Tundra

Arctic
0-25 cm rain
Very short burst of summer
Vegetation: small stunted plants, sedges,
heather, dwarf willow
Animals: Musk oxen, caribou, lemmings, white
fox
Migrate or adapted to tundra climate
Permafrost: soil is frozen most of the year
Fig. 42-21a, p.766
Fig. 42-21c, p.766
 Credit: Patrick J. Endres/Visuals Unlimited 301450

Arctic tundra biome in summer, Alaska Range Mountains, Denali National Park, Alaska.
 Aquatic ecosystem primary productivity
is determined by several factors
Penetration of sunlight
Water temperature
Nutrients
Salinity
Dissolved gases
 Lakes and ponds
Sunlight
The upper layer receives the most sunlight and is thus the
most productive
This also affects temperature
Temperature
Gradient of temperatures (summer)
Warmest on the surface
Cools through the thermocline
Cold through the bottom layers
Seasonal cycling due to temperature changes
Mixes gasses from the atmosphere and nutrients from the
sediment
 Rivers and streams
Light penetration changes depending on
vegetation growing on the river banks
Water is constantly moving resulting in currents
that
Deliver food
Remove wastes
Renew oxygen
Food web producers include
Leaves and other plant parts which fall into the water
Some algae and aquatic plants
Fig. 42-25a, p.769
Fig. 42-25b, p.769
 Wetlands and intertidal zones
Saturated soils at some point
Ranging from daily (tides) to yearly (flood plains)
Benefits
Flood control
Filters the water
Slow down erosion
Vegetation is adapted to being submerged in
water
Provide habitat for wild life
Fig. 43.28, p. 740
 Credit: Fritz Polking/Visuals Unlimited 211675

Alligator Flag, Cypress forest wetland, Cork Screw Swamp, South Florida.
 Credit: Theo Allofs/Visuals Unlimited 275778

A Mangrove forest at Cape Tribulation, Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia.

 Reefs
Form as living corals build a hard structure
around themselves
Mutualistic relationship between the coral
polyps and photosynthetic protists
(dinoflagellates)
Color of coral comes from the photosynthetic protist
Stressful changes in the ecosystem results in the loss
of the protists
Provides habitat for a wide variety of aquatic
organisms
Fig. 43.30, p. 741
Fig. 43.31, p. 741
 Credit: Reinhard Dirscherl/Visuals Unlimited 275524

Lyretail anthias.
 Oceans
Light penetration similar to lakes
Thermocline
Wind and water currents mix the water
Temperature
Gasses
Nutrients
Food webs
Grazing in the top layers
Detritus in lower layers
At the bottom there are a few thermal vent communities
relying on chemosynthesis by bacteria
Fig. 42-30a, p.773
Fig. 42-30b, p.773
 Biosphere
Climate
Topography
Soils
Biomes
Desert, Chaparral, Grass lands, Forests,
Tundra
Aquatic Ecosystems