Friday, September 2, 2016

High Mountain Tundra


High on the slopes of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, above the tree line, the vegetation changes to reflect the altitude and climate. The alpine tundra system, as it is called, consists primarily of sedge, rush and heath meadows and felsenmeer barrens. The treeline in the White Mountains is between 4,200 and 4,900 feet. I can compare that to the tree line I can see out my window on Mount Timpanogos from Utah Valley that is at about 10,600 feet. In driving up Mount Washington, I was impressed by the rapid change from thick forests to alpine tundra. These low plants are the "forest" of the high mountains.

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