Global ecosystem typology

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T6.3 Polar tundra and deserts

Biome: T6. Polar/alpine (cryogenic) biome

Contributors:
(texts)

Polar tundra and deserts have continuous to sparse cover of cold-tolerant mosses, liverworts, lichens, grasses, low shrubs and other flowering plants. They occur primarily in the Arctic circle, but polar desert is found in dry coastal lowlands of Antarctica. Precipitation falls as snow, with seasonal snow cover limiting the growing season. Extreme cold temperatures and short growing seasons exclude trees, as well as vascular plants in the coldest and driest locations. Permafrost substrates accumulate peat through slow decomposition rates. Migratory birds feed in distant wetlands or open oceans, and contribute nutrients to the system through guano, as well as dispersing seeds and other organisms. Migratory or hibernating mammals include seals, and, in the north, polar bears, foxes and wolves.

Key Features

Open and low vegetation of herbaceous plants (e.g. tussocks, cushions,  rosette plants) and abundant kryptogams in very cold climates with permafrost.

Overview of distribution

Locally in northern Europe (Scandinavia, Russia), northern Siberia and North America.

Profile versions

  • v1.0 (2020-01-20): DA Keith; D Faber-Langendoen
  • v2.0 (2020-05-31): DA Keith; F Essl; KR Young; CH Körner
  • v2.01 ():
  • v2.1 (2022-04-06): DA Keith; F Essl; KR Young; CH Körner Full profile available at official site

Main references

Selected references for this functional group:

  • Crawford RMM (2013) Tundra-taiga biology. Ch 5. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

  • Paulsen J, Körner C (2014) A climate-based model to predict potential treeline position around the globe Alpine Botany 124, 1-12 DOI:10.1007/s00035-014-0124-0

Diagrammatic assembly model

Diagrammatic assembly model of T6.3 Polar tundra and deserts. See general notes on diagrams. Open image full size.

Maps

Maps are indicative of global distribution patterns are not intended to represent fine-scale patterns. The maps show areas of the world containing major (coloured red) or minor occurrences (coloured yellow) of each ecosystem functional group. See general notes on maps.

There are 2 alternative versions of the indicative map for this functional group, please compare description and sources below.

T6.3.IM.alt_v2.0

Datasets

  • KG-climate-2018
  • glUV1.0

Map references

  • Beck, H., Zimmermann, N., McVicar, T. et al. (2018) Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution Sci Data 5, 180214 DOI:10.1038/sdata.2018.214

  • Beckmann M., Václavík T., Manceur A.M., Šprtová L., von Wehrden H., Welk E., Cord A.F. (2014) glUV: A global UV-B radiation dataset for macroecological studies Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5: 372–383. DOI:10.1111/2041-210X.12168

T6.3.web.map_v1.0

Areas corresponding to the tundra climatic zone according to the Köppen-Geiger classification system (Beck et al. 2018) were first identified. Additional areas were then selected in high latitudes corresponding with low annual solar radiation (values <1800 in Beckmann et al. 2014). A union of these maps was created at 30 arc seconds spatial resolution in geographic projection. Open image full size.

Datasets

  • KG-climate-2018
  • glUV1.0

Map references

  • Beck, H., Zimmermann, N., McVicar, T. et al. (2018) Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution Sci Data 5, 180214 DOI:10.1038/sdata.2018.214

  • Beckmann M., Václavík T., Manceur A.M., Šprtová L., von Wehrden H., Welk E., Cord A.F. (2014) glUV: A global UV-B radiation dataset for macroecological studies Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5: 372–383. DOI:10.1111/2041-210X.12168

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