The Arctic world By fadi lamie
My Ecosystem that is in danger is the Arctic
The Arctic is the ground zero for climate change. Temperatures there have warmed almost twice as much as the global average, likely due to melting sea ice, according to an April 2010 study published in Nature.
Arctic history
The Arctic is inhabited by several different groups of indigenous people, and also by relatively recent immigrants of mostly European background. In Alaska, for example, indigenous people account for about 70% or more of the total population in mainland areas bordering the Bering, Chukchi, or Beaufort Seas. In Russia, only 15% or fewer of the inhabitants along the north coast are indigenous people.
There are three main groups of Alaska Natives, the Inuit, Aleut, and Indian, while in Russia, there are 16 recognized minority indigenous peoples. The total populations of indigenous people in the Alaskan and Russian Arctic are about 50,000 and 70,000 respectively. The Canadian Arctic has about 50,000 indigenous people, representing 50% of the total population of the area, from three recognized groups: Indian, Inuit, and Métis. Inuit people are also found in Greenland.
In the early ages there was a lot of ice snow and bergs but because of the global warming these ice started melting and the water level rose up and invaded on the people living there.
arctic evolution
The evolution of the arctic ecosystem hasn't been changed since the ice ages. This place has a lot of ice and ice bergs and nowadays these bergs are melting because of the global warming which will effect not only people who lives there but also people around the world.
Ecosystem map
Biotic creatures
Arctic PlanTs
Plants that lives in the Arctic are the following: arctic willow, arctic poppy, cushion plants, cottongrass, moss, flowering plants, dwarf shrubs, herbs, grasses, mosses, and lichens. The tundra is characterized by permafrost, a layer of soil and partially decomposed organic matter that is frozen year-round.
biodiversity
In the Arctic biodiversity there are animals and plants such as the ones listed above or below...
specialist
Polar bears are specialists species because they have adapted themselves to the Arctic environment. They have developed a specific coat of fur to protect them against the below freezing environment. They also developed the ability to hunt for prey in land and water. Polar bears may eat anything it can hunt down but it will die in a hotter climate due to its special adaptations that only allow it to live in the Arctic.
generalist
The beautiful beluga, also know as the white whale because of its adult coloring, is of medium sizes as whales go, with a maximum length of 20 feet. It's a toothed whale with a variety diet that includes fish, squid, shrimp, and marine worms. The beluga itself is a prey for orcas, polar bears, and some indigenous Arctic people.
species diversity or species richness
Arctic species diversity is generally low, and decreases from the boreal forests to the polar deserts of the extreme north. The number of plant species in the Arctic is low in general, individual communities of small arctic plants have a diversity similar to or higher than those of boreal and temperate zones: there can be up to 25 species per square decimeter. Arctic plant diversity is sensitive to climate, and species number is least sensitive to temperature near the southern margin of the tundra. The temperature gradient occurs over much shorter distances in the Arctic than in other biomes.
Interspecific Competition
An adult Arctic fox has few enemies, and when it is involved in an intraspecific competition it will most likely be with the Red fox, due to the fact that their ranges overlap each other. They compete for such things as den sites and hunting areas along the sparsely treed fringes of the tundra biome.
Predation
Wolves and Caribou both live in the arctic tundra. The Wolf is the predator. They hunt the Caribou and eats it for energy. The Caribou eats plant life to obtain energy.
Parasitism
Liver tapeworm cysts and animals like moose, caribou and wolves. The tapeworms(parasite) feed on the food that is consumed by these animals, leading to malnutrition of the animals body(host). The parasite benefits but the host is harmed.
Mutualism
The lichen plant is made up of a fungus and algae. The algae lives within the fungus and provides the plant with sugars and oxygen. The fungus provides protection to the algae and collects water and salts for the algae cells. This is an example of mutualism because alone both the algae and fungus couldn’t survive in the tundras environment but together they can.
Commensalism
Arctic fox following the caribou or reindeer. The caribou and reindeer feed on lichens and when they are looking for food, the arctic fox follows. While looking for food the caribou digs up the soil and slightly exposes or brings small underground mammals closer to the surface. The fox follows the caribou and finishes digging up those small mammals and eats them. This is an example of commensalism because the caribou or reindeer is unaffected but the fox benefits because the caribou made it easier for the fox to get its food.
Arctic species uses Resource partitioning
Some Arctic species absorb nitrogen in different forms, using both inorganic and organic forms, and some Arctic species lack chemicals that inhibit growth of other species where as some Arctic plants takes up nitrogen only during the fall and spring and different Arctic plant species grow at different rates, and also different Arctic plant species takes up nitrogen at different depths of the soil.
k-selected species
Some of the K-selected species are polar bears, walrus, arctic fox, killer whales, baleen whales, Arctic seals, and so on.....
r-selected species
Some of the R-selected species are mussels snails, benthic crustaceans, benthic fish, amphilpods krill prawns, pelagic crustaceans, and so on....
overshot and crash in the carrying capacity
Lemmings are the key to the Arctic food web. Eaten indirectly by every animal in the Arctic, they are usually plentiful. They are the most common rodent on the wet Arctic plains. When overpopulated these animals will migrate in mass until they reach water then attempt to swim across it, drowning on the way. This is a way of reducing lemming population to fit the carrying capacity of the Arctic. Lemmings live in burrows with fur-lined chambers about 10-15 centimeters in diameter. These burrows improve the soil and allow certain grasses, which are the lemmings' preferred food, to grow.
Arctic areas that experiences Primary and Secondary Succession
- Primary Succession: When the earth warmed the glaciers retreated and left behind land that was lifeless and rocky. It took a very long time before pioneer plants like lichen started to grow on these rocks. In time, rocks broken down by the lichens mixed with decaying lichens and formed the first soil. Wind also blew dust, which congregated in small cracks in rocks where moss and small plants started to grow. Like lichens, moss obtains water by absorbing moisture in the air. Soon, more moss and more soil forms. Decaying moss mixes with rock chips and dust to form more soil. Because of this, grass begins to grow in the area. As soil becomes more plentiful, more and more plants begin to grow. These stages of soil and plant sophistication are called primary succession.
- Secondary Succession: When an event, like a fire or a hurricane, reduces an already established ecosystem, but the soil remains and succession then follows. This is faster than primary succession because the soil is already present. In the tundra this could occur after a fire or a mudslide.
Arctic biome
The taiga and the ice caps. This zone is controlled by the extremes in the weather. If its too cold, the ice caps don't melt enough to allow vegetation. If its a bit warmer, trees are able to send to send roots deep enough to root and grow
FreSh and salt water sYstems
- Polar sea ice is essential for the survival of many polar ecosystems. Sea ice is frozen seawater that moves with oceanic currents, and it provides important habitats as well as a resting place for animals.
- Due to seasonal warming, Arctic sea ice covers less area in the summer than in the winter. Some sea ice persists year-round, creating a unique ecosystem. The Arctic has many endemic species- meaning species that are not found anywhere else- most of which rely on the year-round ice cover for their survival.
Population
It is crowded. There are now approximately 4 million people living permanently in the Arctic, with the vast majority of them having come to the area as populations expanded elsewhere, access and communications were improved, and natural resources were exploited. Discoveries of oil, minerals, and diamonds in the North, and a growing interest in Arctic tourism and ecotourism, are bringing many non-indigenous people to the Arctic to both visit and live but the population of a particular plant or animal is not causing problems in the arctic.
arctic geological structure
- Soil is formed slowly. A layer of permanently frozen subsoil called permafrost exists, consisting mostly of gravel and finer material. The soil lacks nutrients.
- Bogs and Ponds
- Mountainous areas
- Rocky plains
- Low Shrubs, sedges, reindeer mosses, liverworts and grasses are some plants found in the Tundra
- Permafrost effects the soil. It freezes the soil permanently and many meters down. This is why the tundra has no long root system and only short.
- Because ice is a significant component of arctic lands and shores, sometimes alone and sometimes as a component of frozen soils, coastal erosion due to global warming is much greater in the Arctic than elsewhere.
Significant issue affecting the Arctic ecosystem
- Global warming causes the iceberg to melt and that leads to water level to rise up.
- Many animals can't swim so they suffocate till death.
organization addressing the problem
- The WWF is an organization providing up-to-date and reliable information on the effects of climate change in the Arctic, in order to stimulate policies and actions that combating climate change.
- Supporting field-based projects in the Arctic where information on climate change is generated or collected.
- Assisting in the development and implementation of adaptation strategies for species, ecosystems, and cultures in coping with a changing climate in the Arctic.
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/what_we_do/climate/
improve the arctic global warming situation
- Choose an efficient vehicle: High-mileage cars such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids use less gas and save money. Over its lifetime, a 40-mpg car will save roughly $3,000 in fuel costs compared with a 20- mpg car. Compare fuel economy performance before you buy.
- Drive less. Choose alternatives to driving such as public transit, biking, walking and carpooling, and bundle your errands to make fewer trips. Choosing to live in a walkable "smart growth" community near a transportation hub will mean less time driving, less money spent on gas and less pollution in the air.
- Plant a plant !!!
Bibliography
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic
- https://www.google.com.eg/search?q=arctic&biw=1301&bih=549&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjQpuj9jezLAhVM0WMKHTPRD74Q_AUIBigB&dpr=1.05
- http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/
- http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/arctic.html
- http://www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/
- https://www.google.com.eg/search?q=arctic+and+global+warming&biw=1301&bih=549&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjA7NK9juzLAhUG22MKHfjLAkIQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1.05
- http://www.ngkids.co.uk/places/ten-facts-about-the-arctic
- http://www.defenders.org/arctic/basic-facts-about-arctic
- https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=arctic+wildlife+documentary