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In this paper i will be talking about how tundra plants and other plants that live in the cold stay alive, the uses of them and how many different types of plants that are like this that there are.
There are many different types of plants in the world and many different types of ecosystems like the rain forest, grasslands,and coral reefs. When i was looking for something to wright about for this class i was thinking about how all those places have good conditions for plant life and how it is good for plants to grow and prosper. The thing is is that there is also very cold environments as the tundra. The short growing seasons and extremely low temperatures makes it very hard for the plant life to grow and survive. Even though there is a very
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slim chance of growth or life there is still a growing and thriving ecosystem. Tundra plants are more often smaller but nevertheless very resilient. There are many tundras in the northern hemisphere and sometimes high up in the mountains these are the coldest and harshest places in the world yet there are still plants that are able to grow.
Tundras are mostly treeless regions in the arctic and on the mountain tops. In these areas it is extremely cold, windy, and hardly any rainfall. Most of the year it is covered in snow yet in the summer it gets just warm enough to have flowers burst out of the soil. There are two different types of tundras. One is the arctic tundra witch located in the northern hemisphere. Thats where they get the name arctic. It encircles the north pole and extends farther south around the coniferous forests of the taiga. The growing seasons of the arctic tundra is 50-60 days long at the average temperature of 55 degrees fahrenheit. In the winter there is an average temperature is around -34 degrees fahrenheit. A winter in the arctic tundra is at least 10 months to 11 months. The other type of tundra is alpine tundra. This is located high in the mountains all over the world. They have some things that are the same and some things that are different first off they both can't grow trees or its very hard to find trees/ to have trees grow there. They also have the same animals in both tundras you should be able to find mountain goats,
elk, goose type birds, and other various insects. The main difference is there growing season. In the alpine the growing season is 180 days long and during the night time the temperatures reach below 0. The most common plants that you can find in the tundra would be saskatoon berry or otherwise known as Amelanchier alnifolia.then there is the tundra rose or the (Potentilla fruticosa), Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum),Northern redcurrant (Ribes triste),Bearberries (Arctostaphylos spp.), Purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) and many more. Approximately 1700 plant species are in the tundra. A defining characteristic of plants is their ability to produce energy through photosynthesis. Through this process, plants capture the sun’s energy and use it to fuel chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-containing carbohydrates (sucrose, glucose, or starch). Most of these plants need to have a stable place to stay still from the wind so some of the barry plants attach themselves on the bottom of trees or they huddle together so they can all be stable.
The word Tundra comes from the Finnish word Tunturia which means treeless plain. There's no vegetation because of the extreme weather conditions. It is located near the north pole and it also covers a fifth of the earth's surface. If it's too cold not vegetation can grow because of the ice caps not melting, if it gets a little warmer than maybe roots can grow. The arctic tundra has two seasons winter and summer, but the sun only heats up the tundra to 3 degrees celsius to 12 degrees celsius. When the sun cannot rise the temperatures drop to very cold conditions around -70 degrees celsius while the average temperature is -28 degrees celsius. The rain levels in the tundra are 6 to 10 inches a year because most of it falls as snow instead. It is basically a very cold desert.
The arctic fox or the Vulpes Lagopus is a very beautiful and majestic animal with many interesting features. This animal can survive extremely frigid arctic temperatures that can drop as low as -50°F. The arctic fox is a very resilient animal. It has furry soles, short ears, and a short muzzle, which are the essentials of what is needed for the animals to adapt to the chilly climate. These foxes usually live in burrows and in emergencies like snowstorms, strong winds or animal conflict, they may tunnel into the snow and create a shelter for them. They have a beautiful white coat that protects them from the hardy weather. Amusingly, when the season changes, the fox changes its coat color making it a unique animal. In winter, their coat is white where as in summer its turns into an orange-red color. This is mostly because it helps them camouflage in the surrounding. These colorings help foxes to effectively hunt rodents, birds, fish and even baby polar bear cubs. But in winter prey can be scarce on the ground. At such times, these animals eat the left over kill of the polar bear. These foxes will also eat berries when they are available. Its coat has been known for its strange adapting qualities, it is a rarity in science today and therefore is highly researched. Not only does it have a thick coat that helps them camouflage and protects them from the cold, but also has the ability to run extremely fast. It is known to be one of the fastest animals in the arctic region.
The climate of the tundra is characterized by harsh winters. The average temperature in the tundra area is about –27 degrees. But what is even worse are the long night. At nights the lowest temperture recorded was –67.36 degrees. There are even times in the year when the sun doesn’t come up for days. In the tundra we have little snow and even less rainfall. The rainfall is about a quarter inch in a yearly rainfall. Even though the tundra’s winters are long a harsh there summers are the shortest season of all. Do to the terrible weather and climate in the tundra their animals and plant life is very limited.
The Interior Plains is a region in west-central Canada, in the Mountain and Central time zones. It is the fourth largest region of Canada. Majority of the Interior Plains is prairie land with lots of flatlands. The total area of this region is 1, 900, 000 km². Approximately nineteen percent of Canada’s population lives in the Interior Plains region. This region includes certain points of interests and attractions such as city areas like downtown Calgary and natural sightseeing areas like the Rocky Mountains. The majority of the Interior Plains is prairie land, with many trees and grass. Most of this area is wide, open spaces and flat land. Some of the animals living here include deer, wolves, and
To survive it would be easier to know the environment. The Arctic is a system of deep ice covered and nearly isolated ocean, surrounded by lands of Eurasia and North America. It has ice glaciers, plains (of ice), coastal shallows, deep basins, polar
The Tundra suffers a very harsh climate. Because of this fact most of the area
This trip starts from Denver, Colorado to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. “Natural landform” is the main theme for this trip. I will explore the mystery of geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park.
Does wilderness exist? To many people, this would seem to be a very meaningless question. Of course wilderness exists. But, coming from a student who decided to enroll in a class called Humans and the Natural Environment: Impacts and Moral Obligations, this question has become one that has almost thrown my world upside down. Before we can answer the question, we must first know the definition of wilderness is this, “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man is a visitor who does not remain.” Because of my recent class periods and readings, I believe that the concept of wilderness does not exist, and that it is not useful. Throughout this essay I will explain why
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 for its cold, desert-like conditions. The growing season ranges from 50 to 60 days. The average winter temperature is -34° C (-30° F), but the average summer temperature is 3-12° C (37-54° F), which enables this biome to sustain life. Rainfall may vary in different regions of the arctic. Yearly precipitation, including mel...
Thesis: Forests provide the earth with a regulated climate, strong biodiversity, and good nutrient rich soil for plants to strive on.
Ecosystems are the basic biological units of ecology, and consist of biotic organisms and their interactions amongst other living organisms, as well as the surrounding abiotic environment (Putman and Wratten 1984). One facet of ecosystems that is less-often mentioned is the process of decomposition, as it many may view it as an unclean, unpleasant process that occurs after an organism has ceased to exist. To those with an ecological framework, however, decomposition is viewed as the opposite – an interesting, intricate process teeming with biological activity and life (Swan and Kominoski 2012). What is decomposition? Formally, decomposition is defined as the process to which complex organic matter is broken down to its basic constituents (i.e.
The tundra is known for its’ cold temperatures, but also its’ limited plant species. The growth of the vegetation is primarily low to the ground and the biomass of plants is concentrated in the roots. Here the plants reproduce more likely by division and building than by flower pollination. Some of that growthforms that you will find in the tundra include tussock, mats or cushion plants, rosettes, and dwarf shru...
The Arctic region is home to a variety of valuable animals and plants, including polar bear, seal, and so on. The ecosystem of the Arctic region is fragile because these animals are evolved to live in extreme conditions. With the climate change, many animals are endangered. Ice is the habitat of polar animals because they have to rely on sea ices for resting, food, and reproduction. With the climate change and the decrease of sea ice, the number of polar animals is decreasing and their health is threatened. For example, the average weight of female polar bears in 1980 was about 650 pounds, but the number reduced to about 500 pounds in 2004 (Djoghlaf 15). The earlier breakup and later condensation of sea ice shortens the hunting season of polar bears. Polar bears mainly feed on seals that indwell icy land. The melting ice reduces the number of seals and food intake of polar bears. In addition, polar bears are used to living in ice caves. The rising temperature causes the collapse of ice caves, which can kill baby bears. The climate change is negatively affecting the biodiversity in the region and will definitely harm the ecosystem
Walking through the woods never fails to clear my mind. After spending all day sitting in a stale classroom, filled with stress, confusion, and overwhelming responsibilities, taking a long stroll through the familiar woods behind my grandmother’s house lifts any worries that could ever weigh me down. I never wander through aimlessly. I always follow the trail of grass that has been deliberately cut down shorter than the rest, making it easier to tread through to the small creek at the end of the trail. The entire journey through the woods behind my grandmother’s house, there and back, first took on a whole new importance in my life during my junior year of high school.
The branch of science that deals with how living things, including humans, are related to their surroundings is called ecology . The Earth supports some 5 million species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. These interact and influence their surroundings, forming a vast network of interrelated environmental systems called ecosystems. The arctic tundra is an ecosystem and so is a Brazilian rain forest. The islands of Hawaii are a relatively isolated ecosystem. If left undisturbed, natural environmental systems tend to achieve balance or stability among the various species of plants and animals. Complex ecosystems are able to compensate for changes caused by weather or intrusions from migrating animals and are therefore usually said to be more stable than simple ecosystems. A field of corn has only one dominant species, the corn plant, and is a very simple ecosystem. It is easily destroyed by drought, insects, disease, or overuse. A forest may remain relatively unchanged by weather that would destroy a nearby field of corn, because the forest is characterized by greater diversity of plants and animals. Its complexity gives it stability.