Tundra and the Arctic

    The Tundra

Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia, meaning treeless plain.

    -The main characteristics of a tundra are the constant ice, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, and short growing season

    -Tundra is separated into two types: arctic tundra and alpine tundra.

Characteristics of Tundra

1. Extremely cold climate

2. Low biotic diversity

3. Simple vegetation structure

4. Limitation of drainage

5. Short season of growth and reproduction

6. Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material

7. Large population oscillations

Arctic

Arctic tundra is located in the northern hemisphere, encircling the north pole and extending south to the coniferous forests of the taiga.

    -The Arctic is known as a cold desert since it only receives 15-25cm (6-10in) of precipitation each year and that includes melting snow.

    -The average winter temperature is -34C (-30F) and the summers are between 3-12C (37-54F)

        -So the summers get just warm enough to sustain life

        -The growing season is only 50 to 60 days

    -There are no deep root systems in the arctic mainly because of the permafrost (a permanently frozen layer of soil)

        -But there are 1700 types of plants that can live in the arctic including

• low shrubs, sedges, reindeer mosses, liverworts, and grasses

• 400 varieties of flowers

• crustose and foliose lichen

Class activity:

    Get into groups of 4

    You have 5 minutes to write down as many coniferous forest animals as your group can think of

    The group that has the most after 5 minutes will win extra credit

We will be doing this for each of our biomes

    -Even though the conditions are very intense there are still a wide variety of animals that can live in the arctic

• Herbivorous mammals: lemmings, voles, caribou, arctic hares and squirrels

• Carnivorous mammals: arctic foxes, wolves, and polar bears

• Migratory birds: ravens, snow buntings, falcons, loons, ravens, 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

Alpine

Alpine tundra is located on mountains throughout the world at high altitude where trees cannot grow. The growing season is approximately 180 days. The nighttime temperature is usually below freezing. Unlike the arctic tundra, the soil in the alpine is well drained. The plants are very similar to those of the arctic ones and include:

• tussock grasses, dwarf trees, small-leafed shrubs, and heaths

Animals living in the alpine tundra are also well adapted:

• Mammals: pikas, marmots, mountain goats, sheep, elk

• Birds: grouselike birds

• Insects: springtails, beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies

Homework:

    -You need to have a picture of a Tundra and you need to have 5 unique animals that live in that biome. For each of those animals you need to label their taxonomy, where they live, what they eat, and a fact about them.

Video:

BBC Planet Earth: Ice Worlds