The Tundra
By Austin
A Cold Desert
The Significance of the Tundra
Abiotic Factors
Biotic Factors
Despite harsh conditions, there are around 1700 species of plants, 48 species of land mammals, and over 100 species of birds that live in tundras. The plants and animals that do live there have to be very well adapted to their environment to survive.
Examples of Adaptations:
For example, a brown bear must hibernate during the winter because there is less food. It eats as much as it can during the summer to store up fat for the winter. Not only does the fat keep the bear warm, but it is converted into energy during hibernation.Plants in the tundra have adapted to low and close together. This protects them from strong winds. Some plants, such as the prairie crocus (picture top left), have furry coatings to help keep warm. Others produce cup-shaped flowers that direct more of the sunlight to the center of the flower, keeping the plant warmer than the air around it.
Food
Human Impacts
One invasive species, the American beaver has been introduced to several countries, competing with native populations. Their dams can cause flooding, damaging forests and towns.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a concern in the Arctic because they move into the atmosphere and oceans, and accumulate in food that people eat, such as whale fat. Arctic indigenous people have a daily intake of toxic substances up to ten times the tolerable amount.
Air pollution leads to smog, which poisons lichens. Many herbivores in the tundra consume these poisoned moss and lichens. This is bad for animals, and the humans that consume them.
Bibliography
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