Human Impact

• Climate Change
• Climate change is affecting all the life that is in the biome
• region is fragile, so plants and animals are negatively impacted
• takes millions of years for animals to change and adapt

• search for fossil fuel
• oil
• dangers of pipeline due to permafrost

pipeline

deep-water drilling

• Trash and waste

• Global Warming 

Life in the Arctic

Plants and Animals: (sensitive because they require a very specific habitat)

Low Diversity

• Animals: caribou, musk ox, polar bear, ptarmigan, arctic fox

• 

  Arctic Fox
  

  

  Ptarmigan Bird

  

  Polar Bear
  

  

  Musk Ox

Caribou

• Plants: primary consists of mosses and lichens because they don't have to establish a deep root
• although they are not aesthetically pleasing, they can resist the harsh weather condition 

Specific to Alaska

With the description basic description of what an arctic tundra is, it is clear that Alaska would be a prime example of this biome. The spatial coverage of Alaska is 586,400 square miles. Because the area is so highly elevated, certain areas receive sunlight constantly in the summer. In the contrary, during the winter, they receive almost no sunlight. (AASC)

Introduction

The arctic tundra biome occurs where it is cold and is located at high latitudes. Arctic tundra’s have long days where sometimes, the sun does not set for several days.  Another common distinction arctic tundra’s have is that there is very low precipitation. Because the weather is so cold in the arctic, land is formed from glaciers melting thousands of years ago and therefore, making the soil quality poor which causes a low variety of plants. In addition to the poor soil quality, the land is usually has permafrost where plants have a difficult time growing. Similarly, animals have learned to adapt to the cold weather and live in the arctic. The arctic tundra biome is unique because of its distinctive features from the rest of the biomes.

http://www.alaska101.com/exploreAlaska/northtt/alaska_travel_northtt.htm