Cold, wind, krummholz and clones.
by Chris, 29 December, 2016, 0 comments
Plants have different solutions to the onset of winter and exposure to cold. Some survive the cold as seeds - the rest of the plant dies; some over-winter as corms and bulbs. Deciduous trees and shrubs shed their leaves and become dormant, reducing their metabolism to a minimum - just ‘ticking over’. Some trees live at the very margin of their survival. As altitude increases or you move towards the poles so life becomes more difficult.
The tree line is the point at which trees can no longer tolerate the conditions. Near to this point, the growth of a tree is very limited; the tree is stunted or deformed, sometimes forming a bush-like structure. Read more...
