Essay on Arctic and Alpine Soils

The tundra is by far the coldest type of biome, as it is known for its low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Occurring primarily near the Arctic within the Northern Hemisphere, the soil may be frozen all year up to a few feet, which allows no tree growth. However, a few animals have adapted to these conditions. These animals include lemmings, hares, oxen, foxes, wolves, and more. Within the tundra biome there are two different types of tundra biomes, arctic tundra and alpine tundra.

In which mosses, lichens, and other shrubs thrive on hills and valleys in the tundra (National Geographic). Permafrost, which acts a layer of snow on the land, remains frozen year round, with the exception of summer, when the top layers thaw, while the bottom layers remain frozen (National Geographic). These soil conditions greatly hinder soil development. Despite the short growing season, plants in the tundra have learned to adapt through various ways such as, a) grouping together to resist the strong winds of the tundra, b) learning to photosynthesize in low temperatures and light intensities, while using the minimum amounts of energy and c) reproducing by less energy dependent ways (Kids Do Ecology). Like plants, animals who call the tundra home, such as caribou, arctic hares, squirrels, wolves, and polar bears, ravens etc. have also learned to adapt to life in the tundra. They have developed the ability to breed and raise their young during the summer, accumulate fat that serves as insulation, hibernate when food sources are limited, and/or migrate to other areas during the winter months (University of California Museum of Paleontology). In spite of the tundra’s frigid climate, the frozen desert still manages to have a thriving food chain from beginning to end, with producers, herbivores, omnivores and

The tundra is one of the cooldest land biomes on the planet. Due to the high winds and the permafrost there are no trees becuase it dosent allow the growth of deep roots. All the producers and othe need to get adapted to the cold temperatures, little sun and short growing season to stay alive. The tundra is considered a poor enviroment thats low in resources. The dead minerals get recycled by othe decomposers like the slime molds, fungi, and bacteria. Rain increases photosynthesis and decomposition. Air pollution kills lichen in the cold tundra. The warmer climates allow trees to invade the shade out the small tundra plants. And warmer temperatures can increase decompositon, while releasing more CO2 into the air causing mor global

Biomes are appropriate conditions for organizing the natural world because the organisms that live in them common constellations of adaptations, particularly the climate of each of the areas and the characteristic vegetation types that develops in these divisions. It should be understood that the climate is perhaps the most important in determining classes of individuals who may live in an area and the ways they should be amended to live under different conditions of temperature and precipitation and seasonal distribution of these factors element. Every place on Earth has its own climate, influenced by both macroclimate regions as the particular microclimate. The soils are very important because they are essential to determine the types of plants that will grow into a bioclimatic zone in partical, in addition, also as substrates for animals serve. In turn, the soils are heavily influenced by regional climate, as well as the geology of the bedrock. At the same time we have to keep in mind the diversity of plants like the flora just like the diversity of the fauna as well as the adaptation of both.

The project identifies and analyse how the vegetation of the area can be influenced by soil composition and climate by performing first hand investigation such as analysing soil type and grain size. It’s also about the aspects of the local environment that have been affected by people and propose realistic solutions to the problems that exist.

Holmes, Garnett, Bureau of Plant Industry United States, and Bureau of Chemistry and Soils United States. Soil Survey of The Yuma Area, Arizona-California. N.p.: Govt. print. off., 1905

“Drainage patterns, the hilliness of the ground, the range of soils, the nature of the bedrock,

These are soils consisting predominantly of unaltered mineral material that have no surface/sub-surface horizon attributed to soil forming processes (unless buried under a 730cm thick deposit from the Holocene) (Avery, 1980;). These soils do not normally have continuous vegetation cover (Avery, 1980). They occur in very recently formed soil and may have a superficial organic or organo-mineral layer less than 5cm thick. Sometimes they have a buried horizon below 30cm of depth. (Thompson, 2007; Jarvis, 1984).

The soil near the native Californian Sage plant and the invasive Crystalline Iceplant display roughly similar moisture content yet they possess significantly different pH levels. Thus, it can be concluded that the soil properties of the soil samples near the native and invasive species show both commonality and diversity.

Much of the diversity of Putney’s soils can be attributed to the movements of the Laurentide ice sheet that, 20,000 years ago, covered the region in several thousand feet of ice. As the glaciers proceeded south, they reconfigured the land’s surface layer by scraping away the existing soil. As the world’s climate warmed, the ice retreated, redepositing glacial till across the landscape. Topography played an integral role in the distribution of soil following glaciation. In the hills, this unsorted till, a collection of boulders, cobbles, gravel, sands, silt, and clay, began the slow process of pedogenisis (soil formation) as plants and animals brought life to this barren world. In the valleys, material was sorted by the water from the melting ice as it flowed down from the hills (Stewart 55). Below, in figure 1, the areas of unsorted till are represented in orange while areas of sorted sediment such as gravel, sand, outwashes,

Anyways I think mostly what my mom was trying to to do was teach us some values and even though this story is somewhat out of topic the point of the story is the area which I come from is very desirable and I guess always took it for granted until learning more about it now in this class. This region was named for its deep fertile black soils that are most commonly found in the area. At the time of discovery many witnesses that these areas once supported a vast amount of tall grass praries from big blustems, to little bluestems, indian grass, and switch grass; Now, it is mainly used for the production of forage crops (wheat and maize) and cattle ranching. Many describe the soils as dark colored alkaline clays reffered to as black gumbo and gray acidic sandy loams. However the official terminology for the types of soils available in this area fall mostly under alflsols, vertisols, and mollisols. To give a couple of brief characteristics of the types of soils, alfisols have a surface accumulation of clay and about a 35% base of

As we learned throughout the semester, northern Wisconsin was known for the vastness of hardwood forests. The forest contributed organic matter which contributed to the development of Antigo Silt Loam. It is the most extensive soil in Wisconsin and covers 300,000 acres within the northern part of the State. Areas where the land has been cleared for farming remain very productive and nutrient rich that allows for Wisconsin agricultural products to flourish. From the glacier movement into Wisconsin, the flat landscape makes this a fantastic soil for growing crops. In the Yi-Fu Tuan article it states, “Location also a factor in the state’s restrained topography. At one time or another during the last million years, much of Wisconsin lay in the path of continental ice sheets, which dampened vertical topographic differences by removing the obtruding heights and filling up the valleys.” The typical

In this investigation I will be using two different climates, The Desert and The Arctic

Erosion removes the surface soils, containing most of the organic matter, plant nutrients, and fine soil particles, which help to retain water and nutrients in the root zone where they are available to plants. Thus it affects the productivity of plants. The remaining, the subsoil, tends to be less fertile, less absorbent and less able to retain pesticides, fertilizers, and other plant nutrients. There are over 17,000 soil types recognized worldwide. They vary widely in structure, erodibility, fertility, and ability to produce crops. A generalized soil profile for a humid, temperate climate is showed. When the natural vegetation is cleared for agriculture, soils become exposed to erosion and loss of soil fertility. The removal of the above-ground natural

Soil genesis is the process the mantle of a planet has undergone to decompose to the state we see today. For simplicity, people refer to this as weathering. While weather does have a hand in the process of soil formation, it is not the only environmental factor at play. Soil (S) is a function of climate (c), organisms (o), relief (r), parent material (p), and time (t). This relationship can be expressed as a formula: