TUNDRA

A tundra is a vast, treeless plain in the arctic region. WHAT IS TUNDRA? A tundra is a vast, treeless plain in the arctic region. Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes.

Characteristics of Tundra Extremely cold climate Low biotic diversity Simple vegetation structure Limitation of drainage Short season of growth and reproduction Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material Large population oscillations

LOCATION There are two kinds of tundras, Arctic and alpine. Arctic tundras lie near the Arctic Ocean. They include Greenland, northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Europe and Russia. The Alpine tundra is located at the top of mountains across the world.

LOCATION

ALPINE TUNDRA It’s located on mountains throughout the world at high altitude where trees cannot grow. Growing season is approximately 180 days. Night time temperature is usually below freezing. Unlike the Arctic tundra, the soil in the alpine is well drained. Plants similar to the Arctic include: tussock grasses, dwarf trees, & heaths Animals include: Mountain goats, elk, sheep, butterflies, & grasshoppers

TUNDRA'S CLIMATE It’s freezing for almost all of the year. The average temperature per year is 16 degrees F. Summer temperatures get up to 45 degrees F. (last 6-10 weeks) Lowest temperature it can get is 10 degrees F below 0- 20 degrees F.

PRECIPITATION Most of the precipitation that falls is snow. In summer it falls as rain with occasional snow. Average precipitation per season is 4.5 in. Average precipitation per year is 18 inches.

NATURAL RESOURCES FRESHWATER OIL

FLORA (PLANT LIFE) The plants growing in the tundra are often small and grow close to the ground. This helps resist cold temp. and snow during the winter. Due to permafrost, there are no deep root system in the plant life of the arctic tundra. (1,700 different kinds of plants) They carry out photosynthesis at low temperatures. Plants are more likely to reproduce vegetatively by division and budding than by flower pollination sexually, due to the short growing season.

CUSHION PLANTS They’re called cushion plants b/c they grow in a low tight clump and look like a little cushion. They’re more common in the tundra where their growth habitat helps protect them from the cold.

FAUNA (ANIMAL LIFE) The frigid cold and deep snow makes life in the tundra very difficult. Animals are adapted to handle long, cold winters and to breed and raise young quickly in the summer. Some have grown thick fur which turns white in the winter. Mammals and birds have additional insulation from fat. Others find a place to hibernate during the winter months b/c food is not abundant. Reptiles & amphibians are few or absent b/c of extremely cold temp.

POLAR BEAR Classified as Mammals They’re fast & can outrun a caribou over a short distance. Swims extremely well. Diet: large and small mammals, fish, birds, berries, leaves Carnivores Habitat: coasts, ice floes Range: Arctic Ocean to southern limits of ice floes

SLED DOGS Thick fur and amazing stamina They know how to adapt to the frigid conditions in the tundra. Dogs curl themselves up to protect from the harsh wind. The dogs must mush and work as a team in order to survive.

The extremely cold weather keeps the human population to a minimum.

ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS: Why shouldn't we dig? President Bush and Congress have tried to push the keys to Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the oil industry. They tried to dig into the Arctic to try and get the oil. The Senate rejected this amendment. Why shouldn't we dig? There’s approx. 16 billion of barrels, but only 3.2 billion would be recovered. It would take 10 years for the oil to reach the pump. The refuge would produce less than 2% of the oil Americans are expected to use.The small amount of oil would come at an enormous, and irreversible cost. The oil isn’t concentrated in a single, large reservoir. It’s spread across the coastal plain in more than 30 small deposits. This would require vast networks of roads & pipelines that would fragment the habitat, disturbing and displacing wildlife.

IMPORTANCE OF TUNDRA The tundra is a major balance in our ecosystem and it must be there for many species to sustain life. If humanity interferes with the tundra ,the world as we know it may be in route for a disastrous change for the worst.

COMPETITION IN TUNDRA Many animals compete for the plant lichen. Lichen is the favorite food of caribou and musk oxen. Lichen are homes for spiders, mites, lice, and other insects.

SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM LICHEN

LICHEN Lichens are a successful alliance between a fungus and an algae. Each doing what it does best, and thriving as a result of a natural cooperation. They live as one organism, both inhabiting the same body.

THE FUNGUS MEETS AN ALGAE Friend algae cell is prepared to greet Mr. Fungus Mr. Fungus is ready o greet our friend the algae. The lichen is created between the fungus and the algae

The Lichen is created between the fungus and the algae. After the first meeting -- If the fungus and algae are compatible, they can make a lichen body (thallus). This means that only certain algae and certain fungi can get together to form a lichen. Thus each fungus and algae form a unique type of thallus body; we can use this thallus body to help assign them names and make identifications. The algae will begin to use sunlight to make sugars or food which will feed both the fungus and the algae. The fungus will create a thallus or body that will house both organisms.

SPECIES DIVERSITY The animals present are not very diverse, but pop up all over the different tundra locations throughout the globe. Very few plants can adapt to tundra due to the fact that the soil is poor and not deep. That leads to a very short season of reproduction and growth. Many organisms derive their energy from one of the most abundant sources--dead organic material.

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY mbgnet.mobot.org mgd.nacse.org realscience.breekschool.org blueplanetbiomes.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME