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Arctic Vegetation
About 1,702 species of plants live on the Arctic tundra, including flowering plants, short shrubs, herbs, grasses, mosses. These plants are adapted to short, cold growing seasons. They have the ability to withstand extremely cold temperatures in the winter (winter hardiness), and grow and reproduce in summer conditions that are quite limiting. As of 2005, arctic vegetation covered approximately of land. The area of arctic vegetation decreased by approximately from 1980 to 2000, with a corresponding increase in the boreal forest. This decrease is linked to the warming of the Arctic due to climate change. Adaptations Arctic plants have a number of adaptations to the compressed growing season and low temperatures: * They initiate growth rapidly in the spring, and flower and set seed much sooner than plants that grow in warmer conditions. * Their peak metabolic rate occurs at a much lower temperature than plants from farther south, but only peaks for a short growing season. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dryas Octopetala LC0327
Dryas may refer to: Biology * ''Dryas'' (plant), a genus of plants * ''Dryas'', a monotypic genus of butterflies containing the single species ''Dryas iulia'' * Dryas monkey (''Cercopithecus dryas''), a little-known species of guenon found only in the Congo Basin Geology * Dryas, the name of several climatic periods, named for their abundant dryas flowers: ** Oldest Dryas ** Older Dryas ** Middle Dryas ** Younger Dryas The Younger Dryas (c. 12,900 to 11,700 years BP) was a return to glacial conditions which temporarily reversed the gradual climatic warming after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, c. 27,000 to 20,000 years BP). The Younger Dryas was the last stag ... Other uses * Dryas (mythology), several characters in Greek mythology * Drias, Kavala, or Dryas, a village in Greece See also * Dryad (other) {{disambiguation, genus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Introduction to Lichens – An Alliance between Kingdoms . University of California Museum of Paleontology. Lichens have properties different from those of their component organisms. They come in many colors, sizes, and forms and are sometimes plant-like, but are not s. They may have tiny, leafless branches (); flat leaf-like structures ( [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betula Nana
''Betula nana'', the dwarf birch, is a species of birch in the family Betulaceae, found mainly in the tundra of the Arctic region. Description It is a monoecious, deciduous shrub growing up to high. The bark is non-peeling and shiny red-copper colored. The leaves are rounded, diameter, with a bluntly toothed margin. The leaves are a darker green on their upper surface. Leaf growth occurs after snow melt and become red in autumn. The wind-pollinated fruiting catkins are erect, long and broad. Distribution ''Betula nana'' is native to arctic and cool temperate regions of Greenland, Iceland, northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America and it will grow in a variety of conditions. Outside of far northern areas, it is usually found growing only in mountains above , up to in Great Britain and in the Alps. Its northern range limit is on Svalbard, where it is confined to favourable sites. In the UK ''Betula nana'' is at its southern range limit, with many populatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cassiope Tetragona
''Cassiope tetragona'' (common names include Arctic bell-heather, white Arctic mountain heather and Arctic white heather) is a plant native to the high Arctic and northern Norway, where it is found widely. Growing to 10–20 cm in height, it is a strongly branched dwarf shrub. The leaves are grooved, evergreen, and scale-like in four rows. Pedicels are long and arched. The plant bears bell-shaped, solitary flowers usually with white and pink lobes and pink anthers. The flower stalks and sepals are red, but the petals may also be yellowish-white. The anthers can also be brownish-yellow and flower stalks and sepals yellowish-green. It grows on ridges and heaths, often in abundance and forming a distinctive and attractive plant community. In Greenland, indigenous peoples use the plant as important source of fuel. Because of high resin content, it burns even when wet. The plant can also be used in cooking. Canadian chef Louis Charest used arctic heather as a smoked her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctous Alpina
''Arctous alpina'' ( syn. ''Arctostaphylos alpina''), the alpine bearberry, mountain bearberry or black bearberry, is a dwarf shrub in the heather family Ericaceae. The basionym of this species is ''Arbutus alpina'' . Description ''Arctous alpina'' is a procumbent shrub usually less than high with a woody stem and straggling branches. The leaves are alternate and wither in the autumn but remain on the plant for another year. The leaves are stalked and are oval with serrated margins and a network of veins. They often turn red to scarlet in autumn. The flowers are in groups of two to five, white or pink and urn-shaped and about long. They have five sepals, five fused petals with five small projecting lobes, ten stamens and a single carpel. The fruits are spherical, long, initially green, then red and finally glossy black and succulent when ripe. This plant flowers in June. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salix Arctica
''Salix arctica'', the Arctic willow, is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in Arctic conditions, specifically tundras. Description ''S. arctica'' is typically a low shrub growing to only in height, rarely to , although it may reach in height in the Pacific Northwest. It has round, shiny green leaves long and broad; they are pubescent, with long, silky, silvery hairs. Like the rest of the willows, Arctic willow is dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate plants. As a result, the plant's appearance varies; the female catkins are red-coloured, while the male catkins are yellow-coloured.Jepson Flora''Salix arctica''/ref> Despite its small size, it is a long-lived plant, growing extremely slowly in the severe arctic climate; one in eastern Greenland was found to be 236 years old. Hybrids with '' Salix arcticola'' and ''Salix glauca'' are known. Distribution and habitat The Arctic willow grows in tundra and rocky moorland, and is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dryas (plant)
''Dryas'' is a genus of perennial cushion-forming evergreen dwarf shrubs in the family Rosaceae, native to the arctic and alpine regions of Europe, Asia and North America. The genus is named after the dryads, the tree nymphs of ancient Greek mythology. The classification of ''Dryas'' within the Rosaceae has been unclear. The genus was formerly placed in the subfamily Rosoideae, but is now placed in subfamily Dryadoideae. The species are superficially similar to '' Geum'' (with which they share the common name avens), '' Potentilla'', and ''Fragaria'' (strawberry). However, ''Dryas'' are distinct in having flowers with ''eight'' petals (rarely seven or up to ten), instead of the five petals found in most other genera in the Rosaceae. The flowers are erect and white with a yellow centre (''Dryas integrifolia'', '' Dryas octopetala'') or pendulous and all-yellow ('' Dryas drummondii''), and held conspicuously above the small plants. This makes them very popular in rockeries and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf-shrub
A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, 4th ed 1928 Because the criteria are matters of degree (normally of height) rather than of kind, the definition of a subshrub is not sharply distinguishable from that of a shrub; examples of reasons for describing plants as subshrubs include ground-hugging stems or low growth habit. Subshrubs may be largely herbaceous though still classified as woody, with overwintering perennial woody growth much lower-growing than deciduous summer growth. Some plants described as subshrubs are only weakly woody and some persist for only for a few years; others however, such as ''Oldenburgia paradoxa'' live indefinitely (though is still vulnerable to external effects), rooted in rocky cracks. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holdridge Life Zone
The Holdridge life zones system is a global bioclimatic scheme for the classification of land areas. It was first published by Leslie Holdridge in 1947, and updated in 1967. It is a relatively simple system based on few empirical data, giving objective criteria. A basic assumption of the system is that both soil and the climax vegetation can be mapped once the climate is known. Scheme While it was first designed for tropical and subtropical areas, the system now applies globally. The system has been shown to fit not just tropical vegetation zones,but Mediterranean zones, and boreal zones too, but is less applicable to cold oceanic or cold arid climates where moisture becomes the predominant factor. The system has found a major use in assessing the potential changes in natural vegetation patterns due to global warming. The three major axes of the barycentric subdivisions are: * precipitation (annual, logarithmic) * biotemperature (mean annual, logarithmic) * potential evapotransp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Nordenskjöld
Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjöld (6 December 1869 – 2 June 1928) was a Finnish and Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer. Early life Nordenskjöld was born in Hässleby in Småland in eastern Sweden, in a Finland Swedish family that included his maternal uncle, the polar explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, and cousin Gustaf Nordenskiöld. His father and mother were cousins, but his father's family name was "Nordenskjöld", while his mother's family name was spelled "Nordenskiöld". He studied at Uppsala University, obtaining a doctorate in geology in 1894, and later became a lecturer and then associate professor in the university's geology department. Career Otto Nordenskjöld led mineralogical expeditions to Patagonia in the 1890s, and to Alaska and the Klondike area in 1898. Antarctic Expedition Nordenskjöld led the 1901–1904 Swedish Antarctic Expedition. Their ship ''Antarctic'', commanded by the seasoned Antarctic sailor Carl Anton Larsen, visited B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, the climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system. The Köppen climate classification divides climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (temperate), ''D'' (continental), and ''E'' (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the ''E'' group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter). For example, ''Af'' indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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