Introduction
- Comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain.
- Separated into 2 types: Arctic Tundra, Alpine Tundra
- Youngest ( 10000 years ago )
- Coldest of the biomes ( -40°C to 18°C )
- Simplest ( species and food chain )
- Darkest and brightest ( 24 hour darkness , 24 hour sunshine )
- Least inhabited by humans
- Most delicate ( first to reflect any change )
Food Web
The tundra food web is simple with a few numbers of tundra plants and animals. With fewer species, it is easy to disrupt this simplified equilibrium; the disappearance of one species could affect the entire ecosystem. Because of constant immigration and emigration, the population continually oscillates.
Undesirable Human Activities
- Mining and drilling
Popular in arctic tundra areas because they tend to be rich in mineral resources - Oil drilling
Oil pollutes the ground and water and kills animals that come in contact with it. No plants or animals will return to an area where an oil spill has occurred for decades or even longer. - Global Warming
Arctic tundra's winter will be shortened, melting snow cover and parts of the permafrost, which will result in the flooding of some coastal areas. Tundra being the most fragile biome it will be the first to reflect any change in the earth.
Need for Conservation - People
Livelihood of native (Inuit aka eskimo) affected. The inuit still inhabit these arctic regions. They survive by living off tundra animals.
Source: Greenlandholiday
Need for Conservation - Environment
The low production of the terrestrial ecosystems makes the Arctic tundra particularly sensitive to land degradation and erosion. Annual melting of the topsoil above the permafrost layer combined with damage to the vegetation cover by human activities can lead to erosion. This process is further exacerbated by slow vegetation regrowth.
Conservation Message
1 comment:
Rock ON! We need to save the arctic creatures, and stop drilling for oil. So many creatures are poisoned by oil slicks, killed by the boats and lack of food, and have no where to live or shelter. If we need it, so do they. WE eat, they do to. We drink, well so do they. We would not consume do not make them.
Concerned citizen
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