Perhaps the greatest danger, however, comes from climate change. Though the tundra is remote, it is increasingly threatened as people encroach on it to build or drill for oil, for example. Tundra insects have also developed adaptations for the cold mosquitoes ( Aedes nigripes), for example, have a chemical compound that acts as antifreeze, lowering the freezing temperature in their bodily fluids. ![]() Many animals, both predator and prey, develop white fur or feathers in the winter months for camouflage in ice and snow. Many birds also migrate into the tundra during the growing season to feed, mate, and nest.Ītop the food chain are tundra carnivores, such as arctic foxes ( Vulpes lagopus), arctic wolves ( Canis lupus), snowy owls ( Bubo scandiaca), and polar bears ( Ursus maritimus), which move into the tundra during the summer when prey is plentiful and their usual hunting grounds on sea ice diminish. Others migrate to warmer climes during winter. Some save energy by hibernating during the long winter months. They also have thick coats of fur for further insulation. These animals build up stores of fat to sustain and insulate them through the winter. Tundra wildlife includes small mammals-such as Norway lemmings ( Lemmus lemmus), arctic hares ( Lepis arcticus), and arctic ground squirrels ( Spermophilus parryii)-and large mammals, such as caribou ( Rangifer tarandus). (The word “tundra” derives from the Finnish word tunturia, meaning barren or treeless hill.) Instead, the tundra has patchy, low-to-ground vegetation consisting of small shrubs, grasses, mosses, sedges, and lichens, all of which are better adapted to withstand tundra conditions.Īnimals in the tundra are also adapted to extreme conditions, and they take advantage of the temporary explosion of plant and insect life in the short growing season. These conditions lead to one of the tundra biome’s most distinct features: They are largely treeless. Tundra soil is also scarce in many of the nutrients that plants need to grow. The soil in the Arctic is largely permafrost or soil that remains frozen year-round, leaving only a thin surface layer of thawed soil in summer for plant roots to grow in. On average, only six to ten weeks of the year have sufficiently warm temperatures and long days for plant growth. ![]() They have long, cold winters with high winds and average temperatures below freezing for six to ten months of the year. Tundra regions typically get less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of precipitation annually, which means these areas are also considered deserts. Alpine tundra are located at very high elevations atop mountains, where overnight temperatures fall below freezing. Arctic tundra are found on high-latitude landmasses, above the Arctic Circle-in Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia, for example-or on far southern regions, like Antarctica. Tundra form in two distinct cold and dry regions. This biome has a short growing season, followed by harsh conditions that the plants and animals in the region need special adaptations to survive. For most of the year, the tundra biome is a cold, frozen landscape.
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