Arctic Ecosystem in dAngeR
History
The Arctic has fascinated tons of explorers and scientists throughout history due to its mysterious and forbidden treasure. The Arctic is located in the northernmost part of the Earth, it consists of the ice covered Arctic Ocean and is surrounded by land such as Greenland, northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Russia, etc. therefore the land is known to be among the coldest place on earth along with the Antarctic. Although of the harsh conditions the Arctic is home to many such as fish, marine mammals, birds, land animals, and very few humans who grown to adapt to extreme conditions. The Arctic is very underestimated but, because the the place is sensitive to climate change, it existence is yet to be determined with years to come which has made it such an environmental study.
Evolutional History
ECOSYSTEM MAP
Food Chain / Food Web
Specialist: Arctic Fox
The Arctic fox can adopt to any environment it is thrown to.
Generalist: Polar bear
The Polar bear can only live in the cold weather with land and water since its main food resource are seals.
Examples:
Interspecific competition: the competition between the polar bears and the whales is fierce since they both feed from the seals. Competing for survival gets harsh between the two with the seal being their food source.
Predation: the polar bears diet is mainly only seals at times it can scavenge of whales when food resources are harsh. Also when food is scarce the polar bear will eat anything from birds to fox even their own Cubs! Which indicates the harsh conditions in the Arctic.
Paratism: it can be seen in liver tapeworms cysts. The tapeworm cysts grow of the body's of wolves, caribou, or mooses. They feed of the body of the animal in order to stay alive and get energy.
Mutalism: lichen is an example of mutalism. Lichen is composed of fungus and green algae it is an organism. Algae uses photosynthesis therefore it reduces carbon dioxide into sugar that feeds the fungus along with algae itself. It retains water and helps obtain minerals.
Commensalism: due to the environment the Arctic doesn't have much vegetation growth therefore it isn't a common factor in the Arctic. The Arctic fox digs a whole in order to reach mammals for feeding.
K-Selected Species: Killer Whale
The Killer whale is a K selected species because their life span is from 29 years old for a female and 17 for a male living up to adulthood. Although they live a good life their offspring is very few females whales rarely have one baby every five years.
R-Selected Species: Squid
The squid is an r-selected specie because it's life span is about 2-3 years and it lays tons of eggs.
Arctic Biome
Primary and Secondary Sucession
The earth was once all connected therefore when the earth started to get warm the glaciers speared from the rocks and the lifeless land. After the separation it took the lichens a while to grow back once the lichen broke rocks and from the decaying lichens they formed soil again. From the weather conditions small plants grew. Dust and rocks would mix together and more soil grew. From the significant grow of soil more plants are able to grow and create land. Since the land separated due to a natural event in life the soil and other comments split up, the soil was already present in the land therefore plants could grow and be reproduced.
Geological features
The Arctic consists of low plateaus, lowland plains, and mountain chains between the lands. On the surface the low costal plains are swampy during the summer since it is technically hot in the Arctic when in reality it is freezing for us but, this espically takes place in rivers, icy mountains, and hush ice plateaus. The highlands are from those of its surrounding from Greenland, Russia, Alaska, Canada, etc. since ice is such a main factor of the Arctic for the survival of animals, plants, etc. coastal erosion due to global warming is causing the Arctic to transform its land every year.
Freshwater or salt water?
The Arctic Ocean is in fact both salt and freshwater. Like most oceans the freshwater a sits on top of the salt water. A very thing layer covers the entire ocean sense it is less dense, therefore the salt water is below the fresh water.
Disaster
Everyone knows the Arctic is home to tons of animals and living organisms but, does everyone know the harsh condition these animals are trying to go through to survive? Due to the temperature rising the ice is melting leaving less room for the animals to live, hunt, or live their average daily life's. Could you imagine being short land each year or more importantly less food to survive each year? No you can't so why do that to these poor creatures by damaging our earth causing global warming were stripping away the homes of the mammals and organisms living in the Arctic. A huge factor is due to the high demand for food mammals of the same species are starting to feed of their own specie in order to survive. The harsh situations the animals in the Arctic are going through portray the harsh environment they live in and for many their is no other place to live in but, in the Arctic. The Arctic temperature is two to three times greater than it needs to be compared to the rest of the world. Due to the temperature at any moment the Arctic can no longer exist and the ice could all disappear.