- published: 04 Jul 2016
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In physical geography, tundra is type of biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра (tûndra) from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands", "treeless mountain tract". There are three types of tundra: arctic tundra,alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra. In tundra, the vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses, and lichens. Scattered trees grow in some tundra regions. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region) between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline.
Arctic tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt. The word "tundra" usually refers only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost, or permanently frozen soil. (It may also refer to the treeless plain in general, so that northern Sápmi would be included.) Permafrost tundra includes vast areas of northern Russia and Canada. The polar tundra is home to several peoples who are mostly nomadic reindeer herders, such as the Nganasan and Nenets in the permafrost area (and the Sami in Sápmi).
This ground is too hard to break, it ruined a pick and spade, frozen and =
solid as rock, my hands numb with the shock! I am prepared for the dirty =
work, I've groveled for years in the bloody dirt, I have all the tools =
that I need, and now I admit my defeat! What will it take to cleave this =
earth? Break this ground, it's got to break! What will it take to cleave =
this earth? I cannot wait 'til spring. My cargo is still half alive, =
they twine 'round eachother and cry, they beg me to finish the task, =
will I inter them at last? I glare at the place I'd make a grave, I =
carry the shame it would contain, thinking cannot rend a hole, too tired =
to stave off the cold.