Plants in Arctic Environments

Introduction

The Arctic is a cold treeless expanse of plains, hills, and mountains, including the northernmost parts of continental Eurasia and North America and numerous high-latitude islands, the largest being Greenland. Collectively these lands surround the Arctic Ocean. Even though the Arctic Ocean is variously ice covered, like other oceans it ameliorates climate, reducing extremes of temperature. Despite these maritime effects, the Arctic is cold and climatically dry. Low temperatures and limited heat resulting from low solar angles in summer and darkness in winter keep the Arctic frozen much of the year. The sun seems to be forever rising or setting during the brief growing season and vanishes all together for extended periods during Arctic winters. Water is frozen much of the year creating potential physiological drought, and precipitation is generally low throughout the year. Despite a lack of Arctic precipitation associated with persistent polar high pressure, locally moist...