How is human behavior affect the tundra

1. Teacher: Salve Mae A. Suelo
SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER
instructional video
GOOD MORNING STUDENTS!

2. Human Impact on
Alaskan Tundra

3. Define what is Tundra?
In physical geography, Tundra is an area where the
tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and
short growing seasons.
Tundra (from the Finnish term “Tunturi” means
“treeless heights”) refers to the treeless ecosystem
where winters are long and cold, and summers are
short and (usually) chilly.

4. Tundra is usually refers only to the areas
where the subsoil is permafrost, or
permanently frozen soil

5. Three (3) types of Tundra:
1)Arctic Tundra (high latitude tundra)
2)Antarctic Tundra
3)Alpine Tundra (high altitude tundra)

6. ARCTIC TUNDRA
Arctic tundra is a landscape of
amazing contrasts.
View it from a distance, or visit in
midwinter, and you might think it
is barren. It’s not. Though treeless
and often bitter cold.

7. ANTARCTIC TUNDRA
 The Antarctic tundra is very similar to the Arctic, only it is located on Antarctica and its surrounding
islands such as the Falkland Islands.
 Much of Antarctica's resources are either predicted or inaccessible because of the inability to explore
the continent thoroughly due to its harsh conditions.
 Natural Resources:
 Antarctic Ice contains the world's largest source of fresh water
 Coal and Petroleum reserves
 Minerals such as cobalt and nickel
 Environmental Threats:
 -Global warming is causing the melting of Antarctic ice
 -Ozone depletion at the poles allows harmful ultraviolet radiation
 -Air pollution contaminates lichen


8. Alpine Tundra
 The Alpine Tundra is much like Arctic, only it is at elevations above the tree line. It occurs in mountains
around the world such as the White Mountains pictured below.
 Producers: grasses, sedges, and forbs
 Primary consumers (Herbivores): chipmunks and pika
 Secondary Consumers (Omnivores/Carnivores): badgers and marmots
 Tertiary Consumers (Carnivores): bobcats and coyotes
 Decomposers: earth worms

9. • As you travel from Alaska’s interior toward its
northern or western coast, you’ll see a dramatic
transition.
• In flat areas such as the coastal plains, the
landscape is dotted with small lakes, or divided
into strange geometric patterns.
• The country feels grand and limitless stretching
to the horizon of the broad sky

10. What is the Human Impact on the
Alaskan Tundra?
Human impact on the tundra has generally not been a
positive one. Because the tundra is such a delicate
environment, even the slightest change in conditions can
threaten the entire biome.
The overhunting of endangered species in the early 1900s
resulted in the eradication of animals such as the muxk
oxen in the Alaskan tundra, which sailors coveted for food
and clothing .

11. Human Impact in Alaskan Tundra
Global Warming
Oil Drilling
Overdevelopment
Air Pollution

12. What causes Tundra
Lack of Trees
Cold
Seasons
Precipitation
wind

13. Lack of Trees
The defining characteristics of tundra is lack of trees.
Scientist cannot point to a single factor that limits tree growth;
rather it is a combination of factors:
a.Growing seasons are too short for plants that produce wood,
b.Strong persistent winds that desiccate and abrade plant
tissues
c.Permafrost that prevents roots from reaching deeply enough
into the soil to provide support
d.And, cold soils that slow decomposition and nutrient cycling

14. COLD
One of the climatic conditions that give
rise to tundra is cold air temperatures. But
it’s not just winter’s cold that shapes this
ecosystem.
Rather, it’s the chilly average temperatures
which limit plant growth and encourage the
formation of permafrost.

15. SEASONS
In Alaska’s Arctic and near- Arctic, seasonal changes are
dramatic. In midsummer, when the Earth’s northern pole is
tilted toward the sun, days are tremendously long-in fact,
from the Arctic Circle north, the landscape can be bathed
in sunlight 24 hours day around the time of summer
solstice.
But as the Earth revolves around the sun towards winter,
the pole tilts further and further from the sun; days
shorten, and shorten-until midwinter, when, north of the
Arctic Circle, there are days when the sun does not rise
above the horizon at all.

16. PRECIPITATION
Alaska’s Tundra gets very little snow or
rain- it’s sometimes called a “cold
desert”. Annual precipitation at Barrow
located on the tundra-covered Coastal
Plain, is around 4 inches-far less than
annual rainfall of the Mojave Desert

17. WIND
Tundra also a windy space.
The contrast in temperature between the land and
the ocean creates persistent breezes that sweep
across the treeless landscape.
Some tundra plants and animals are specially
adapted to minimize wind damage. Some animals,
however, actually seek out wind-scoured areas,
where travel is easier and forage plants are more
accessible

18. ACTIVITY AND ASSIGNMENT
 LIST DOWN ALL THE CAUSES OF TUNDRA AND
DISCUSS IT IN THE CLASS
 WHAT IS YOUR POINT OF YOU ABOUT OUR
TOPIC?
 ASSIGNMENT:
 GIVE SOME WAYS TO TAKE CARE OUR ENVIRONMENT

19. ANY QUESTION?
CLARIFICATIONS?
OKAY, CLASS DISMISS!