Animals
The unique wildlife and ability to adapt to the cold weather, makes these arctic tundra animals so exquisite: Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, Caribou, Barren-Ground Grizzly Bear, Lemming, Muskox, Weasel, Wolf, Polar Bear, and more. (hover for description)
Predator/Prey Relationship
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Adaptations
Because of the cold weather, ranging from -30 to 7 celsius, all of the animals in the arctic tundra must be able to withstand the environment. Each animal has certain special adaptations that help them to survive. For example, almost all of the animals have very thick fur and skin, which can absorb sunlight and turn it into heat. It is almost always sunny in the tundra, even though the lip-quivering temperatures make it seem dark. Another quality a lot of these animals have is small ears, which help them obtain heat because they are a smaller mass. For animals such as the polar bear, caribou, and grizzly bears, the hair and pads on their feet help keep their bodies insulated and provide traction for slippery surfaces.
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Diet adaptations: Caribou are one of the few animals that have adapted the ability to consume lichens. Most animals are unable to digest lichens, but the caribou’s large stomach gets the job done. Polar bears, on the other hand, are carnivorous and have a very high fat diet that is unlike almost all other animals. One of their main diets are seals, and their adapted fat-rich diet allows them to eat the blubber which is energy abundant. This adaptation occurs because there are plenty of land mammal options, but seals tend to give them the most energy and are simply easier to catch by using their keen sense of smell.
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Camouflage adaptations: The caribou, arctic fox, and arctic hare are three species that enjoy the luxury of a colour-changing coat. For the arctic fox and hare, their change is absolute. They are pure white through the winter months, and brown and black in the three other seasons. This adaptation gives them the camouflage ability to blend in with the snow, making it much harder for their predators to find them. As for the caribou, the change is not quite as drastic. In the winter, the white spots on their fur tend to dominate, and spread across their backs making them blend in with the snow a bit better. Throughout the other three seasons, they change to have a brown coat with white spots and neck.
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Surface area to volume ratio: A simple heat-conserving adaptation that almost all of the arctic tundra animals have is a good surface area to volume ratio. The animals of the arctic tundra seem to be slightly unproportionate compared to the rest of the world, where they have stubby legs and a stockier build. This allows them to retain their heat, and occurs because of the cold environment.
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Invasive Species
Canadian geese- These non-native birds are overusing crops and damaging the northern Canadian tundra. They are so damaging, because they make negative affects to not only their own trophic levels, but other levels too. Canadian geese damage grasslands for other birds to live on, and also make negative affects on humans by damaging our shelters and recourses.
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Red fox- Humans thought it would be a good idea to bring red foxes to the arctic tundra, little did they know that they would marginalize other predators. By eating lemmings and a variety of other prey, the red fox competes with the arctic prey for food, and is responsible for a lot of the arctic fox’s population reduction. Lemmings also have more predators to be afraid of.
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Food Chain & Web
Here is an example of the average food chain in the northern Canadian tundra. The energy flows up, and as the triangle gets smaller, so does the type of consumer.
Here is an example of the average food web in this biome. There are a lot of ways this food web could change or differ, for example an animal’s extinction or human influences. As mentioned before, the red fox has been eating lemmings and taking away a food source for the arctic fox. This causes a reduction in both populations, which is a problem because humans introduced the red fox to the biome. Humans have harshly erupted the environment with pollution, not to mention the oil exploration, industrialization, and global warming.
Species at Risk
Polar bears are a very key part of the arctic tundra biome, being at the top of the food chain and a powerful predator. Global warming is such a damaging epidemic, especially when it comes to the destruction of arctic habitats. Polar bears have been recently classified as an endangered animal, due to melting snow, climate change, and shortage of food. The warm habitat results in a decrease of hunting, because seals have been dying from the lack of ice. Humans are responsible for a lot of the pollution that is wrecking their environment. All of these factors are what have been damaging the population of arctic tundra polar bears.
Page by Shea Smeltzer