Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/896

ARCTIC REGION. period of vegetation, nor to the cold, but to dry winds; this is shown by the fact that trees thrive in the coldest known place in the world (Verkhoyansk, Siberia), and also by the fact that the" height of shrubs is determined by the level of the snow in winter. The continuous though not intense light of Arctic regions checks

DRABA ALPINE Showing the densely compacted cuehion-form of Arctic-alpine plants.

growth, but favors photosynthesis. One of the ]ieculiarities of Arctic plant life is that there are no gradual seasonal transitions. The buds are largely laid down in the preceding season, and spring into active life at once: growth is checked with equal suddenness in the fall. The -Arctic diflers radically from the temperate zone in that plant structures are xerophytic. re- gardless of water and soil conditions. In fact, one may refer all of the Arctic vegetation to one great plant formation, the tundra (q.v.). While Arctic plants closely resemble alpine plants eco- logically, there are interesting Horistic differ- ences. Alpine plants (q.v.) ai'e noted for their endemism (q.v.), while Arctic plants are similar over wide areas. Indeed, the Arctic floras of Eurojip and America are almost identical. .Mxnit seventeen hundred species of plants have been found in the Arctic region. In the zone nearest the circle grow a few trees, mainly junipers, dwarf willows, and birches. The tree line in the Samoyed region ends near the 07th parallel of latitude; at the Yenisei River, near the (i.Tth parallel; at the Lena, near the 71st parallel: at the Mackenzie, near the (iSth par- allel; at Hudson Bay, it runs down to the 60th parallel; in Labrador, to the 52d parallel. In Greenland it lies near the C2d parallel. Flower- ing plants, grasses, mosses, and lichens extend to the most northern land seen by man. Examples of those found in all sections of the Arctic world are saxifrages ({•laxifraga oppositifolia is ubiqui- tous), several varieties of ranunculus, potentil- las, poppies (the Arctic poppy, Pupai-er nudi- cauh-. is found even upon tle crests of the cliffs in nortliern Greenland, where it thrusts its head through the edge of the ice-ca]) to reach the sun- light), drabas, cochlearia, etc. The country richest in variety is Lapland, where are found three- fourths of the species known in the Arctic regions. For the varieties characteristic of each country, see Lapland; Greenland; Sideria; Alaska; Spitzdergen; Franz-.Josef Land; Ellesmere Land; Grinnell Land, etc. See also Musci; Lichen; Grasses; Distribution of Plants, etc.

Arctic Mammals. The similarity of species of Arctic mammals throughout the circle of the globe is even closer than that of plants. Of land mammals there are but few, and many of these are of the same species wherever found. The polar bear (Vrsus maritimus) has the highest range. Specimens have been found upon the icepack north of every known land. The bear, however, is never found far from the coast, either inland or at sea. (See Bear.) The Arctic fox {Vulpes lagopits) has almost as high a range, and is also found throughout the entire Arctic land area. The lemming is found in every Arctic country except Franz-.Josef Land. Tlie reindeer (Kangifer tarundi(s) isfound around the globe occasionally as far north as about the 7'Jth parallel, but does not inhabit the great islands in the .rctic Ocean. The musk-ox lOci- hos iiioscliatus) has been common witliin the memory of man as far west as Point Barrow; but at present its range extends from the ^Mackenzie P>iver east across the continent to Grinnell Land, and again across the northern part of Greenland. The Arctic hare [hepus gUicialis) is found in the northern part of Xorth America and of Greenland, and in these regions it reaches the highest known land. Among the other Arctic land animals are the wolverine or glutton (Gulo orclicus), which is found in North America and is reported to have existed in Greenland, though such reports lack scientific verification; the Arctic wolf; and the Eskimo dog, which is sup- posed by most authorities to have been derived from the wolf by taming.

The most important of the sea-mammals are the whales and seals. The right whale {Utikviius vti/stivcliis) is found in the waters east of Green- land, in Baffin's Bay, and again north of Bering Strait. The range of individuals is exceedingly wide; a whale bearing a Greenland harpoon has been found in the Bering Strait region. The ra2orl)ack, the hump-back, and the bottle-nose, the grampus, the white whale, and the narwhal, are also found in the Arctic Ocean. See Whale. .mong the pinnipeds, the most remarkable is the walrus (q.v.), which formerly inhabited the seas near the coasts of all Arctic lands, but on account of slaughter by fishermen for ivory, skin, and oil, has been driven from Europe and from the southern part of Baffin Bay. The North At- lantic species iOtlob(riius roKinanif:) is still plen- tiful in the Smitli Sound region and in Spilzber- gcn and Franz-Josef Land, and the Pacific spe-