CHAPTER I 



THE TUNDRA AND ITS FAUNA 



One of the well-marked natural regions of the world 

 is the Tundra, that treeless area which fringes the 

 margin of the far northern seas, and is characterized 

 by its climate, its plants and animals, and to some 

 extent also by its topography. Originally applied only 

 to the treeless lands of Northern Asia, lying to the 

 north of the forest or taiga, the term is now by exten- 

 sion given to all areas of similar character, occurring 

 alike in the Old and New Worlds. In the southern 

 hemisphere the tapering of the land-masses, and their 

 cessation in relatively low latitudes, make the develop- 

 ment of true tundra impossible. It is true that con- 

 siderable land-masses occur within the Antarctic area, in 

 latitudes lower than those in which the northern tundra 

 finds its limit, but the climate and the absence of a direct 

 connexion between these areas and the continents have 

 prevented the development of the characteristic tundra 

 plants and animals. In the Antarctic land-mass flower- 

 ing plants are, with two exceptions, absent, and mosses 

 and lichens are only slightly developed. Associated 

 with this we have a complete absence of land mammals 

 — a very striking difference from the northern tundra. 



The boundaries of the tundra are well marked. As 

 already indicated, on the continents the southern 

 boundary is the beginning of the forest zone. This 

 limit is, roughly speaking, marked out by the July 

 isotherm of 50°. Wherever the mean temperature of 

 the hottest month exceeds 50° F., there the tundra 



