Tundra vegetation grows to the northern limits of plant growth, above the Arctic Circle, in Canada.
The flora consists of only about six hundred plant species. In contrast, tropical regions that are smaller in area support tens of thousands of plant species. Arctic tundra is dominated by grasses, sedges, mosses, and lichens. Some shrubby plants also grow there. Most tundra plants are perennials. During the short Arctic growing season, many of these plants produce brightly colored flowers. Like desert, tundra is exceptionally fragile, and it takes many years for disturbed tundra to recover. Tundra also occurs southward, on mountaintops, from southern Alaska into the Rocky Mountains, the Cascades, and the Sierra Nevada. This alpine tundra grows at elevations too high for mountain coniferous forest.
See also: Eastern Deciduous Forest, Scrub and Desert
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