The Tundra

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The Tundra
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Tundra

• Tundra is a treeless, level or rolling(small
  hills) biome found in polar regions on high
  mountains. The ground is barren with rock or is
  covered by small vegetation.
• Due to the extreme cold temperatures in the
  region, few plants can grow. The plants that do
  grow are predominately lichens (a mutualistic
  partnership between mosses and fungi) and small
  shrubs. This also occurs because of the layer of
  permafrost in the soil, which doesnt allow for
  plants with deep roots to thrive

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Carbon cycle in the Tundra
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Tundra Biome Slide Show

• http//www.comptons.com/encyclopedia/SLIDESHOWS/AR
  TICLES/100663807_S.html

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MAP OF BIOMES

• The tundra is the purple shaded area in the north
  near the arctic

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Climate

• The climate allows a short growing season which
  usually lasts about 6 to 10 weeks
• The winters are long, cold and dark which usually
  last about 6 to 10 months with temperatures below
  32 degrees
• There is low precipitation in the Tundra, usually
  lest than 5 inches a year.
• It is usually windy and there is a lot of
  snowfall which is actually advantageous to plant
  and animal life since it provides an insulating
  layer on the ground surface

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Abiotic Factors
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Animals from the Tundra

• Caribou
• Arctic fox
• Musk ox
• Reindeer
• Polar bears
• Brown bears
• Lemmings
• Snow owls
• puffins

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Pictures of animals from the Tundra
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Plants

• Few plants can grow in the Tundra, due to its
  extreme cold temperatures. The plants that do
  grow, grow because of the layer of permafrost in
  the soil, which doesnt allow plants with deep
  roots to thrive.

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Vegetation

• Lichens
• Mosses
• Sedges
• Perennial forbs
• Dwarfed shrubs
• (often heaths, but also birches and willows)

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Environmental Hazards

• The accident like the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in
  1989 has plagued the area. These types of spills
  have detrimental effects on the ecosystem, its
  inhabitants, and its stability. Also, air
  pollution, though not necessarily from the tundra
  region, travels from different metropolises
  across the world. As in many ecosystems, hunting
  is a huge hazard. Hunters deplete the
  ecosystems inhabitants continuously, hardly
  giving it time to heal a replenish. One of the
  keystone species, the polar bear, is nearly (if
  not already) endangered.

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Environmental Hazards Continued...

• If people continue to take oil to the areas where
  the tundra is, then we are going to be harming
  not only the polar bear, but all of the animals
  that inhabit this biome. We need to propose a
  new place for them to take the oil. Although the
  tundra is also a good source of oil, we need to
  figure out a way to eliminate the dangers of oil
  spills.

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Oil Drilling Movie

• http//www.msnbc.com/m/mp/mp.asps56ta_Alaska_0
  10213

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Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Coverage
http//www.npr.org/ramfiles/sls/19990327.sls.05.ra
m