Tundra Food Chain Pictures

The tundra is a cold, dry, and windy biome that covers about 20% of the Earth's surface. It is mostly found in the high latitudes near the poles, but also in some mountainous regions. The tundra has a short growing season and a frozen soil layer called permafrost. These conditions limit the types of plants and animals that can survive in this harsh environment. However, the tundra is not lifeless. It supports a variety of organisms that have adapted to the extreme climate and form complex food chains and webs.

A food chain is a sequence of organisms that eat and are eaten by each other. It shows how energy and nutrients flow from one trophic level to another. A trophic level is a group of organisms that share the same role in the food chain, such as producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers. Producers are organisms that make their own food from sunlight, such as plants and algae. Consumers are organisms that get their food by eating other organisms, such as herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organic matter and recycle nutrients back to the soil, such as bacteria and fungi.

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A food web is a network of interconnected food chains that shows how energy and nutrients are transferred among different species in an ecosystem. A food web is more realistic than a food chain because most organisms have more than one food source and can be part of multiple food chains. A food web also shows the interactions and dependencies among different species and how they affect each other's population size and distribution.

Examples of Tundra Food Chains and Webs

The following are some examples of tundra food chains and webs, along with pictures of some of the organisms involved.

Arctic Tundra Food Chain: The Arctic tundra is located in the northern hemisphere, around the North Pole. It is characterized by low temperatures, long winters, short summers, and permafrost. The Arctic tundra has few trees, but many low-growing plants such as grasses, sedges, mosses, and lichens. Some of the animals that live in the Arctic tundra are lemmings, hares, caribou, arctic foxes, wolves, polar bears, seals, walruses, whales, gulls, terns, and snowy owls. An example of an Arctic tundra food chain is:

Producer

Primary Consumer

Secondary Consumer

Tertiary Consumer

Lichen

Lemming

Arctic Fox

Polar Bear

In this food chain, lichen is the producer that makes its own food from sunlight and provides energy for the primary consumer, lemming. Lemming is a herbivore that eats lichen and provides energy for the secondary consumer, arctic fox. Arctic fox is a carnivore that eats lemming and provides energy for the tertiary consumer, polar bear. Polar bear is also a carnivore that eats arctic fox and other animals such as seals and walruses. Polar bear is the top predator in this food chain and has no natural enemies. An Arctic tundra food web is more complex than a food chain because it shows how different species are connected by multiple feeding relationships. For example: ![Arctic Tundra Food Web] In this food web, there are many producers such as grasses, sedges, mosses, lichens, algae, and phytoplankton. There are also many primary consumers such as lemmings, hares, caribou, voles, shrews, squirrels, and zooplankton. Some of the primary consumers are also secondary consumers, such as caribou, which eat both plants and lichens. Some of the secondary consumers are also tertiary consumers, such as arctic foxes, which eat both lemmings and hares. There are also many tertiary consumers such as wolves, polar bears, seals, walruses, whales, gulls, terns, and snowy owls. Some of the tertiary consumers are also quaternary consumers, such as polar bears, which eat both seals and walruses. There are also decomposers such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead organic matter and return nutrients to the soil.

Alpine Tundra Food Chain: The alpine tundra is located at high elevations on mountains, above the tree line. It is characterized by low temperatures, high winds, and thin air. The alpine tundra has no permafrost, but the soil is rocky and poor in nutrients. The alpine tundra has more flowering plants than the Arctic tundra, but they are usually small and close to the ground. Some of the animals that live in the alpine tundra are pikas, marmots, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, eagles, and falcons. An example of an alpine tundra food chain is:

Producer

Primary Consumer

Secondary Consumer

Tertiary Consumer

Grass

Pika

Marmot

Mountain Lion

In this food chain, grass is the producer that makes its own food from sunlight and provides energy for the primary consumer, pika. Pika is a herbivore that eats grass and provides energy for the secondary consumer, marmot. Marmot is an omnivore that eats both plants and animals such as pikas and insects. Marmot provides energy for the tertiary consumer, mountain lion. Mountain lion is a carnivore that eats marmots and other animals such as mountain goats and bighorn sheep. Mountain lion is the top predator in this food chain and has few natural enemies. An alpine tundra food web is more complex than a food chain because it shows how different species are connected by multiple feeding relationships. For example: ![Alpine Tundra Food Web] In this food web, there are many producers such as grasses, sedges, mosses, lichens, flowers, and shrubs. There are also many primary consumers such as pikas, marmots, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, deer mice, voles, chipmunks, and insects. Some of the primary consumers are also secondary consumers, such as marmots and mountain goats, which eat both plants and animals. Some of the secondary consumers are also tertiary consumers, such as eagles and falcons, which eat both marmots and pikas. There are also many tertiary consumers such as mountain lions, coyotes, foxes, wolves, bears, hawks, owls, and ravens. Some of the tertiary consumers are also quaternary consumers, such as bears and wolves, which eat both mountain lions and coyotes. There are also decomposers such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead organic matter and return nutrients to the soil.

The tundra food chains and webs show how diverse and interdependent life can be in one of the most extreme biomes on Earth.

Sources:

[Tundra Biome - National Geographic Society]

[About Food Chains in the Tundra Ecosystem Sciencing]

[Food chain challenge - Tundra - BBC Bitesize]

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