Arctic TundraBy: Kevin, Hayley, and Caroline

Northern Hemisphere Falls between 2 biomes: Taiga and the Ice

Caps

Global Locations

Artic Tundra Food Web

6-10 inches yearly (mostly snow) Summer: sun 24/7 (3-12 degrees Celsius) Winter: several weeks no sun (-70 to -28

degrees Celsius)

Precipitation & Temperature Ranges

Animals: Polar bear, caribou, arctic fox, snowy hare, musk ox, rock ptarmigan, narwhal, mountain goat

Plants: Artic moss, bareberry, arctic willow, arctic poppy

Common Plants & Animals

People living in tundra: air pollution from cities, drilling for resources

Overpopulation of Canadian geese: graze when vegetation is scarce

Global Warming: shrinks the tundra

Threats to the Biome

Hibernation: bears sleeping through winter Fur: polar bears and caribou have hollow

hairs Burrowing: hares and lemmings live

underground Body shape: shorter limbs, more compact

frames reduce heat loss

Animal Adaptations

Grow close to ground Small leaves Use as little energy as possible Extremely resistant from cold Photosynthesize from snow

Plant Adaptations

Arctic moss: primary food source

Keystone Species

Musk ox Narwhal Both only live in Arctic Tundra

Unique Creatures

Musk ox, narwhal, bearberry, polar bears, caribou, ptarmigan

Endemic Species

Canadian geese: growing in population size Canis lupus (the dog): active hunters Beaver: cut down trees, cause floods

Invasive Species

Tundra plants: willows, sedges and grasses, lichens, mosses

Caribou and Reindeer: THE indicator animal species for the Arctic Tundra, Reindeer is the Old World form and is smaller and Caribou is North American form

Indicator Species

Abiotic factors that influence tundra are strong winds, rainfall, short summer days, long and cold winters, and permafrost layer

Average winter temperature: -34 degrees C. Average summer temperature: 3-12 degrees

C.

Important Abiotic Factors

A plant species in a nitrogen-limited, arctic tundra community were differentiated in timing, depth, nitrogen uptake, and this species dominance is strongly correlated with the uptake of most available soil nitrogen forms.

Examples of Resource Partitioning