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Polar ecology is the relationship between plants and animals in a polar environment. Polar environments are in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Arctic regions are in the Northern Hemisphere , and it contains land and the islands that surrounds it.
Notable animals include reindeer (caribou), musk ox, Arctic hare, Arctic fox, snowy owl, ptarmigan, northern red-backed voles, lemmings, the mosquito, [11] and even polar bears near the ocean. [10] [12] Tundra is largely devoid of poikilotherms such as frogs or lizards.
Unlike the tundra that can support plant and animal life in the summer, polar deserts are largely barren environments, comprising permanent, flat layers of ice; [2] due to the scarcity of liquid water, the same is also true of the few ice-free areas.
Many desert animals (and plants) show especially clear evolutionary adaptations for water conservation or heat tolerance and so are often studied in comparative physiology, ecophysiology, and evolutionary physiology. One well-studied example is the specializations of mammalian kidneys shown by desert-inhabiting species. [81]
The large animals often migrate between the two, and smaller animals are expected to be able to spread via underwater currents. [8] However, among smaller marine animals generally assumed to be the same in the Antarctica and the Arctic, more detailed studies of each population have often—but not always—revealed differences, showing that ...
In addition to species such as lichens, cotton grass, and Arctic willows, shrubs, sedges, lichens, mosses, and vascular plants dominate the tundra plant community (Folch and Camarasa 2000). Despite the tundra eco-region's reputation of being a cold and desolate ‘polar desert’, it is actually a varying landscape supporting a diverse amount ...
- The polar vortex doesn't always mean snow: Temperatures on the ground still have to be cold enough for snow production. If the atmosphere is too dry or too warm, you'll miss out on the snow.
Many animals obtain energy by eating the surrounding vegetation, however, desert plants are much more difficult for organisms to consume. [10] To avoid intense temperatures, the majority of small desert mammals are nocturnal, living in burrows to avoid the intense desert sun during the daytime.