Arctic Tundra
Tundra is one of the biomes. It is the
coldest biomes of all. Tundra is located in the Northern hemisphere, around the
North Pole, latitude of 55° to 70° in Polar. It’s extending south to the coniferous forest of Taiga. It has extremely cold
and low temperature. It is across northern Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. Because it has
short season to grow crops, the nutrients and energy is from dead organisms.
The growing range season is from 50 to 60 days. There are 2 seasons in Tundra
which are winter and summerThe average winter temperature is -34° C but the
average summer temperature is
3-12° C. Only the sun, that warms the tundra up to a range of about 3°C to 12°C. Rainfall varies in different
region of arctic. Yearly precipitation including melting ice is 15 to 25 cm.
There
are organisms in Tundra, those are:
- Herbivorous
mammals: lemmings, voles, caribou, arctic hares and squirrels
- Carnivorous
mammals: arctic foxes, wolves, and polar bears
- Migratory
birds: ravens, snow buntings, falcons, loons, sandpipers, terns, snow
birds, and various species of gulls
- Insects:
mosquitoes, flies, moths, grasshoppers, blackflies and arctic bumble bees
- Fish:
cod, flatfish, salmon, and trout
When there is global warming, ice in
Tundra will melt and there will be less snow and ice left. The animals
especially for polar bear, they can’t live calmly like they did before global
warming happened.
The vegetation’s’ are:
Plants à Arctic Moss: Grows in arctic tundra which harsh
cold environment. It is a blanket to cover.
Willows à The length of the plant reach up to 15-35 cm of
precipitation. It lives in dry, cold, open place, hummock, wet sphagnum bog,
sedge meadows, margin of pool, and muddy, salt, flat in sandy soil. They live
in the average temperature range from 70o F to 20o F.
Sedges à Sedges are members of the flowering plant family.
It has types of sedge, which are carex and
Eriophorum (cotton grass). It lives
in the temperature above 50oF
The organisms are:
Polar bear à Polar bear is a mammal and a carnivore. They can live
from 25 to 30 years. From their head and body their length is 2.2 to 2.5 m.
Their tail can reach up to 12.5 cm from 7.5 cm. They eat fishes. They weigh
from 410 to 720 kg.
Arctic fox à Arctic fox is an animal that can
survive until the temperature of -58o. It makes it’s own home in the
treeless land. Arctic fox’s skin acts like a very effective winter camouflage.
When the weather changes, its skin also changes to brown or grey color.
Musk ox à the height of musk ox is 3-5 ft. The color is
brown shaggy with silky fur. It has a horn near the skull; it looks like broad,
flat and plastered.
Caribou à Caribou is an animal like reindeer.
Female Caribou weigh about 200 pounds, and it can weigh as little as 180
pounds as adults. Male caribou can weigh about twice as much
on average but they can weigh up to as
much as 600 pounds. They eat plants like willow leaves.
much as 600 pounds. They eat plants like willow leaves.
Squirrels à The arctic squirrel’s long overall in
body is 1-1.3 feet. The tail is 3-5 inch. Their average weight is 23-28 once.
It has oval shape and the color is grey. It is a mammal and omnivore. They eat
seeds, leaves, roots, flower and fruits. The also eat small insect, small vertebrates
and carrions. When they are starving, they can eat anything if necessary.
Arctic wolves à it is a carnivore animal. For the
average size, it is 3 1/4’ long. Big ones can reach up to 6 ft. Female arctic
wolves can be 3-5 feet long. They can weigh as much as 175 pounds. Female
wolves can weigh 55-90 pounds. In summer, they eat lemming (type of rat),
birds, arctic hares (type of rabbit), also, they sometimes, catch fish. The
cubs catch musk oxen, insect and underground insects.
Musk ox à the height of musk ox can reach up to
3-5 feet. It weighs to 500-900 pound. The colors are brown shaggy and silky
fur. They eat grasses, flowering plants and leaves from shrubs.
Arctic hares à their size is 22-28 inches. They weigh
from 9 until 12 pounds. They have brown color in the summer and white color in
the winter. Their ears are tripped with black years around. They mostly eat
leaves, willow, roots, shoots, bark, grasses, flowers, saxifrages and crowberries.
Tundra swan à its length is 36 inches; its wingspan
is 85 inches. It has long neck. Male swan’s weigh on average is 7.5 kg. Female
swan’s weigh is 6.3 kg. They eat sedges, lichens, mosses, and feathers.
Lemmings à The lemming’s length is 3-5 inches. It
has thick grey or brown fur that turns into white when winter. They have short
legs, feet, tail and ear to help them to keep the heat in. The lemmings live in
the meadows, wood and marshes. The eats mostly plants like mosses, grasses,
herbs, shoots and lichens. The have sharp teeth that help them to gnaw through
tangles of roots, moss and soil.
When there is a global warming in this
biome, Ice will melt more than summer season. Organisms that usually be on ice
like the polar bear, will die really soon because they cannot survive in water.
For thousand of years
human have successfully inhabited and survive living in arctic regions like the
Tundra. Anthropologist believes that the first human that come to the Tundra in
North America from Asia go over the Bering land bridge around 11.000 to 40.000
years ago. Today, many native people still inhabit this arctic region. They
survive by living off of lemmings, caribou, herbs, seals, salt and freshwater
fishes, whales, berries, and walrus. These people were living without
technology for many years. These new people killed animals, it makes the
population decreased by half.
Conservation of
Arctic Tundra: The have about 42 fish species, 37 land mammals, 8 marine
mammals, and more than 200 migratory and resident bird species.
References for
information:
Resources for
images:
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