The coldest of all biomes is the tundra region of the Arctic north and the Alpine regions of mountains. From the Finnish word tunturia, tundra means treeless plain. In this frost-filled landscape, plants and animals adapt to the cold. As the most chaotic of biomes, tundra is a testament to nature’s adaptability, and as well, as her cruel beauty.
The Arctic tundra, the land of the midnight sun, is a vast frozen wasteland at the top of the world. Winters are long and severe, while summers are short. However, it supports an abundance of animals. Lemmings feed on the sparse vegetation producing many litters a year. The favorite food of snowy owls, Arctic foxes, and other predators, lemmings provide the basis of life for many animals.
Mountains and valleys support a wide variety of plant and animal life. In the Alpine biome, animals cache stores, cope with thin air, and live in different zones on the mountains. There, climate varies by altitude, rock formations, and exposures to severe weather. Freezing and melting every year, glaciers play an important role in shaping the landscape. Many of the most treacherous landscapes on earth are mountains on various ranges.
Mountains are the closest, that most people can get to the divine. People see the mountains as constant and eternal. Like deserts, people go there for enlightenment. For some, climbing to the top is a sacred act to commune with the divine.
In contrast to the snow-capped mountains, meadows and valleys are characterized by the abundance of grass and wildflowers. The animals, that live there, are a mixture of lowland and mountain species. In folklore, valleys represent fertility and new life. They are the safe warm places which provide shelter from the forbidding mountains.
Va. Carper
June 29, 2004