Print Report
F031 Polar Tundra & Barrens Formation
Type Concept Sentence: Upland or dry polar tundra is dominated by dwarf-shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses and lichens, and is found in the high latitudes north of 60°N in the Arctic region and south of 50°S in the Antarctic region, in permafrost soils that range from dry to seasonally saturated.
Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Polar Tundra & Barrens Formation
Colloquial Name: Polar Tundra & Barrens
Hierarchy Level: Formation
Type Concept: Upland or dry tundra exists at the high latitudes north of 60°N in the Arctic region and south of 50°S in the Antarctic region. The vegetation growth forms are varied and often form complex patterns of dominance by dwarf-shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses and lichens, and creeping or matted herbs. In many tundra areas, the deep layers of the soil are permanently frozen, and only the surface layer is thawed and becomes biologically active during the summer. The Low Arctic region typically contains continuous vegetation cover (80-100%), except in rocky places, and contains the typical mix of dwarf-shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses and lichens. Tundra also occurs in the High Arctic, and plants are primarily lichens and mosses with scattered herbs. The High Arctic has fine soil material, and can be wet and strongly influenced by cryoturbation, with more sparse vegetation.
Diagnostic Characteristics: The vegetation growth forms are varied and often with complex patterns of dominance by dwarf-shrubs, low sedges and grasses, mosses and lichens, and creeping or matted herbs. Soil conditions are dry to seasonally saturated, with deep layers of the soil permanently frozen, with only the surface layer thawing in summer and becoming biologically active.
Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available
Classification Comments: Plants are primarily lichens and mosses with scattered herbs (Quinn 2008). We include "wet tundra" (tundra on saturated, somewhat peaty soils) with dry to mesic tundra. Arctic wet meadows and marshes are treated with temperate and boreal wet meadows and marshes under 2.C.4 ~Temperate to Polar Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow & Shrubland Formation (F013)$$. The concept of this formation includes the vegetation types of barrens, graminoid tundras, prostrate-shrub tundras and erect-shrub tundras of the Arctic (CAVM 2003).
Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: The vegetation growth forms are varied and often form complex patterns of dominance by dwarf-shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses and lichens. The Low Arctic region typically contains continuous vegetation cover (80-100%), except in rocky places, and contains the typical mix of dwarf-shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses and lichens. Plants in the High Arctic tundra are primarily lichens and mosses with scattered herbs. The High Arctic has fine soil material, and can be wet and strongly influenced by cryoturbation, with more sparse vegetation. Wetter tundra includes low sedge- and moss-dominated types. It is called "graminoid-moss tundra" by Bliss (2000), who describes it as containing species of Carex and Eriophorum, along with an abundance of bryophytes, but few lichens.
Floristics: No Data Available
Dynamics: No Data Available
Environmental Description: Climate: Temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctic vary with the season, which has periods of 24-hour light (summer) and dark (winter). The number of days with those extremes varies with latitude, ranging from 1 day at the Arctic and Antarctic circles (66½°N and S latitude) to 6 months at the poles. Temperatures vary both with latitude and degree of continentality. Mean temperatures of the warmest summer months vary considerably but generally average between 4.5° and 13°C. In the winter, they average from -20° to -30°C. Precipitation, which often falls as snow, is typically <25 cm, but some localities may have as much as 50 cm.
Soil/substrate/hydrology: In many tundra areas, the deep layers of the soil are permanently frozen (permafrost), and only the surface layer is thawed and becomes biologically active during the summer (Whittaker 1975). Soils may be dry to seasonally saturated. Permafrost is ground that is permanently frozen, and is widespread in the Arctic, covering large parts of Canada and Russia. It is discontinuous in the Boreal Forest & Woodland region to the south. It can extend down more than 600 m, depending on mean annual temperature, type of soil and rock, proximity to the ocean, and topography. In the summer, only the soil surface may thaw, up to 20-60 cm. On slopes, the thawed soil may begin to move, a process called solifluction (Quinn 2008). Permafrost also creates specific landscape features collectively called patterned ground, forming circles, polygons, nets, hummocks, steps or stripes (Quinn 2008).
Soil/substrate/hydrology: In many tundra areas, the deep layers of the soil are permanently frozen (permafrost), and only the surface layer is thawed and becomes biologically active during the summer (Whittaker 1975). Soils may be dry to seasonally saturated. Permafrost is ground that is permanently frozen, and is widespread in the Arctic, covering large parts of Canada and Russia. It is discontinuous in the Boreal Forest & Woodland region to the south. It can extend down more than 600 m, depending on mean annual temperature, type of soil and rock, proximity to the ocean, and topography. In the summer, only the soil surface may thaw, up to 20-60 cm. On slopes, the thawed soil may begin to move, a process called solifluction (Quinn 2008). Permafrost also creates specific landscape features collectively called patterned ground, forming circles, polygons, nets, hummocks, steps or stripes (Quinn 2008).
Geographic Range: Upland or dry polar tundra is found in the high latitudes north of 60°N in the Arctic region and south of 50°S in the Antarctic region.
Nations: CA,US
States/Provinces: No Data Available
Plot Analysis Summary:
http://vegbank.org/natureserve/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.860248
Confidence Level: High
Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR
Greasons: No Data Available
| Type | Name | Database Code | Classification Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | 4 Polar & High Montane Scrub, Grassland & Barrens Class | C04 | 4 |
| Subclass | 4.B Temperate to Polar Alpine & Tundra Vegetation Subclass | S12 | 4.B |
| Formation | 4.B.2 Polar Tundra & Barrens Formation | F031 | 4.B.2 |
| Division | 4.B.2.Xa Arctic Tundra & Barrens Division | D044 | 4.B.2.Xa |
Concept Lineage: Split between 4.B.2 (F031) and 2.B.6 (F013) (DFL 7-12).
Predecessors: No Data Available
Obsolete Names: No Data Available
Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: < Arctic and Antarctic Tundra (Quinn 2008) [Polar (High Arctic) deserts (which fall under lithomorphic vegetation) are included in the authors concept.]
< Low Arctic Tundra (Bliss 2000) [Bliss includes dry and wet tundra in his overall concept, but the tall-shrub tundra, low-shrub tundra, dwarf-shrub heath tundra, and cottongrass-dwarf-shrub heath tundra are all dry tundra and fit here.]
< Low Arctic Tundra (Bliss 2000) [Bliss includes dry and wet tundra in his overall concept, but the tall-shrub tundra, low-shrub tundra, dwarf-shrub heath tundra, and cottongrass-dwarf-shrub heath tundra are all dry tundra and fit here.]
- Bliss, L. C. 2000. Arctic tundra and polar desert biome. Pages 1-40 in: M. G. Barbour and W. D. Billings, editors. North American terrestrial vegetation. Second edition. Cambridge University Press, New York.
- CAVM Team. 2003. Circumpolar arctic vegetation map (Scale 1:7 500 000). Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Map No. 1, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK.
- Faber-Langendoen, D., T. Keeler-Wolf, D. Meidinger, C. Josse, A. Weakley, D. Tart, G. Navarro, B. Hoagland, S. Ponomarenko, J.-P. Saucier, G. Fults, and E. Helmer. 2015c. Classification and description of world formation types. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-000. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO.
- Quinn, J. A. 2008. Arctic and alpine biomes. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.
- Whittaker, R. H. 1975. Communities and ecosystems. Second edition. Macmillan Publishing Co., New York. 387 pp.