Polar and Tundra Biome Characteristics

Created by

Kate Huxtable

Cards (14)

Polar climate
Long, cold winters.
Annual temperatures mostly below freezing.
Often windy with little precipitation.
Landscape covered in permanent ice caps.
Polar soil
Covered in ice throughout the year.
Polar plants
Hundreds of moss, algae and lichen species survive the harsh conditions.
Small plants flower when the snow melts.
Cushion plants grow between the rocks in mountainous regions.
Trees/other plants do not grow here.
Polar animals
Whales.
Seals.
Snowy owls.
Polar bears (Arctic).
Penguins (Antarctic).
Tundra climate
Cold.
Windy.
Little rainfall.
Average temperatures between 6-12 degrees Celsius.
50-60 days of summer a year - permanent daylight.
Tundra soil
High in organic material - too cold for dead organisms to decompose.
Tundra plants
Hundreds of moss, algae and lichen species survive the harsh conditions.
Small plants flower when the snow melts.
Cushion plants grow between the rocks in mountainous regions.
Trees/other plants do not grow here.
Tundra animals
Arctic foxes.
Polar bears.
Grey wolves.
Caribou.
Snow geese.
Musk-oxen.
Goats, sheep and marmots (mountainous areas).
In summer, the surface layer of permafrost melts, leaving shallow lakes/bogs which attract birds, insects and other wildlife.
How are the biotic (people, plants, animals) and abiotic (climate, soil, permafrost) components of cold environments linked?
They are closely related - if one thing changes, the other things are affected.
How do plants and animals support each other?
Plants gain nutrients from the soil, keeping some and providing some for the animals higher up in the food chain.
Animals spread seeds through their dung - helps with plant reproduction.
How are plants and the soil linked?
Plant cover is low - the cold climate causes slow plant growth and decomposition.
The soil is relatively low in nutrients as a result, further reducing the plants' ability to grow.
How are plants (e.g. mosses), herbivores (e.g. reindeer) and carnivores (e.g. wolves) related?
Reindeers are reliant on plants like mosses for food, and must migrate to areas where the plants are able to grow to find food.
Wolves are reliant on reindeers for food, so must follow them when they migrate.
How are plants and the permafrost reliant on each other?
The tundra has greater plant cover in summer - the plants absorb the heat from the sun and stop the permafrost from thawing.
The permafrost provides the plants with water.
How does changes to parts of the ecosystem cause other changes? Use an example.
Changes to parts of the ecosystem (e.g. vehicles damaging plant cover) can have effects on the rest of the ecosystem (e..g. causing permafrost to melt).
Melting permafrost can cause floods, preventing plants from growing, and releases trapped greenhouse gases - leading to increased global warming and changes to the climate of the cold environment, threatening plants and animals.