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How Is a Tundra Biome Important to the Ecosystem?

The tundra biome is found on about 20 percent of the Earth's surface. It's too cold for trees or other tall plants to thrive; all that is found as far as plant life is some flowers and plants. The deeper soil levels stay frozen just about all of the year and are referred to as "permafrost." Plants must make do with the upper layers that thaw during the summer months. Despite the severe conditions, migrating birds, birds of prey, insects and a wide variety of mammals dwell in the tundra.

Importance of Vegetative Cover
- It is important for the plant life in the tundra to remain in place for the surrounding ecosystem to remain stable. If plants are removed or destroyed, the permafrost can melt farther down than normal, leading to sinkholes and erosion.
Effects of Sinkholes
- If sinkholes form or the soil is disrupted in other ways, as with trucks driving across the tundra and leaving gouging tire marks in the dirt, those gullies may never fill back up -- or it may take decades to do so.
Hunting
- Mammals that spend at least part of the year in the tundra biome include the caribou, polar bears, wolves, mountain goats and the snowy owl. Overhunting any of these species leaves a gap in the sensitive chain of organisms that keep the tundra vibrant.
Insect Life
- Serious deterioration in plant life on the tundra can harm the yearly propagation of insects, which depend on the soil remaining at a stable consistency and temperature for housing eggs. Declines in insect populations can quickly wreak havoc the rest of the way up the chain, as the birds and mammals that feed on those insects may also start to decline.

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