Arctic Moss Facts

Arctic moss is an aquatic plant which can grow underwater in the tundra.

Arctic moss facts. Growing slowly as little as 1 cm per year per shoot. The leaves remained green and alive for at least four years and shoots live for 7 to 10 years. Some species can be pale green almost white bluish green yellowish green or velvety black green. Although the average air temperature in antarctica remains below 0 c the internal temperatures of the mosses are often warmer than 10 c and can reach up to 30 c.

Most mosses can reach 0 4 to 4 inches in height. The arctic consists of the arctic ocean and parts of canada russia the usa greenland norway finland sweden and iceland. The arctic moss is an aquatic plant found growing on the bottom of tundra lake beds and in and around bogs fens. The average winter temperature is 25 c and in the summer it is rarely over 10 c.

Mosses are tiny plants. Like most plants in the tundra it grows low to the ground to avoid the harsh winds and freezing cold. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. They do this by sunbaking they soak up lots of sunlight to keep warm.

It is eaten by migrating animals such as birds. In the winter it is dark most of the time and even in the summer it is usually cloudy and. There are few uses for the arctic moss. These statistics give these arctic mosses pride of place among the biology books as the slowest growing longest lived freshwater macrophytes ever recorded.

Arctic moss is very common in the tundra. In the tundra it is very cold. Adaptations that allow for success in the tundra biome there are no deep root systems because there is permanently frozen soil permafrost prevents plants roots to continue growing longer and thicker. In the arctic moss covers the ground and warms it up allowing other plants to grow.

In the arctic tundra mosses can constitute 50 to 90 of the ecosystem s biomass. There are strong winds up to 100 miles per hour. The arctic is located at the northernmost part of our planet. It has adapted to its climate by being able to store energy to use even when it isn t growing.

Scientists usually define the arctic as the area above the arctic circle an imaginary line that circles around the top of the globe. With permission they also need to stay warm. The calliergon giganteum grows in the arctic tundra which is a harsh cold environment in the northern hemisphere within the arctic circle. Largest species are 20 inches tall.