• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America
© Peter Zeka
Diapensia
 
© Peter Zeka
Bearberry willow
 
© Peter Zeka
Dwarf Willow

The old and wise alpines - specialized species:

Summits in the Adirondacks that reach greater than 4,500 feet into the sky typically have a timberline where trees give way to open tundra meadows. The boundary is an ecological one, so it varies depending upon environmental factors. Alpine tundra extends further into the subalpine forest on north and southwest facing slopes where the climate is more severe.   Cold temperatures, strong winds, a short growing season, and nutrient poor soils are all factors that alpine plants must contend with. For ten thousand years they have thrived under these destitute conditions by capitalizing on a few key adaptations. They are some of the oldest, and wisest plants found anywhere.

Growing low to the ground is the most obvious advantage of the alpines. It enables them to inhabit warmer microclimates. Wind speeds decrease considerably closer to the ground, thus protecting the plants from desiccation.

 Diapensia (Diapensia lapponica), a plant that only grows above timberline in the northeast, is a great example of this adaptation. The waxy leaves grow so compactly and close together that the plant is virtually impenetrable and unaffected by the wind. The soil underneath diapensia can be several degrees warmer than the surrounding air temperature (Marchand122). As a result, diapensia is often found growing in the most extreme sites in the alpine zone. These are the windswept locations that usually do not have a cover of snow in the winter.

Being perennial is another adaptation to the alpine environment. A majority of the plants in the alpine zone are perennials because surviving as annuals is unlikely. Annuals must grow from new seed each season, and it is estimated that only three out of one hundred germinating seedlings make it to a second growing season in the alpine zone (Marchand122.)

Perennials come back season after season, and survive the winters in their roots. Because seedlings have such difficulty getting established, this perennial habit ensures greater population stability above timberline. As perennials, alpine plants put a lot of energy into their roots. As much as eighty percent of a plant's biomass may exist below the ground (Marchand 120). Where hikers have unfortunately disturbed the meadows, a soil profile can be seen with an amazing network of roots.

The exposed roots of bearberry willow (Salix uva-ursi), another strictly alpine species in the Northeast, can be an inch and a half in diameter, while the aboveground portion may be just a few tiny twigs and leaves no larger than a thumbnail.

A close relative of bearberry willow called dwarf willow (Salix herbacea) only shows its leaves above the surface of the moss it grows under. The rest of the plant is underground! Dwarf willow is quite rare, and only known to grow on one summit in the Adirondacks. These extensive root systems help the plants to propagate themselves through rhizomes, and also store energy for future growing seasons.

Page 1  2  3  4