Introduction: Historical Perspective and Significance of Alpine Ecosystem Studies

• Main Author: Bowman, William D.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Oxford University Press 2001
• Subjects: Arctic; Jagged; Tundra
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195117288.003.0005

Alpine tundra is an intriguing ecosystem—for its beauty as well as for the harsh climate in which it exists. Contrasted against jagged rock precipices and snow and ice and subjected to rapid changes in weather, the tundra, with its proliferation of diminutive flowers, appears deceptively fragile. Jo...