Alaskan Tundra Animals And Plants

They often have a strong sense of smell to help them find food underneath the snow.

Alaskan tundra animals and plants. Many bird species migrate from southern areas to the tundra each year for the reduced competition and plentiful insect harvest. Robin Dublin Karen L. TUNDRA ANIMALS AND PLANTS.

Ecosystems in Alaska range from grasslands mountains and tundra to thick forests in which Sitka spruce the state tree western hemlock tamarack white birch and western red cedar dominate the landscape. Various hardy plants and wild flowers spring up during the short growing season on the semiarid tundra plains. Some animals found on the Alaskan tundra include caribou arctic fox arctic hare arctic ground squirrel and arctic grizzly bear.

Some animals stay all year round others migrate to warmer places for the winter. Brenda Duty 2020 Robin Dublin Jonne Slemons 1995 1999 2001 Editors. Other plants such as Kamchatka rhododendron achieve extra protection by growing in dense mats or cushions.

This is why the polar bears are very fit for this crazy climate of Barrow Alaska. The bearberry is a low growing plant with leathery leaves and silky hairs that provide protection from the cold and wind of Barrow Alaska. Some tundra plants such as Labrador tea and Arctic dryad retain old leaves rather than dropping them.

Due to the large number of small rodents and mammals predators such as arctic foxes and snowy owls also inhabit the tundra. Besides the animals that inhabit the tundra year-round there are. Although all of these are common we are going to focus on only four of these.

Many animals live on the tundra including caribou. Lemmings voles caribou arctic hares and squirrels are examples of tundra herbivores at the bottom of the food web. This helps it stay warm during the cold days of the tundra.