Tundra Essay

A tundra is a biome where trees and plants don't grow as much because of the cold freezing temperatures. The tundra has lots of warm animals that contain a lot of fur because of how cold the temperatures are there. There are mountain goats,sheep,marmots, and birds that live up there. The only way those animals survive is by eating the lying insects and eating the plants that rarely grow there. The shelter for these animals is going under a rock because the rocks protect them from the wind and it's warmer for them. Also other animals that live up in the tundra is Arctic foxes, polar bears, gray wolves, caribou, snow geese, and musk-oxen. The Tundra has harsh winters and hard summers. During the summer it last 50-60 days and it is sunny 24/7.

Winters last almost the rest of the year and the winters begin to get very harsh. They usually stay in 10s or 20s and at times it can get as low as the negatives.The tundra is located up in the arctic and also it is located down in antarctica. The climate out there is usually cold because it is located in the coldest part of the world. In the winter it usually doesn't go higher than 30 degrees and it can go down as low as the negatives. During summer it goes higher than 50 degrees and it stays sunny and hot throughout the whole day for about 50-60 days. The tundra is a treeless region that is found in the arctic or it can be also found on top of the mountains. It can get really windy up there besides the fact that it is cold. It also rains a lot in the tundra because it is full of rainfall. Most of the year the mountain is covered up in snow because it has a lot of snowfall up there. Once it reaches summer it becomes sunny and and it bursts out with a whole lot of wildflowers and other plants.The main plants in the tundra are lichen, mosses, and very low shrubs. The tundra has a very big lack of vegetation which makes plants be lower than knee-height. The plants have a hard time growing, but over time all the plants have adapted to growing under these circumstances in order to help its species of plants survive. As the peak of winter in the tundra comes along, there are even less amounts of areas with an abundance of plants. Most of the plants are usually located in the Alpine region. There are no plants northern parts which would be like the North Pole and the South Pole.The fact that plants grow very little causes animals to have a less amount of food supply if they are herbivores.

Some animals that live in the tundra are like wolves, snowy owls, and hares. These animals are slowly dying off because of many reasons. For the herbivores it is because of the lack of plants to eat and the carnivores are dying because of global warming and also by being hunted by humans. Although they die because of human activities, the animals continue through a cycle that helps overpopulation of animals and species.One abiotic factor that influences the tundra is the strong winds because the winds are not a living thing. Another abiotic factor would be the rainfall that comes in the winter. The tundra is considered the most dangerous biomes due to a few more things. The short summer days is one of the abiotic factors because even though it's 50-60 days of summer there they can be really bad because it stays hot everyday until winter comes back. Also the temperatures of the tundra is an abiotic factor and the temperatures range from -34 degrees celsius and during summer it is 3-12 degrees.One of the biggest threats would probably have to be the ozone depletion at the north and south

pole. That means that there´s more ultraviolet rays and that can end up harming the tundra. Another thing that can really harm the tundra is oil spill. Oil spills can end up killing the wildlife in the tundra and the oil spill can get into the stuff these animals eat or it can get on them. The tundra also has another way it can be affected. The way it can be affected is through industrialization. The industrialization puts heat and pressure on the permafrost causing the tundra to melt because the heat melts all the snow and ice in the tundra. Also invasive species push aside native vegetation and that reduces diversity of plant cover.In the tundra the predators are usually on top of the food chain because they are the one hunting down herbivores. The animals on top are usually Owls,Foxes, Polar bears, and more. Usually they are hunting down the herbivores and the herbivores there are caribou, lemmings, and hare. Those animals are usually eating the plants that grow there. Polar bears enjoy eating fatty meats and that's bad for us humans but for the polar bear it's good for them. They basically get there energy from the fatty meats. They usually get the meat from seals,walrus, and at times even belugas.Usually Foxes and Wolves target the caribou and lemmings because there meat gives them the energy to survive the whole day.