Nakamura Y., Krestov P.V.
Berichte der Reinhold-Tüxen-Gesellschaft 2007; 19: 117-129
The Arctic tundra zone and alpine vegetation belt are characterized by a complex of dwarf-shrub, graminoid and herbaceous tundra communities that occur in conditions of heat deficit and a very short growing season. The effects of these climatic factors in different habitats are strongly controlled by topography. Generally, tundra plant communities occupy their own microhabitats with peculiar environmental conditions that create the highly diverse vegetation mosaic in alpine belts. In oceanic regions of Northeast Asia, alpine vegetation occurs from the temperate to boreal zones of Japan and Russia. This paper focuses on the most peculiar representatives of six alpine vegetation classes. Phytosociological diversity of tundra communities is described, in first approximation, with special reference to their biogeographical distributional patterns.
