The Tundra, or low productivity ecosystem, is located in the northern hemisphere, and is found in several countries including, Canada, Greenland, Finland and Russia. The word tundra derives from the Finnish word for barren or treeless land, which is an excellent description for the tundra.
The Rainforests have a warm, equatorial climate ranging from 4oC to 28oC and annual rainfall ranges between 2000 and 3000 millimetres a year. The rainfall is evenly spread throughout the year, but some areas in some forests, there are dry seasons lasting a couple of months. Temperatures are usually high, but range from 24 – 28oC. The rainforests humidity is frequently above 80%, so the rainforest is like a massive greenhouse, giving rise to an abundance of vegetation.
Whereas the Tundra has a very cold, often severe climate. Any precipitation there is, is usually snow. There is only 250mm of it every year. The land is usually permanently frozen (permafrost) for half the year, but does thaw in summer.
The average temperature is 0oC, with six months of below freezing. The vegetation only has 50 days in which to grow, however there is water in the other 315 days, but because of the strong winds and low temperatures, plants are too cold to use it, especially as most of it is frozen. This is Physiological Drought.
The soils in the Rainforest are not as fertile as you first think. There is a thin layer called the litter layer which is made of fallen leaves, twigs etc, but under that the soil is infertile. The soil has a poor amount of nutrients and is acidic, though the soils are rich in iron, giving them their rich red colour. The intense weathering and leaching causes the soil to become infertile. The soil has little organic matter because of the quick breakdown of vegetation and uptake by the roots.
The soil in the Tundra is frozen most of the year and waterlogged when it thaws. Large areas of the tundra are covered in a thin layer of soil or even bare rock [lithosols]. Soil in the tundra is low in organic matter. Areas where vegetation can grow, [called podsols], are waterlogged or gleyed.
The Rainforest is dense with vegetation, with 5 separate vegetation layers. There are over 200 different species of plant per hectare in a rainforest, including Mahogany, Rosewood and Teak. The plants and trees range from the ground vegetation, to the shrub layer then lower canopy and canopy and finally to the emergent layer. Some species are parasitic; feeding on dead organic matter in the shady, lower layers of the forest. Other plants like the liana, also a kind of parasitic plant, use the tree trunks to climb past the canopy to the sunlight.
Whereas the rainforest is dense, the Tundra is sparse. There are less than 100 species of plant in the whole biome. The species are mainly mosses, lichens and grasses, are some shrubs and flowering plants. The rainforest there is 5 layers, in the tundra, there’s only one layer of vegetation. In the northern part of the tundra, only mosses and lichens can survive the cold in strewn areas. In the southern part of the tundra, the weather is less severe, letting heath land take over and on the edge of the tundra small tree, such as birch and willow are scattered out on the grassland and heath land.
The vegetation of the Rainforest and Tundra have adapted to suit their environment. The Rainforest trees have grown with thinner trunks, and smoother bark to allow for maximum water loss, as there is no worry about frost. Trees have grown taller to reach the sunlight and buttress roots
