Plant Life

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I saw in at least one of your pictures some plants. With the harsh winters and continuos cold weather, how do they survive? Do they grow on ice?

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 64

Hello Alyssa,

Your question was one that I wanted to learn about, as well. It seemed impossible that plants could flourish so far up north. I have posted more pictures of some of the beautiful and delicate Arctic flowers. I am afraid I sometimes fall behind the rest while hiking with the group to the research sites because I want to take pictures of these lovely and sometimes strange flowers and plants along the way. Then I must catch up in a hurry because the Arctic is not a place to be wandering around alone. Edith, one of the students participating in our project, also has a great interest in the plants of the tundra, so we try to make sure one of us is carrying one of the rifles for the group so that we can stop safely for a picture when we want to.

The High Arctic Tundra, the biome of this region, has a very short growing season lasting only around 6-10 weeks. As you may have learned from earlier postings, this is a permafrost region, meaning the ground is always frozen. Only the very top layer thaws briefly during the summer, but it is ice underneath. When the summer sun causes the top layer to thaw a bit, the ground becomes very muddy and boggy. As the top ice melts, it has nowhere to drain, because under that is ice, so it collects in little ponds and bogs. With the sun’s radiant energy, plants and microorganisms have a chance to grow, even if only for a short time.

Have you ever studied the tundra? The word tundra is Finnish and means treeless land. That is nearly correct! There are no trees as you would know them, but there are a couple kinds of dwarf trees that make up the High Arctic forest. You won’t be able to stand under them for shade or protection, however, because they max out at about two inches tall! Plants in the High Arctic Tundra have to grow pretty much in clumps and close to the ground to protect themselves from the strong winds and the intense cold that is present even during the summer growth season. By growing close to the earth the plants benefit from the warmer temperatures that occur through the energy released as a result of geological, hydrological, and biological processes occurring at this level just above the surface. The mosses, fungus, and flowers you see in my pictures are very important to the wellbeing of the tundra. Some live only briefly and then die, their dead organic material contributing to the nutrient pool for the region, providing necessary nitrogen and phosphorus.

The mosses, liverworts, grasses, flowers, lichens, dwarf trees, and sedges that you see in my photographs have adapted to the cold winds that sweep the area and the various disturbances of the soil caused by the weather and the geological processes. The plants of the High Arctic Tundra have adapted in ways that allow them to carry out photosynthesis at low temperatures and under low light intensities. Many reproduce by budding and division and will enter a dormant phase when conditions become too harsh for survival. They have short roots that only go down far enough to keep them intact, but not to be frozen by the ice. Because of such brief growing season, you would be correct if you guessed that most tundra plants were perennials. They may spend several years gathering and storing the nutrients that they will need to produce seeds. Many of them reproduce by sending runners out through the soil and sprouting new plants at their nodes. For Arctic flowers like the Arctic Dryad and the Arctic Poppy it is all about the sun, when there is sun to shine on them. Their flowers are like small satellite dishes that revolve slowly throughout the twenty-four hour bright day, capturing the sun’s rays for energy.

The plants have adapted to the harsh conditions by developing many ways by which to protect themselves. I have already mentioned growing in clumps that are close to the ground or finding protection between rocks. Some have developed their own protection such as the wooly lousewort. They protect themselves from the wind and cold by growing a thick kind of fur that consists of many thousands of tiny, curling hairs. Some plants, such as the Arctic Dryad retain their old leaves instead of dropping them when it starts turning colder. The old leaves provide needed insulation and conserve nutrients needed for survival.

Some organisms that grow on the tundra have developed relationships that benefit one another. These are called symbiotic relationships and an example would be the relationship between the algae and the fungus growing in the tundra and even at the glaciers. The algae provides the food and the fungus provides the water so that together they can both survive where alone neither would. The algae photosynthesizes, using the sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to manufacture food in the form of carbohydrates. This is used by the algae as well as the fungus. The fungus contributes to the relationship by retaining water that it needs and also makes it available to the algae. This way, neither the algae or the fungus dehydrates and both have nutrients.

Plant growth is very slow because of the nature of the tundra, and it is known that the tundra is a fragile biome, indeed. It takes a really long time for this biome to recover from the human and/or natural disturbances that it must endure, and efforts must continually be taken to minimize the damage to this fragile ecosystem. For example, when we hike across the tundra, we try to stay where the reindeer travel. When we hike in a large group, we try not to trample one after another, and if we see an area has been inadvertently kicked up, someone always folds it back over so that the roots are not exposed.

Though many plants could not grow on the ice, there are some living organisms found on and near glaciers and some dead organisms that are discovered in ice cores. Sometimes you see a pinkish color on the ice and this is because of molds. Green and blue algae both can be found on glaciers and there are insects and arachnids living on the rocks that venture onto the glaciers at times. There are several microorganisms that are getting increasing attention for surviving in extreme conditions such as on glaciers. Research is being done to determine just what life inhabits glaciers, how it survives, and whether it can help help mankind.

I hope that this answered your questions, but even more important, I hope it gets you to thinking about lots more questions!