Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes, Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia, meaning treeless plain. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons.A climate is a habitat around the world. The Tundra has snow everywhere and has very short growing seasons which means plants are hard to grow and farmers or whoever is planting crops need to plant early summer or fast enough before summer ends. The Tundra is located all over the world. Located in Alaska, Northern Canada, edges of Greenland, Northern Scandinavia, northern Siberia, and Russia. It is found in Alaska here in the United States. The Tundra is about 3 million square miles long …show more content…
Lichen have special adaptations which permit them to withstand extremes of moisture and temperature. When moisture is available, it is taken up by the fungus leading to a mechanical change which allows more light to get through, triggering algal photosynthesis; new food and new tissue are then made. Lichens are formed from a combination of a fungal partner (mycobiont) and an algal partner (phycobiont). The fungal filaments surround and grow into the algal cells, and provide the majority of the lichen's physical bulk and shape. In the picture below at left of the lichen Physia, the fungal filaments have been stained blue, and the scattered algal cells red. A diamond leaf willow Sura is 10 times richer in vitamin C than oranges. It is also rich in vitamin A and calcium. Willow leaves are a good source of nutrients for animals and people of the tundra. ... The diamond leaf willow provides much needed food for grazing animal of the tundra, like muskoxen, and caribou or reindeer. The twigs on a willow are soft, skinny, and they bend easily. A willow has thin branches. The leaves on the willow are narrow and grow alternately on the branch. Some leaves have serrated edges to. A arctic moss adapts to the tundra by Its long life and slow growth are probably adaptations to the short growing season and the cold. There are few uses for the Calliergon giganteum. In the …show more content…
Many adaptations make polar bears uniquely suited to life in icy habitats. Their fur is thicker than any other bears' and covers even their feet for warmth and traction Polar bears are marine mammals, and spend much of their time on Arctic sea ice. Many adaptations make polar bears uniquely suited to life in icy habitats. Their fur is thicker than any other bears' and covers even their feet for warmth and traction on ice. Belugas are related to another type of white whale — the "unicorn" whale known as the narwhal. However, instead of a large horn on its forehead, like the narwhal has, the beluga has a round bump called a melon. The melon is used to make many different communication sounds and facial expressions. Belugas survive by using their skin.The scientific name for the snow leopard is Uncia Uncia.It is a descendant of the wild cat and panther families.Native to the rugged and snowy highlands of Central Asia, the endangered snow leopard is particularly found in the Himalaya region.These locations are convenient because they provide camouflage for stalking and sneaking up on
Plants in the Taiga are important because the majority of the land is dense conifers. In the Taiga there are acres sometimes miles of the exact species of plant. Plants adapt to the climate so not all plants can thrive or survive so there is not a huge variety of plants. Spruce, fir and hemlock are the most abundant trees in the Taiga and some deciduous trees include poplar, birch and aspen. Evergreens have special adaptations in their shape that help support them when it snows. Tamaracks are one of a few trees other than evergreens that do lose their leaves and lives in the Taiga.
The Taiga Biome is a large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major part of both Siberia and North America. It is usually found at high elevations at more temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the largest terrestrial biome on earth, covering around 50 million acres of land (NP, UC Santa Barbara). It is known for its subarctic climate that ranges between -51 to -1 °C in the winter and -21 to 7 °C in the summer. The two main season found in the taiga are summer and winter as autumn and spring are usually very short and barely noticeable. Winter makes up around six months of the year, with only around 50-100 frost-free days during the summer. Summer is also the season during which the taiga receives the most precipitation in form of rain. The remainder is made up of snow and dew, which adds up to around 30-85cm of precipitation yearly (NP, S.L. Woodward).
There’s wet tundra, alpine tundra, glaciers and iceland, coastal western hemlock/ Sitka spruce forest, and post-glacial meadows and thickets. As for marine ecosystems, continental shelf, wave-beaten coasts, and fjord estuaries have been
Some of these landforms include the following: hummocks, or knolls, frost boils, and earth stripes. Another common area to the alpine tundra is a “bare rock covered ground” also known as fell fields, in which not only support but helps the growth of lichens. The many “microhabitats” given by these landforms provide a variety to the tundra’s landscape. As you already know, the amount of different plant species in the tundra is very small. Also, their growth level is low, “with most of the biomass concentrated in the roots”.
The grizzly bear’s coat was brown. They could camouflage very easily with their surroundings in the wood. There were occasionally mutations in coat color and those bears would die off quicklier not being able to camouflage. Once the Pleistocene ice age came the environment was completely different, it was now artic. The occasional lighter mutations begain to survive easier and better than the darker colored bears because they were able to get closer to the seals without them seeing which meant they could catch them easier. The darker bears had difficulties now in this mostly snowy environment with camouflage. The seals would see them and swim away, because they weren’t eating as well they would die off easier. Over time the number of mutations began to grow. The mutations started reproducing making a lighter color coat in bears. This kept happening until the Polar bear evolved with a transparent coat. Polar bears hair looks white because the air spaces in the hairs scatter light of all colors. When something reflects all of the visible wavelengths of light, we see the color white. The Polar bear’s transparent coat helped them a lot with camouflage which helped them with
* The scientific name for polar bear is Ursus maritimus which means sea bear in Latin. They were first identified by Constantine J. Phipps in 1774. Different sources express different theories on the origins of polar bears. Fossil evidence lead researchers to believe that polar bears may have split off from a population of brown bears that became isolated during the Pleistocene epoch. More recent DNA evidence suggests that polar bears became distinct species from brown bears 4-5 million years ago. It has been documented that polar and grizzly bears have produced fertile hybrid offspring. Other names for the polar bear include the Inuit word "nanook", and the Norwegian name of Isbjorn which means "ice bear."
Although moose lack teeth in the front of the upper jaw, they have little trouble dealing with woody plnat material that constitues much of their diet. They feed on fresh leaves by browsing and may even pull a shoot sideways in there mouth, freaquently stripping off up to two feet in vegitation with aid of the tonuge. They also browse the tips of twigs, particularly the most recent growth. Regardless of how it is attained, the plant material is thoroughly crushed between twleve sets of broad, flattened teeth at the rear of its mouth, six pairs of molars and six pairs of pemolars.
One of the many plants that thrive in the deciduous forest is a fern. Ferns are large green plants with broad leaves to help capture needed sunlight in the forest. This adaptation allows the fern to trap all necessary sunlight to help the plant survive. Another plant that is found in the deciduous forest is the Birch tree. Birch trees are large, tall trees with thick bark. This thick and dense
The biome I have chosen is the temperate rain forest. These types of forest are homes to a few and very amazing species . The temperate rain forest are mainly made of conifer trees. They also receive high rainfall every year. The average amount of rainfall it gets is 140 centimeters, or 55 inches a year. That is a total amount of 4.58333… feet in year-round rainfall.
On the forest floor, there is a wide covering of low growing lichens, mosses, small plants, such as Oxalis, wild flowers, and grasses (Melody Shaw, 2003).
The Alaskan wilderness is one of the most controversial topics discussed in the United States today. There are many different opinions and regulations pertaining to certain topics affecting the natural landscape of Alaska. One such topic is hunting for brown bear. While these massive animals face no current danger of being wiped out as a result of hunting, it is still a controversial and constantly debated issue. Over ninety-five percent of the United States’ brown bear resides in Alaska. Brown bears are one of the more appealing attractions for visitors to Alaska. According to the Alaskan Outdoor Journal, there are places all throughout Alaska that are designated brown bear viewing areas (Alaska Outdoor Journal, 2010). However many who come to Alaska for the brown bear don’t simply come to observe. Instead, they come for the hunt. These animals are constantly hunted for sport, and since they reproduce at a very low rate, this has the potential to jeopardize the total population of the brown bear. Overall, I believe that brown bear hunting should remain legal.
The Alaskan moose is the largest sub-specious of the deer family which is very closely related to the Elk in Europe. The adult bull weighing up to 760 kg and the females can weigh up to 360 kg. The moose can grow to seven and half feet high, the highest point being at its large shoulders. The shoulders support “the males bear racks of flattened antlers that sometimes have a spread of 6 feet or more” Their front legs are longer than their rear legs and their body is covered in thick fur which is shaded in many hues of brown. Their heads are long peninsular in shape which is completed with a large upper lip and nose. Under their neck lies a dewlap or dangling “bell “which is a flap of skin near the throat. They have short tails and small ears.
In this report I will be using the Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) as my chosen species. The Polar bear is the largest land living apex carnivore in the world where males can reach a mass of over 450 Kg and females between 150 Kg to 350 Kg. Instantly recognizable by their white fur coat which is technically transparent where it is the reflection of the snow that gives the Polar bear its beautiful white coat. As a Polar bear’s skin is black allowing for some heat from sunlight to aid in respiration. They are located all around the Arctic Circle. From Canada to Greenland to Russia, their range is vast due to the travelling they must endure to reach plentiful sources of food which is primarily seals however they have been known to hunt walrus and beluga whales.
Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes on earth. Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia, which means treeless plain. It is a distinctive biome due to its peat covered landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons which all act as driving factors. Tundra is found at latitudes 60° to 70° North, with the majority in Canada and Russia. Like the ocean, tundra is one of Earth's major carbon dioxide sinks. A carbon dioxide sink is a biomass which takes in more carbon dioxide than it releases. Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change. During the short summer tundra's vegetation takes in carbon dioxide, sunlight and water through the process of photosynthesis. The plants normally give off carbon dioxide after they die and decompose. But because of the short, cool summer and freezing winter temperatures of the tundra, plants can't decompose and the carbon dioxide is not released. The remains of plants thousands of years old have been found in the tundra’s layer of decomposing vegetation called permafrost. This is how the tundra traps the carbon dioxide and removes it from the atmosphere thus making it a sink. Today the global warming trend is melting the permafrost of the tundra and every year several feet of tundra are lost. As the tundra’s permafrost melts, the plant mass can now decompose and return the carbon dioxide to the atmosphere making it now a source and further exacerbating the problem. Very resent studies have found that there is a correlation between the effects of global warming and the melting of permafrost and if this trend continues there is no telling if we can halt it.
Polar bears are one of the Earth’s largest and most powerful carnivores. These bears are dependent on sea ice as their primary habitat and are thus found on the Arctic coasts of North America. The scientific term used to describe polar bears, Ursus maritimus translates to sea bear because polar bears spend most of their lives on the Arctic ice. A common misconception the public holds is that polar bears are white; their fur is actually consists of two transparent layers: hollow guard hairs and an undercoat. While the two layers appear white because the air spaces in each hair scatter light, they are actually transparent and the black skin underneath the fur is penetrated by sunlight, warming the bears body. Polar bears are the largest of