d
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Levels of Organization…………………………………………….. page 1 Habitat and Niche of Tundra Organisms……………. page 2 Feeding Relationships……………………………………………. page 3 The Arctic Fox…………………………………………………………….. page 4 & 5 Biodiversity………………………………………………………………… page 6 Succession…………………………………………………………………. page 7 The Polar Bear…………………………………………………………… page 8 & 9 Symbiosis…………………………………………………………………… page 10 Density Factors…………………………………………………………. page 11 Invasive Species……………………………………………………… page 12 Demography………………………………………………………………. page 13 The Narwhal……………………………………………………………….. page 14 & 15 Biogeochemical Cycles………………………………………….. page 16 Biomass Pyramid & Pyramid of Numbers………….. page 17 Threats to Biodiversity……………………………………………. page 18 Tundra Animal Word Search…………………………………. page 19 Coloring Page……………………………………………………………. page 20
Coloring Pages
Levels of Organizations: The first level is organism, which means 1 individual. Species is a group of organisms. Populations a big group of the same organisms. Community is a group of multiple populations that live in the same area and interact (talk, hangout with each other etc.). A community can be full of both plants and animals. Ecosystem is a community and the abiotic (non living) factors (temperature, water etc.) A Biome is all of the ecosystems with similar characteristics and a Biosphere are all of the biomes.
Examples of each Level: Organism: Polar Bear Species: Artic Fox Population: Community: Ecosystem: cold and windy regions Biome: Tundra Biosphere: Earth
Habitat & Niche of Tundra Animals In the Tundra, Animals that live there have jobs (or roles) like us. The polar bear is a Teritary Consumer. Their job is to keep the population of seals down. They wait by air holes dug into the ice for a seal to pop out its head for a breath, then quickly kills the animal. Also, the Arctic Fox is a tertiary consumer that is a meat -eating animal. When they want some food for later, they bury the meat in the snow, this acts like a freezer to keep the meat good. All these roles are important for the ecosystem and the name for their job is Niche. Niche is the role or function of an organism or species in an ecosystem. This keeps a healthy and balanced ecosystem. All the animals that live in the tundra also have a home. This is where they live, grow their families, and hide themselves and their babies from predators(the animal that does the killing), the ones hiding would be the prey(animal being killed). Their homes are called Habitats. The definition of a Habitat is a natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or organism. For example, the Lemming is a small rodent, they live in big families and dig their homes under the snow to hide and protect them from the predators. Also, the Polar bear makes a home on sea ice. They make dens for their babies and them on the ice. Predator & Prey Graph
Polar bear grabbing the seal after it just popped up
Polar Bear’s habitat on the ice with her cubs
Wolf grabbing the meat to bury in the snow for later
Lemming Snow Habitat
Feeding Relationships In the tundra, there are still herbivores and plants even though its super cold! Plants have a special name called Producer. They make their own food they get energy from the sun, then mix it with water to make glucose (plant sugar). This has lots of energy in it for the next animal to eat that plant. The Tundra’s main producer is Lichen. Lichen is a fungus and algae combined and they grow on rocks, soil, wood, and buildings. They can be covered in ice for 3 years and still be alive! Now, Polar bears, Foxes, Hares, and Owl’s are something different than the Producers. These animals all live in the tundra and feed off of other organisms. The Polar Bear eats Seals and Berries, the Hare eats Lichen, and the Owls eat the Lemmings. These animals are called consumers. They are organisms that eat other organisms as food and collect energy from each other. There are Herbivores(plant eating animals like the Hare eating the Lichen), Carnivores(only meat-eating animals like the owl eating the Lemming), and Omnivores(Both plant and animal eating animals like the Polar bear eating Seals and Berries).
Lichen frozen (producer)
Owl eating a Lemming(carnivore)
Polar Bear eating Seal and berries(omnivore)
Hare eating Lichen(herbivore)
Food Chain, Web, and Trophic Levels yt As we have discussed, organisms eat other organisms. In the animal world there is a food chain. This shows how each living thing gets food and how nutrients are passed. When an organism eats the next. They begin with the producers, then the animals. As each animal gets eaten, that one gets
In a Food chain, each organism had a category on the trophic levels. The first is primary consumers. These are the plants and chemical energy. The next is. Primary consumers. These are the ones that eat the primary consumers (the herbivores). Next is the secondary consumer. They eat the primary consumers these are the carnivores and omnivores. Next is the tertiary consumer. This is usually the highest in the food chain but can go to Quaternary consumer. These animals don’t have predators and don’t get eaten. A lot of food chains combined is called a food web. When one species goes extinct it can mess up the entire food chain and cause unpredictable! There are more autotrophs than heterotrophs, and more plant eaters
5 Amazing Facts About the Arctic Fox
The Arctic
.
1) The Arctic Fox do not hibernate and its fur changes color with the seasons (in the summer its brown, in winter its white). 2) They can survive temperatures up to -90 degrees 3) They live in underground tunnels with up to 100 entrances, and are up to hundreds of years old. 4) They are monogamous animals meaning they are one couple that mate for life. 5) Their paws are covered thick fur that proctct their feet from the ice and the cold snow
Special Adaptations to Survive in the Tundra: In the world, these animals have to survive. The Arctic fox has a white, thick coat to help it not be cold. Also, it has pointy ears so it can hear animals under. The ground so he can eat them. Lastly, he has color changing fur. In. the summer, their fur turns a dark grey so it can blend in more!
Fox
It’s Role In the Food Web: The Arctic Fox has a role in the food web like any other animal. They are a secondary consumer, meaning they are second from the very top. At the top, the polar bear is the highest, and that’s the Fox’s main predator. The Fox’s eat lemmings, Hares, Birds, and left-over carcass from Polar Bears.
What Is Being Done to Protect It? Defenders of the Wildlife are trying to reduce greenhouse gas and reduce climate change and taking it step by step They are also advancing legislation to reduce the impacts climate change. The organization is successful. There are only a several thousand left.
Biodiversity In
In our world, we have tons of different species of animals like the Owl, Hare, Narwhal, Polar Bear, Fox, and Seals. This variation is called biodiversity. It boosts an ecosystems productivity, and no matter how small the organism is, it provides an important role for each organism in this world. As you move closer to the equator, biodiversity increases, and as you move towards the poles, it decreases. The number one cause of biodiversity loss of habitat! For habitats, the loss is caused by deforestation, over population, pollution, and global warming. Pollution damage to a habitat is called Habitat Degration, and can include in water, air, and land. It’s important to have biodiversity because if it is lost, then it can lead to extinct
Succession What is Succession? Predictable changes in an ecosystem over time. Primary Succession: It occurs where there is no soil, but only bare rock. This process takes hundreds of years. Ex. Would occur after a glacier has retreated and species like moss, lichen, algae, fungi and abiotic (nonliving) factors like the wind and water start to make the habitat go back to “normal” again.
Secondary Succession: Replaces an existing ecosystem that was disrupted by an event. *takes about 50 years* Ex. Secondary succession would occur after a tundra fire, although that is very rare because the fires don’t usually spread because of all the vegetation. In the Artic Tundra, Primary Succession is more likely to occur. In the tundra, there’s lots of vegetation so fires can’t stay a fire for long. It’s windy and cold in the tundra though, so Primary Succession happens a lot more than Secondary.
It’s role in the food web: Polar bears mainly eat seals. They will also eat carcasses of beluga whales, walruses, narwhals and different types of whales. Polar bears don’t have any natural predators, only other polar bears. Cubs less than a year old can occasionally be eaten by wolves or other carnivores. Polar bears are both tertiary and quaternary consumers, and are at the top of the food chain.
What is being done to protect it? A website (4Ocean) has an event called #4polarbears. #4PolarBears is where you buy a bracelet and remove a pound of trash from the ocean and help save the polar bears. Each bracelet is made out of completely recycled ocean plastic. It’s successful considering they’ve sold lots of bracelets and removed tons of trash from the ocean, as well as help save the endangered polar bears. The estimated population is 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears worldwide. q
The Pol
ar Bear
Special Adaptations to survive in the tundra: 1.) White fur helps them blend in with the snow and ice 2.) Thick layer of fat under their skin to help stay warm 3.) Wide, large paws help them to walk in the snow 4.) Their nostrils can open and close to help them swim underwater, when they’re closed, water can’t get in 5.) Have partially webbed, big, furry feet that help them swim, stay warm, and make sure they don’t slip on the ice
Amazing facts about the polar bear: 1.) Largest living carnivore on Earth 2.) Can weigh around 680kg 3.) Have black skin under their fur 4.) Sniff out predators from 16km away 5.) Fur isn’t actually white, it’s transparent and reflects the light
Symbiosis Symbiosis is a close relationship between two different kinds of organisms (living things). The three types are mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Mutualism: An interaction between 2 or more species where each species benefits Ex. In the tundra: fungus and algae Funguses is “fed� sugars by the photosynthetic alga and the alga received protection from the fungus Parasitism: A relationship between species, where one organism (the parasite) lives on/in another organism causing it harm Ex. In the tundra: liger tapeworm cysts and moose, wolves and caribou liver tapeworm cysts (the parasite) cause harm to moose, caribou and wolves Commensalism: A relationship between 2 organisms where one benefits and the other organisms doesn’t benefit or be harmed Ex. In the tundra: Barren ground caribou and artic fox The fox follows caribou who removes the snow covering the ground so it can eat the animals under it. The fox hunts the animals that were under the snow.
Density Factors There are two different types of Density Factors, independent and dependent. Density Dependent has an increasing affect as the population increases. An example would be disease and competition for resources. Density Independent affects the population regardless of the population size like volcanic eruptions, floods and drought. An example of a density dependent factor in the tundra would be how when there’s extreme weather conditions, they limit how long certain species can survive. The animals that do end up surviving the weather conditions, compete for resources. Temperature, permafrost, wind and rain are examples of density independent factors.
Invasive Species If you didn’t. know, the Snowy Owl, Caribou, and Hare didn’t come right from the tundra. These animals migrated for different reasons and settled there. These animals are called Invasive species. They are called invasive because they are not natives. They have migrated to a place where they are native or don’t originally come from. These animals tried to reproduce rapidly because its new habitat lacks natural predators. They also cause the population of native animals to decline because they are rising. The Snowy owl is from the United States and migrates when it gets warm.
The caribou is normally from North America, Asia, Europe, and Greenland and when summer comes, they heard north for the cooler temperatures. These invasive species push aside natural vegetation.
The arctic hare is from North America and Europe. They got to tundra. They came to northern America and have learned to adapt to the cold. Their developed fur helps them during the cold season.
Demography What is Demography? It’s the study of human population size, density, distribution, movement, birth, and death rates. They
Factors that Affect the Human Population Rate:
can increase or decrease.
-
Eradicated Diseases(removed diseases from an area) Food Production Infant Death Rate(decreases) Increased Medical Technology
Age Structures
Greenland’s highest age group was people 50-54 years old.
Norway’s highest age group was people 45-49 years old.
Canadas highest age group was people 55-59 years old.
The Narwhal Role in the Food Web: Narwhals eat squid, Greenland halibut, shrimp, artic cod, rockfish, flounder and crab. A Narwhals predators include orcas, sharks, polar bears, walruses, and humans. A narwhal is a tertiary consumer.
Special Adaptations to Survive in the Tundra: 1.) Have grayish coloring that helps them camouflage in the artic waters 2.) Long tusks help them protect themselves 3.) Migrate to different places each winter for food and to stay alive 4.) Communicate by making high clicks, squeaks and whistles 5.) Flexible neck so they can easily scan the water for predators and prey
Amazing Facts about the Narwhal: 1.) It’s tusk is actually a tooth that grows it’s whole life 2.) Tusk can grow up to 10ft long (as tall as a basketball hoop) 3.) Narwhals have some of the deepest dives recorded (4,900ft) 4.) Tusk can bend a lot without even cracking or breaking 5.) Not all narwhals have tusks
What is Being Done to Protect it?: A program called Artic Species Conservation Fund is helping to solve the problem of the endangered narwhals. They’re being successful by supporting tagging and research in Nonaru, and funding non invasive research techniques to learn more about the narwhals. The population is estimated to be around 170,000 worldwide.
Biogeochemical Cycles: The carbon cycle includes processes like respiration, photosynthesis, decomposition and fossil fuels. This cycle happens in the tundra. First, carbon is transferred by the atmosphere and plants take in the carbon to use for photosynthesis. After photosynthesis the carbon goes through the food chain and eventually the process starts over.
The phosphorus cycle includes key words like runoff, excretion, plants and erosion. In the tundra phosphorus is transferred by the plants in taking phosphorus through their roots from the soil. The producer then eats it, then the first level consumer, 2nd level consumer and tertiary consumer until a scanner comes and eats the tertiary consumer and the process restarts.
Biomass Pyramid and Pyramid of Numbers: A Biomass Pyramid measures the amount of living tissue at each level, amount of food available and is measured in grams. It represents the flow of mass in that ecosystem and shows if there is any imbalance in the species. Biomass is the mass of all species in an area. It can be categorized into two, species biomass and community biomass. Species biomass is the mass of one species and community is the mass of all the species in that area. The Pyramid of Numbers is the number of individuals(population) at each level in a food chain and doesn’t always look like a pyramid.
Threats to Biodiversity There are many threats to biodiversity, but the main one is global warming. It will warm the tundra and make everything melt. Scientists believe the main reason for global warming is greenhouse gases. This is carbon dioxide. It tarps heat in the atmosphere making it warmer. This will cause baitats the animals may live in to melt and no loger exist. It is known that the number one reason for loss of biodiversity is habitat loss. If we continue to make this gas, the tundra and its animals will be gone.
Habitat fragmentation is the separation of the wilderness areas from other wilderness areas. In the tundra, people explore gas and minerals. Thee disturbances and cause damage and habitat fragmentation.
Habitat Degration is the damage to a habitat by pollution. This can be by air, water, and land pollution. In the tundra, Oil spills and air pollution. The smog contaminates with the lichen, and many animals eat this producer, causing them to die. Also, with oil spills It can interfere with the fish and the sea animals, also causing them to die.
Tundra Animal Word Search O P B C B S S B N A R W H A L I L S T H E L P C A Q P C D L I D K Z Z A A X K I
O R I J
O
Z Z Q O V L K R M A W M I F U Y T I
L I
C H E N E O N H K H
Y X N S O O Q A Z Z L B A H V G M W N B Q R R Q G F K R K B O G P O W C L C E B L O E Q D C S N W X W E T Y I
R W I T T
K Z H Y T U M I D L N I
N E P
R P D O S Y M C M W D D F R M
G K O W Y P I Y O I
F A R Q S E C K
L S Q N O W F J
W O E W
I V U Z A T G X G N W A N T R T B P Z C R C E R O X N H W T
POLAR BEAR REINDEER SNOWY OWL LICHEN ARCTICFOX HARE WOLF NARWHAL SWAN SEAL LEMMING