Welcome to the...
It's a little chilly, but if you watch out for the raging timberwolves and the ice caverns, you'll be just fine!!
The truth is out there... No! Really!! If you want the hard facts about the tundra biome, look below!!
The Tundra biome is a very complex biome as all of the others. A good definition of the Tundra is given below. This definition is given by Microsoft Bookshelfs Dictionary.*
tundra- treeless plainsd to the north of the coniferous forest belt in N North America and N Eurasia. For most o the year the mean monthly temperature is below the freezing point. Winters are long and severe, and mean monthly summer temperatures rarely exceed 50 degrees F (10 degrees C). Precipitation is slight and evenly distributed throughout the year. The underlying subsoil (permafrost) is always frozen.
If you would like to understand the tundra in more detail, read on!
Location of the Tundra
There are two different kinds of Tundras, Arctic and Alpine. Arctic Tundras lie near the Arctic Ocean. They include Greenland, northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Europe, and Russia. The Alpine Tundra is condiered to be on the tops of very high mountains all over the world.
Weather and Climate-Ohhhh, it's a wee bit chilly outside. Better make sure to bring some warm clothing, laddy.
The weather in this biome is very cold and dry. The temperature barely goes above freezing. The average annual precipitation is less then 350 millimeters over most of the tundra.
Plantlife that inhabits the Tundra
There are many types of plants that exsist on this biome. Some examples are Dwarf Birches, willows, lichens, mosses, and grasses. Because the regrowth of plant life is slow, severe erosion can damage land for a very long time.
Animals of the Tundra- There are many interesting animals that live in the Tundra. You might want to learn a little about them before you are
forced to compete for food with them. Some of them can be pretty mean!!
The Arctic Fox belongs to the mammal class of vertebrates. It is mostly found around the Arctic Circle, in icy regions of the tundra biome. The Arctic Fox is a very small animal. It has a sort of cylinder body and a muzzled nose. Its body is all white, but it has a black nose and pink toenails. The Arctic Fox has its own voice of yips and yaps. It is considered a scavenger. These foxes are also the main predators of birds. While they're eating, they'll lash out their paws to keep others away. Their white fur helps them hide from predators. Mating season begins in April, and babies are born in about May or June. Much of the time there are about 5-10 babies. The male stays with them to protect them.
The Kodiak Bear, also known as the Alaskan Brown Bear, can grow to be 10.5 feet long and can weigh up to 900 pounds. The Kodiak Bear lives only in Alaska because of it's cold climate. The bear can eat just about anything in Alaska. It has a brown fluffy coat to keep it warm and has large claws so it can catch fish and rip them apart. The bear also has large teeth for eating it's food. When the bear reproduces, it averages about 3-6 baby bears. The bears have a light brown strip coming from their throat going down to their stomach. After the two bears mate, they part and will probably never meet again. Once the cubs are born they stay with their mother until they are old enough to fend for themselves.
The Musk Ox is a large shaggy animal that weighs up to 900 pounds. Both sexes have horns on the forehead. The bulls have a gland under their eyes that leaves a musky odor when rubbed on branches of bushes or trees.
Reindeer, another animal of the tundra, are similar to a large deer. They are slightly larger than a Caribou. The Reindeer are marked in their rank according to the size of their antlers. A baby has no antlers so it shares the rank of its mother.
The Snowy Owl is a very beautiful, majestic bird. It is commonly found in Greenland, Iceland, Canada and the Northern USA. In the winter it usually migrates south to warmer places. It has been recorded that this bird has flown all the way south to the Caribbean Sea! Snowy owls also tend to go to airports because of the mice and other small rodents that run around on the ground. This owl can grow up to 21 to 26 inches tall. The female is about one fifth bigger that the male. The snowy owl is actually one of the largest birds on the tundra. The female lays her eggs in grassy hummocks. She lays them in large clutches. The number of eggs depends on the amount of food the male supplies. The average number of eggs laid is three to nine. Snowy Owls communicate with each other with a series of shrieks and hoots. They tend to
live by themselves except when mating.
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*The concise Columbia Encyclopedia is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright 1995 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
The creation of this page by Emily Ibarra. Posted February 19, 1999. Perpose; biology project. So all of you sue happy people need to find someone else to bug. I'm just a nice person looking for an "A."
(Hint, hint to my teacher)
