polar climate. Alpine tundra is generally better drained than arctic soils. Alpine tundra transitions to subalpine forests below the tree line; stunted forests occurring at the forest-tundra ecotone (the treeline) are known as Krummholz. Alpine tundra occurs in mountains worldwide. The flora of the alpine tundra is characterized by plants that grow close to the ground, including perennial grasses, sedges, forbs, cushion plants, mosses, and lichens. The flora is adapted to the harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation, and a short growing season. Climatic classification Tundra climates ordinarily fit the Köppen climate classification ET, signifying a local climate in which at least one month has an average temperature high enough to melt snow (), but no month with an average temperature in excess of . The cold limit generally meets the EF climates of permanent ice and snows; the warm-summer limit generally corresponds with the poleward or altitudinal limit of trees, where they grade into the subarctic climates designated Dfd, Dwd and Dsd (extreme winters as in parts of Siberia), Dfc typical in Alaska, Canada, mountain areas of Scandinavia, European Russia, and Western Siberia (cold winters with months of freezing). Despite the potential diversity of climates in the ET category involving precipitation, extreme temperatures, and relative wet and dry seasons, this category is rarely subdivided. Rainfall and snowfall are generally slight due to the low vapor pressure of water in the chilly atmosphere, but as a rule potential evapotranspiration is extremely low, allowing soggy terrain of swamps and bogs even in places that get precipitation typical of deserts of lower and middle latitudes. The amount of native tundra biomass depends more on the local temperature than the amount of precipitation. Places featuring a tundra climate Alpine tundra Gavia Pass, Italy Mount Fuji, Japan Cerro de Pasco, Peru Apartaderos, Venezuela Puno, Peru Kasprowy Wierch, Poland High Tatras, Slovakia Murghob, Tajikistan Mount Wellington, Australia Cairn Gorm, United Kingdom Putre, Chile Coranzuli, Argentina Yu Shan, Taiwan Juf, Switzerland Finse, Norway Polar tundra Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway Yamal Peninsula, Russia Iqaluit, Canada Utqiagvik, United States Kerguelen Islands, French Southern Lands (France) Nuuk, Greenland (Denmark) Grytviken, South Georgia (United Kingdom) Tiksi, Russia Mykines, Faroe Islands (Denmark) Campbell Island, New Zealand See also Alas Fellfield List of tundra ecoregions from the WWF Mammoth steppe Park Tundra References Further reading External links WWF Tundra Ecoregions The Arctic biome at Classroom of