Cold environments

• Climate-belt-50°C


  • Low precipitation
  • Soils permanently covered by ice so soils are permanently frozen
  • Mosses and lichens found on fringes of ice
• Cold Environment


  • Poor biomass, well adapted animals (retain heat - thick fur)
  • Tundra
• Plant adaptations


  • Roots plants are woody to grip gravel and found shaped to protect from wind (less water)
  • Black & white leaves (absorb/reflect light)
• Bearberry


  A plant found in the tundra
• Climate


  • Drops to -20°C
  • Brief summer quite warm
  • Precipitation mainly snow, can be high in some areas
  • Soils frozen (permafrost) but may thaw closer to the surface
  • Soils generally nutrient-poor, waterlogged as water is trapped by permafrost
• Plants


  • Low-growing flowering plants like bearberry, low bushes and smaller weaver regions
  • Slow growth and decomposition due to cold climate
• Animals


  • Limited food options, extreme cold-adapted
  • Birds and insects less dependent
• Animal adaptations


  • Well insulated - thick fur
  • Camouflage - white fur
  • Adapted to cold climate
• Cold environments have low biodiversity
• Herbivores must migrate to areas with plants
• Any disruption to the fragile ecosystem will have huge implications
• Global warming has meant animals have migrated closer to poles but they have nowhere further to go, so are very vulnerable to extinction