A Trip to the Tundra!

As we drove up the mountain, the mountain side was all green trees.

As we left the town of Estes Park Colorado ( elevation of 7500 ft above sea level ) and traveled up the scenic Trail Ridge Drive the scenery on the  mountains began to change . We actually were traveling to a new ecosystem called the tundra.A tundra is usually thought of as snow and ice but not always.The tundra ecosystem is the part of our earth high above the tree line (where the climate and thin air make tree growth impossible). This happens in a climate that does not stay warmer than 50 degrees for over a month. In the summer it was definitely cooler at this elevation but was not snowing. Animals that live up here are specially adapted for the harsh climate and lack of food.In the next post I will tell you about the wildlife that can live in the tundra.

As we climbed to the top of the mountain, you can see where the treeline ends. We are going above it-to the Tundra!

(See below, right )As we reached the top of the mountain and into the tundra, notice there are no more trees. We are now above the treeline. We were now at an elevation of 12,000 ft. above sea level.
In the tundra , there was just  low grass(never had to be mowed like ours)  and some small shrubs.

The plants here have adaptations. Plants like this one have very little growth above ground but can have a  very long tap root (up to 6 foot long)that provides a stable anchor,stores food and searches out water.