Arctic tundra, Biology

Assignment Help:

The northern most biome on our planet is the arctic tundra. It is a treeless wet circumpolar band between the polar ice caps and the forests to the south. The predominant plants are lichens, grasses, sedges and dwarf woody plants. Despite the lack of trees, animals are found on land, in air and nearby oceans. Similar communities are found at high mountains of all latitudes forming the alpine tundra. The climate is very cold with a short growing season. The soil is frozen for most part of the year and only the top 0.5 meter melts during the short summers in the arctic tundra. The permanently frozen soil below is known as permafrost. In summer you might see huge herds of caribou, flocks of waterfowls and huge swarms of mosquitoes! With such a harsh climate it is not surprising that only a few kinds of plant and animal species are found here though, in the short growing season moss, lichens, some grasses and fast growing plants dominate the landscapes. Swarms of migratory birds invade the tundra in summer to raise their young and fly south as the summers come to an end. Some of the common permanent residents are musk ox, polar bear, grizzly bear, wolves, snowy owl, arctic hare, weasels, minks, etc. Tundra is a very fragile ecosystem as the rate of organic matter decomposition is very slow. On account of harsh climate plants grow very slowly and the tundra tak es a long time to recover from any disruptions.


Related Discussions:- Arctic tundra

Explain genetic algorithms, Your task is to describe genetic algorithms, ex...

Your task is to describe genetic algorithms, explain why genetic algorithms are useful in solving the problem you have been set and conduct an investigation into the optimum parame

Lan in hospitals, LAN LAN stands for Local Area Network. This kind of ...

LAN LAN stands for Local Area Network. This kind of network consists of a set of interconnected computers that are not geographically spread out over a large area. For exa

Define filming projection and technique, Q. Filming Projection and Techniqu...

Q. Filming Projection and Technique? Biplane ventriculography is preferred over single plane ventriculography because it gives more information without additional risk to the p

Explain endocarditis, Explain Endocarditis The risk of endocarditis is ...

Explain Endocarditis The risk of endocarditis is considered high in patients with last bacterial endocarditis, prosthetic heart valves, complex cyanotic congenital heart diseas

What kind of exoskeleton do some molluscs present, Q. What kind of exoskele...

Q. What kind of exoskeleton do some molluscs present? Some molluscs, like gastropods and bivalves secrete an external calcareous carapace (the shell). Calcium carbonate is a fo

Define surgical procedures for cancer patient, Define Surgical Procedures f...

Define Surgical Procedures for Cancer Patient Major resection of the small bowel is not common. Resection of the ileum leads to certain physiological and nutritional problems.

Define carbohydrate requirement to avoid underweight problem, Define Carboh...

Define Carbohydrate requirement to avoid underweight problem? Liberal amounts of easy to digest carbohydrates should be included in the diet. The intake of dietary fibre should

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd