• Question: Which plants can survive the coldest temperature and why?

    Asked by EllieSheep to Lisa, Kate on 18 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Kate Dobson

      Kate Dobson answered on 18 Nov 2014:

      Cold places tend to have lots of snow, and have long periods with little light, so the plants can be buried for much of the year and need to be able to cope with very low light conditions. Mosses and lichens are common in the artic tundra.

    • Photo: Lisa Simmons

      Lisa Simmons answered on 19 Nov 2014:

      I didn’t know the name of the plants, just that lichens and algae can grow in very cold conditions, so I had a look on the web and found this great little website.
      http://beyondpenguins.ehe.osu.edu/issue/polar-plants/plants-of-the-arctic-and-antarctic

      It explains how the plants adapt to survive, so in the arctic, only plants with short roots can get the necessary nutrients from the ground, because it is frozen. Conditions are much worse in the antarctic where there are only two native plants – both grasses that survive on the coast

Comments