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artic fox== TUNDA Italic text  ==

What is tundra biomes
Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons.

tundra animals


Animals that live in the tundra have special adaptations that allow them to survive the extreme temperatures and conditions.There are several threats to the populations of animals that live in the tundra. A good example of an animal with special adaptations is the Arctic Fox.The Arctic Fox has short ears and a short, round body with a thick coat.

Arctic Fox
Common Names: Polar Fox, White Fox

The North American tundra is located at latitudes 60° to 85° North and longitudes 55° to 160° West which includes northern parts of Canada and the state of Alaska. It is in this place where the Arctic fox is found.The Arctic fox makes its home in small burrows in frost-free ground, often in low mounds, or in rock piles. Because the Arctic fox is a scavenger it can usually find food to eat. Sometimes the fox will follow Polar bears or other predators and feed off the remains they leave behind.The Arctic fox is about 10 -16 inches long and weighs about 6-12 pounds. It is about the size of an ordinary domesticated house cat. It has short legs a long bushy tail that it uses as insulation by wrapping it around itself when sleeping. Its long hair is white in the winter, and "blue" or gray in the summer. Its head has a stubby muzzle, small ears, and large eyes. Its feet are lined with fur, which helps it conserve heat. The Arctic fox has adapted a stealthy movement. They nurse until they can eat solid food. Both parents care for the pups. The mother raises the young while the father hunts. They start to eat solids after 6 weeks and leave the den after 14-15 weeks. The whelp is usually dependent on its parent from summer to fall. Mortality rates for young foxes is very high. An average life span for the arctic fox is around three years.The Arctic fox is a solitary animal. Arctic foxes usually live to 15 years of age. It is an omnivore (one who eats both plants and animals). A typical diet of this fox consists of birds, eggs, small mammals and fish. It will also eat berries, seaweed, insects and larvae, when other prey is scarce. The Arctic fox is a predator to lemmings (one of it's favorite foods) and voles, among other creatures. The population cycles of lemmings and voles are largely dependent on the arctic fox. The fox is prey to wolves, polar bears and golden eagles. Because it is a scavenger, it keeps the environment clean by eating dead animals and keeping the rodent population down. The Arctic fox is a diurnal creature.The Arctic fox has adapted to its environment by growing long fur that changes color with the season for camouflage. It tends to eat whatever is available. It s movements are stealthy due to lack of cover on the tundra. Its legs, ears, and muzzle are short to conserve heat, and uses its tail like a muffler when cold.The Arctic fox is not endangered world wide and it is estimated that there are several thousand arctic foxes left in the wild. Two arctic fox populations are endangered. The second in Fennoscandia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Kola Peninsula) was caused by over hunting around the turn of the century.

The Importance of Plants
Close to 2.5 billion years ago, the earth's surface and atmosphere were stable enough to support primitive life. Single-cell organisms began to develop in the seas that covered the planet. A simple organism known as blue-green algae appeared and spread across the seas. Blue-green algae used sunlight and water to make food, and in the process, created oxygen. As the blue-green algae grew in the earth's seas, they began to fill the atmosphere with oxygen. The oxygen that blue-green algae produced made it possible for other types of organisms to develop.Plants play the most important part in the cycle of nature. Without plants, there could be no life on Earth. They are the primary producers that sustain all other life forms. This is so because plants are the only organisms that can make their own food. Animals, incapable of making their own food, depend directly or indirectly on plants for their supply of food. All animals and the foods they eat can be traced back to plants.

The oxygen we breathe comes from plants. Through photosynthesis, plants take energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and water and minerals from the soil. They then give off water and oxygen. Animals and other non-producers take part in this cycle through respiration. Respiration is the process where oxygen is used by organisms to release energy from food, and carbon dioxide is given off. The cycles of photosynthesis and respiration help maintain the earth's natural balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water.

Leaves are the main food-making part of most plants. They capture energy from sunlight, and turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar and starch. This sugar and starch becomes the food that provides plants with energy to grow, to produce flowers and seeds, and carry on their other life processes.

Plant Facts
Scientists believe there are over 260,000 species of plants. Some plants are so small they can barely be seen. Others are taller than people or animals. One of the largest living plants on the earth are the sequoia trees of California. Some stand over 290 feet (88 meters) high and measure over 30 feet (9 meters) wide.

Certain characteristics of plants set them apart from other living things. Both plants and animals are complex organisms that are made up of many types of cells, but plant cells have thick, rigid walls that consist of a material called cellulose. Animal cells do not have this material. The cellulose enables plants to stand upright without the aid of an internal or external skeleton.

Plants and Their Environment
Plants require a reasonable level of heat to grow. The most favorable temperature at which photosynthesis takes place ranges from near freezing to 20 to 25° C (70 to 80° F). The rates of photosynthesis and respiration increase with rising temperatures. Any temperatures above or below these levels limit plant growth. The climate of a region determines what types of plants can survive in that region.

A plant's environment is made up of many factors. One of the most important is the weather--sunlight, temperature, and precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other moisture). Soil and other plants and animals that live in the same area are also included in the environment of a plant. All these factors form what is called a natural community.

No two natural communities are exactly alike, but many resemble one another more than they differ. Botanists divide the world into biomes--natural communities of plants, animals, and other organisms.

Medicine
plants provide many useful drugs. Some of these plants have been used as medicines for hundreds of years. The bark of the cinchona tree was used 400 years ago to reduce fever. It is still used to make quinine, a drug used to treat malaria and other diseases. Another drug, called digitalis, is used in treating heart disease. It is made from the dried leaves of the purple foxglove plant. The roots of the Mexican yam are used in producing cortisone, a drug useful in treating arthritis and a number of other diseases.

World Climate Zones
Have you ever wondered why one area of the world is a desert, another a grassland, and another a rainforest? Why are there different forests and deserts, and why are there different types of life in each area? The answer is climate. Climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area (at least 30 years). This includes the region's general pattern of weather conditions, seasons and weather extremes like hurricanes, droughts, or rainy periods. Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are air temperature and precipitation.

World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. All three components, climate, plants and animals are interwoven to create the fabric of a biome.

Have you ever wondered why one area of the world is a desert, another a grassland, and another a rainforest? Why are there different forests and deserts, and why are there different types of life in each area? The answer is climate. Climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area (at least 30 years). This includes the region's general pattern of weather conditions, seasons and weather extremes like hurricanes, droughts, or rainy periods. Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are air temperature and precipitation.

World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. All three components, climate, plants and animals are interwoven to create the fabric of a biome.

Have you ever wondered why one area of the world is a desert, another a grassland, and another a rainforest? Why are there different forests and deserts, and why are there different types of life in each area? The answer is climate. Climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area (at least 30 years). This includes the region's general pattern of weather conditions, seasons and weather extremes like hurricanes, droughts, or rainy periods. Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are air temperature and precipitation.

World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. All three components, climate, plants and animals are interwoven to create the fabric of a biome.

Some facts about climate
The sun's rays hit the equator at a direct angle between 23 ° N and 23 ° S latitude. Radiation that reaches the atmosphere here is at its most intense.

In all other cases, the rays arrive at an angle to the surface and are less intense. The closer a place is to the poles, the smaller the angle and therefore the less intense the radiation.

Our climate system is based on the location of these hot and cold air-mass regions and the atmospheric circulation created by trade winds and westerlies.

Trade winds north of the equator blow from the northeast. South of the equator, they blow from the southeast. The trade winds of the two hemispheres meet near the equator, causing the air to rise. As the rising air cools, clouds and rain develop. The resulting bands of cloudy and rainy weather near the equator create tropical conditions.

Westerlies blow from the southwest on the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere. Westerlies steer storms from west to east across middle latitudes.

Both westerlies and trade winds blow away from the 30 ° latitude belt. Over large areas centered at 30 ° latitude, surface winds are light. Air slowly descends to replace the air that blows away. Any moisture the air contains evaporates in the intense heat. The tropical deserts, such as the Sahara of Africa and the Sonoran of Mexico, exist under these regions.

== seasons ==

The Earth rotates about its axis, which is tilted at 23.5 degrees. This tilt and the sun's radiation result in the Earth's seasons. The sun emits rays that hit the earth's surface at different angles. These rays transmit the highest level of energy when they strike the earth at a right angle (90 °). Temperatures in these areas tend to be the hottest places on earth. Other locations, where the sun's rays hit at lesser angles, tend to be cooler.

As the Earth rotates on it's tilted axis around the sun, different parts of the Earth receive higher and lower levels of radiant energy. This creates the seasons.

Köppen Climate Classification System

The Köppen Climate Classification System is the most widely used for classifying the world's climates. Most classification systems used today are based on the one introduced in 1900 by the Russian-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen. Köppen divided the Earth's surface into climatic regions that generally coincided with world patterns of vegetation and soils.

The Köppen system recognizes five major climate types based on the annual and monthly averages of temperature and precipitation. Each type is designated by a capital letter.

A - Moist Tropical Climates are known for their high temperatures year round and for their large amount of year round rain. B - Dry Climates are characterized by little rain and a huge daily temperature range. Two subgroups, S - semiarid or steppe, and W - arid or desert, are used with the B climates.

C - In Humid Middle Latitude Climates land/water differences play a large part. These climates have warm,dry summers and cool, wet winters.

D - Continental Climates can be found in the interior regions of large land masses. Total precipitation is not very high and seasonal temperatures vary widely.

E - Cold Climates describe this climate type perfectly. These climates are part of areas where permanent ice and tundra are always present. Only about four months of the year have above freezing temperatures.

Further subgroups are designated by a second, lower case letter which distinguish specific seasonal characteristics of temperature and precipitation.

f - Moist with adequate precipitation in all months and no dry season. This letter usually accompanies the A, C, and D climates. m - Rainforest climate in spite of short, dry season in monsoon type cycle. This letter only applies to A climates.

s - There is a dry season in the summer of the respective hemisphere (high-sun season).

w - There is a dry season in the winter of the respective hemisphere (low-sun season).

To further denote variations in climate, a third letter was added to the code.

a - Hot summers where the warmest month is over 22°C (72°F). These can be found in C and D climates. b - Warm summer with the warmest month below 22°C (72°F). These can also be found in C and D climates.

c - Cool, short summers with less than four months over 10°C (50°F) in the C and D climates.

d - Very cold winters with the coldest month below -38°C (-36°F) in the D climate only.

h - Dry-hot with a mean annual temperature over 18°C (64°F) in B climates only.

k - Dry-cold with a mean annual temperature under 18°C (64°F) in B climates only.

Three basic climate groups. Three major climate groups show the dominance of special combinations of air-mass source regions.

Group I

Low-latitude Climates: These climates are controlled by equatorial a tropical air masses.

Tropical Moist Climates (Af) rainforest Rainfall is heavy in all months. The total annual rainfall is often more than 250 cm. (100 in.). There are seasonal differences in monthly rainfall but temperatures of 27°C (80°F) mostly stay the same. Humidity is between 77 and 88%.

High surface heat and humidity cause cumulus clouds to form early in the afternoons almost every day.

The climate on eastern sides of continents are influenced by maritime tropical air masses. These air masses flow out from the moist western sides of oceanic high-pressure cells, and bring lots of summer rainfall. The summers are warm and very humid. It also rains a lot in the winter

Average temperature: 18 °C (°F) Annual Precipitation: 262 cm. (103 in.) Latitude Range: 10° S to 25 ° N Global Position: Amazon Basin; Congo Basin of equatorial Africa; East Indies, from Sumatra to New Guinea.

Wet-Dry Tropical Climates (Aw) savanna A seasonal change occurs between wet tropical air masses and dry tropical air masses. As a result, there is a very wet season and a very dry season. Trade winds dominate during the dry season. It gets a little cooler during this dry season but will become very hot just before the wet season.

Temperature Range: 16 °C Annual Precipitation: 0.25 cm. (0.1 in.). All months less than 0.25 cm. (0.1 in.) Latitude Range: 15 ° to 25 ° N and S Global Range: India, Indochina, West Africa, southern Africa, South America and the north coast of Australia

Dry Tropical Climate (BW) desert biome These desert climates are found in low-latitude deserts approximately between 18° to 28° in both hemispheres. these latitude belts are centered on the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, which lie just north and south of the equator. They coincide with the edge of the equatorial subtropical high pressure belt and trade winds. Winds are light, which allows for the evaporation of moisture in the intense heat. They generally flow downward so the area is seldom penetrated by air masses that produce rain. This makes for a very dry heat. The dry arid desert is a true desert climate, and covers 12 % of the Earth's land surface.

Temperature Range: 16° C Annual Precipitation: 0.25 cm (0.1 in). All months less than 0.25 cm (0.1 in). Latitude Range: 15° - 25° N and S. Global Range: southwestern United States and northern Mexico; Argentina; north Africa; south Africa; central part of Australia.

Group II

Mid-latitude Climates: Climates in this zone are affected by two different air-masses. The tropical air-masses are moving towards the poles and the polar air-masses are moving towards the equator. These two air masses are in constant conflict. Either air mass may dominate the area, but neither has exclusive control.

Dry Midlatitude Climates (BS) steppe Characterized by grasslands, this is a semiarid climate. It can be found between the desert climate (BW) and more humid climates of the A, C, and D groups. If it received less rain, the steppe would be classified as an arid desert. With more rain, it would be classified as a tallgrass prairie.

This dry climate exists in the interior regions of the North American and Eurasian continents. Moist ocean air masses are blocked by mountain ranges to the west and south. These mountain ranges also trap polar air in winter, making winters very cold. Summers are warm to hot.

Temperature Range: 24° C (43° F). Annual Precipitation: less than 10 cm (4 in) in the driest regions to 50 cm (20 in) in the moister steppes. Latitude Range: 35° - 55° N. Global Range: Western North America (Great Basin, Columbia Plateau, Great Plains); Eurasian interior, from steppes of eastern Europe to the Gobi Desert and North China.

biomes
The tundra biome is an ecosystem situated near the North Pole in the Arctic Circle. It is by far the coldest of all biomes. The winters are extremely cold with temperatures typically below -34° C. The summers last only about two months and the temperatures are still very cold ranging from 3° to 12° C. This biome still sustains life although it encounters these extreme temperatures. Some animals, insects, and even plants thrive there. Because of the extreme temperatures, most organisms get their nutrients from the decaying of dead organic material. Although some parts of inhabited areas such as in Alaska and Canada are considered a part of the tundra biome, the majority of the tundra have not been visited by most people because of the harsh conditions. Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia, meaning treeless plain. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Dead organic material functions as a nutrient pool. The two major nutrients are nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen is created by biological fixation, and phosphorus is created by precipitation. Tundra is separated into two types: arctic tundra and alpine tundra.The plants that grow in the tundra biome often grow in clusters to help protect themselves from the severe winter winds.

Arctic tundra
The Arctic tundra is a cold, vast, treeless area of low, swampy plains in the far north around the Arctic Ocean. It includes the northern lands of Europe (Lapland and Scandinavia), Asia (Siberia), and North America (Alaska and Canada), as well as most of Greenland.This biome has long cold winters and short cool summers. The Arctic tundra has low precipitation (less than 10 inches per year) and dry winds.One unique characteristic of the Arctic tundra is permafrost--ground that is permanently frozen Curiously, during the summer Arctic tundra is characterized by lots of surface water.

Alpine tundra
Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. The high altitude causes an adverse climate, which is too cold and windy to support tree growth.