ARCTIC

Done BY: Ameer, Bader and Mansoor

The Arctic Biomes Map

Pictures of the Arctic

Tundra wolves

• Tundra wolves live on the mainland. Arctic wolves live farther north on the islands. Tundra wolves are often brown or grey. Arctic wolves are smaller and white in color. They have a thick undercoat of soft fur and an overcoat of long, thick hair. To help reduce heat loss, they have smaller more-rounded ears, a shorter muzzle and shorter legs than other wolves. Wolves hunt in small packs. Arctic wolves hunt musk oxen, caribou and arctic hares. They also eat lemmings, birds and ground squirrels.

Human Activities

• Driving some Antarctic species to the verge of extinction for economic benefit.

• Killing and disturbing other species this is bad because the Arctic has very rare animals and if you kill them they will become extinct which would ruin the food chain.

• They destroy the soils.• Moving dirt water from the sewage to the sea

and leaving rubbish, cairns and tracks in even the most remote parts. It could affect the animals that eat from the sea like the Polar bear and how it eats fish and the fish might be in bad condition.

THE ARCTIC HARE

THE ARCTIC HARE lives farther north than any other hare. They live among the rocks on hillsides where they can hide from foxes, wolves, owls and other enemies. Hares eat grasses, willows and other plants. Their favorite meal is the arctic willow. Hundreds of them gather together in herds, to stay warm, and for protection from their many enemies. When a noise is heard they hop away in all directions.

• The fur of the hares that live farther south may change to gray or brown for the summer.

Temperature

• The Arctic is very cold. Average winter temperatures can be as low as −40 °C (−40 °F), and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately −68 °C (−90 °F).

Life in the sea is easier . Land temperature may fall to minus -50°C in winter but the ocean varies by only a few degrees. The sea is never colder than minus 2°C. At the temperature, sea ice forms on the surface and insulates the water below so that it does not get any colder.

Polar Bears

• POLAR BEARS have a thick oily fur coat and a layer of blubber under their skin. They spend most of their time on the pack ice or in the water, where they can hunt their favorite food - the ringed seal. The white fur helps the bear sneak up on seals that are laying on the ice. In the summer it is harder to catch seals, so before summer arrives, the bears eat as much as they can to fatten up, then live off the fat in their bodies. The females digs a den in the snow to hibernate during the worst part of the winter. The cubs are born in the den.

How does the temperature affect the animals.

• It affects the animals because it depends when it is very cold and very hot for the animals to go out and hunt for food. For example the polar bear, if the water is to cold it would turn into ice which means that the polar bear cant eat because it eats fish from the sea.

Bibliography

• http://www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/l-2/5-arctic-animals.htm

• http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/arctic/Awildlife.html

• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/arctic-hare/

• http://thestickytongue.org/2010/09/17/not-just-for-polar-bears-new-climate-report-documents-growing-extinction-risk-for-arctic-wildlife/