The document discusses the key features of polar regions, tundra, and taiga biomes. It describes the polar regions as located around the North and South Poles, with freezing temperatures year-round. Tundra is found in the Arctic and has a short growing season with shrubs, mosses, and sedges. Taiga is the boreal forest found in northern regions, with coniferous trees and cold winters with snow. Common animals in these regions include polar bears, caribou, and birds that migrate seasonally.

1. Polar Region POLAR link PPt. by, Robin D. Seamon

2. Arctic: (N Pole) Antarctica: (South Pole) COLDER than N. Pole; ground is always frozen, covered in snow & ice At the poles (N. Pole is magnetic!) Months of daylight in summer; months of night in the winter due to the earth’s tilt

3. Polar ice caps high frozen, latitude region Glaciers: rivers of frozen water Icebergs: frozen chunks of fresh water in the ocean; much deeper under the water Permafrost: permanently frozen ground Global warming is melting the ice!

5. http://express.howstuffworks.com/gif/wq-iceberg-underwater.jpg

6. Where are the POLAR REGIONS?

7. NO PLANTS IN THE POLAR REGIONS

8. ANIMALS in the Polar Regions: Polar bears, walrus, seal: Arctic Penguins, seal: Antarctica

9. Polar Region TESTING THE SNOW video (Man vs. Wild) Building an IGLOO (Man vs. Wild)

10. TUNDRA

11. Tundra: vast, treeless land in the Arctic Region at North Pole; A COLD desert! average temperature is -70 °F; very windy Ground is frozen 10 inches to 3 feet Months of night time in the Winter, months of daylight in the summer

12. WHERE are TUNDRAS? N. American Tundra, Scandinavian Tundra, Russian Tundra (Siberia)

13. PLANTS in the TUNDRA: the growing season is only 50-60 days long! Shrubs Sedges Mosses Lichens Grasses

14. ANIMALS in the TUNDRA: Caribou, musk oxen, wolverines, polar bears, snowshoe rabbits, Migratory birds: pipers, plovers, harlequin ducks FACT: tundra mosquitos replace water in bodies with glycerol so as not to freeze!

15. http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/006/cache/musk-ox_640_600x450.jpg http://www.stapelknives.com/reveurl_story.html http://www.hauserbears.com/uploads/news/id86/polar-bear-family.jpg

16. ENVIRONMENTAL NOTES: FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM!!! Biomass sinks : takes in more carbon dioxide than it puts out Plants freeze & can’t decompose, therefore millions of years old plant material is frozen in the permafrost. PROBLEM: Global Warming is melting the permafrost, releasing the carbon dioxide! … greenhouse gas !

17. People are going there to mine & drill for oil Alaskan pipeline runs across a caribou migration route Roads/ towns built for miners & drillers Animals’ feeding patterns are disrupted; many polar bears (top of food chain predator) starve

18. Pesticides are sprayed for insects but also harm the migratory birds Pollution from the mines is harming the air, land & water in the fragile tundra environment Man… erosion SURVIVAL in the Snow

19. TAIGA http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/denali-fall-foliage-taiga-1393-pictures.htm http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/ecoregions/50607.htm

20. TAIGA : Russian word for “forest” needle-leaf forest in the North ( boreal forest ) -65 ° F (winter) to 70 ° F (summer) Coldness & food shortages Cold, snowy winters Warm, humid summers

21. Where is the TAIGA? N. America, Europe, Asia

22. ANIMALS in the Taiga: Many hibernate during the winter Some migrate south in winter Millions of insects in the summer Birds migrate there for insects in the summer Lynx, wolverine, bobcat, snowshoe rabbit, squirrel, red deer, moose, elk

23. Surviving the Rapids: Man vs. Wild

24. PLANTS in the TAIGA: Evergreen trees (conifers) Wildfires: thick tree bark

25. POLAR REGION

26. TUNDRA: Vegetation: lichens , mosses, sedges , perennial forbs , and dwarfed shrubs , (often heaths , but also birches and willows). Herbivores: musk oxen, pikas, arctic hares, caribou, lemming, Primary carnivore: arctic fox, bear Secondary carnivore: arctic wolves, snowy owls,

27. Polar Region

28. Polar Region