The circle of life turns

Enter the arctic wolf.

Artic wolves take their place at the top of the tundra’s food chain. Photo by Outward_bound

As many musk oxen are killed by wolves as die in all other ways combined.

And even once the wolves have stripped the 300kg (660lb) carcass, it represents the greatest single source of nitrogen in the tundra.

Here gray willow (Salix glauca) trees grow as small, stunted plants. Photo by Manuela Scheuerer

As an arctic plant, this is your opportunity. For decades, the skeleton will be home to a rich flora.

It also provides shelter from the chilling and drying wind, and collects what few leaves and soil particles blow across the barren landscape. The skeleton becomes a landmark for other meat-eaters, who may use it as a toilet spot and enrich the soil yet further.

And in death, your musk-ox benefactor does you one more kindness. Its brethren — and other plant-eaters — seem to avoid grazing near the skeleton. Not for reasons of superstition, though: the carcass is host to parasites which grazers in this harsh landscape can hardly afford to shelter and feed.

As the midnight sun returns to the tundra, and the temperature creeps above zero for just a few days, the nitrogen levels trigger a change in your plant hormones and you begin to flower. Your offspring will have a chance to continue feasting on the influx of nutrients the musk ox handed down to you.

The circle of life turns, again.