i now work part time at the local musk ox farm. these primitive creatures live in negative eighty degree weather and have spiralled nostrils. they were once extinct in alaska. now there are 3,000 living near the brooks range in the north country, tundra is by definition desert. nothing grows and you sink into it when you walk.
check out the website http://www.muskoxfarm.org/
I disagree with the statement that tundra, and for that matter desert, has no life. Specific lichens, mosses and other plants tolerant of arctic climate populate the tundra, while desert flora is certainly prolific.