alpine biome describes an ecosystem that doesnt contain trees due to its high altitude. In Arctic and alpine tundras the number of species of plants and animals is usually small when compared with other regions yet the number of individuals per species is often high.

Tread Lightly Repeated footsteps often destroy tundra plants allowing exposed soil to blow away. Migration and hibernation are examples of behavioral adaptations used by animals in the arctic tundra. Some fascinating animals have adapted to living in the alpine.

Brief summers long winters brutal winds little precipitation and bone-chilling temperatures limit the plants and animals that can survive in the tundra but those that do are ingeniously adapted to the harsh conditions. That are one to two years old. Some including many of the larger animals such as Elk spend the relatively warmer summer and move to lower elevations in winter and some such as the Pika and Marmot have made the alpine home year round.

Tundra wildlife includes small mammalssuch as Norway lemmings Lemmus lemmus arctic hares Lepis arcticus and arctic ground squirrels Spermophilus parryii and large mammals such as caribou Rangifer tarandus. In the winter the fleshy pads of their hoofs shrink and the hair between their toes covers the pads to keep the caribou warmprobably the biggest adaptation caribou are one of the few animals that are adapted to feed on lichens. While Arctic and Antarctic tundra exist near the Earths northern and southern poles respectively alpine tundra exists in mountains usually between the treeline and snowline.