Alpine Tundra Ecosystem

 

Access to "the land above the trees" is the most distinct aspect of Rocky Mountain National Park. Trail Ridge Road, the highest road in any national park, transports you to this realm of open sky where you'll find tiny but brilliant flowers and a harsh climate. Approximately one-third of this national park is above the limit where trees may grow in northern Colorado.

 

Lichens and plants await a summer thunderstorm.

NPS

The Alpine Tundra Ecosystem starts between elevations of 11,000 to 11,500 feet, depending on exposure. This is truly a land of extremes. Strong, frequent winds and cold temperatures help limit what plants can grow there. Most alpine plants are perennials. Many plants are dwarfed, but their few blossoms may be full-sized.

Cushion plants look like ground-hugging clumps of moss. They escape the strong winds blowing just a few inches above them. Cushion plants may also have long taproots that extend deep into the rocky soil.

Many flowering plants of the tundra have dense hairs on stems and leaves to provide wind protection or red-colored pigments capable of converting the sun's light rays into heat. Some plants take two or more years to form flower buds, which survive the winter below the surface and then open and produce fruit with seeds in the few weeks of summer. Grasses and sedges are common where tundra soil is well-developed.

Non-flowering lichens cling to rocks and soil. Their enclosed algal cells can photosynthesize at any temperature above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and the outer fungal layers can absorb more than their own weight in water. Adaptations for survival amidst drying winds and cold temperatures may make tundra vegetation seem very hardy, but in some respects it remains very fragile.

Tread Lightly

Repeated footsteps often destroy tundra plants, allowing exposed soil to blow away. Recovery may take hundreds of years, so please use designated trails when exploring this unique area.

Follow the links below to learn about life in the tundra.

 

 

Shrubs
Willow
Grasses and Grass-like Plants
Alpine Blue Grass	Pyrennian Sedge	Spike Wood-Rush	Spreading Wheatgrass
Alpine Timothy	Skyline Blue Grass	Kobresia	Spike Trisetum
Tufted Hair Grass
Forbs
Alpine Avens	Alpine Sorrel	King's Crown	Queen's Crown
Alpine Bistort	Alpine Wallflower	Marsh Marigold	Rydbergia
Alpine Forget-Me-Not	American Bistort	Mertensia	Saxifrage
Alpine Gentian	Blue Columbine	Moss Pink Campion	Sky Pilot
Alpine Paintbrush	Black-Headed Daisy	One-Headed Daisy	Snow Buttercup
Alpine Phlox	Dwarf Clover	Parry's Clover
Alpine Sandwort	Elephantella	Pygmy Bitterroot
Birds
Common Raven	Prairie Falcon	Water Pipit	White-Tailed Ptarmigan
Horned Lark	Rosy Finch	White-Crowned Sparrow
Mammals
Badger	Coyote	Mountain Lion	Snowshoe Hare
Bighorn Sheep	Deer Mouse	Mule Deer	Vole
Bobcat	Elk	Pika	Yellow-Bellied Marmot
Bushy-Tailed Wood Rat	Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel	Pocket Gopher
Chipmunk	Long-Tailed Weasel	Red Fox