Tundra Energy Flow Chart Arctic Willow Bacteria

Tundra Energy Flow Chart Arctic Willow Bacteria Lemming Arctic Wolves Snowy Owl The base of the tundra ecosystem's energy flow is the Arctic willow, a small aquatic plant which grows because of a bacterial process in which nutrients from its body are returned to the surrounding soil. Because animals are unable to derive solar energy directly from sunlight in the tundra, they are forced to depend entirely on plants, which absorb solar energy and utilize it through the process of photosynthesis.

Small rodents like lemmings are primary consumers, feeding on many small plant species which live in the tundra, and this is an evolutionarily ideal way of obtaining the energy it needs to survive. Snowy owls are among the secondary consumers in the tundra ecosystem and these birds of prey are very opportunistic predators, feeding on these lemmings and absorbing their energy from digesting raw meat.

Differing from the owl species found in other biomes, such as barn owls, snowy owls refrain from perching on trees because of the confines of their tundra environs. Instead, they make their nests on the frozen ground, making snowy owls a relatively easy prey item for the Arctic wolf, which is the tundra's tertiary consumer. Arctic wolves represent the apex predator in the uniquely harsh natural climate of the tundra.

When any of the animals in the ecosystem eventually die as a result of disease or predation, the bacteria in standing water and ever present permafrost quickly work to decompose the body and return essential nutrient to the soil. These nutrients then encourage the growth of Arctic willow and other small plant species, thus completing the natural cycle. Because it is the coldest of Earth's natural climate zones, and one of the most extreme, the tundra biome is one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world.

Every member of the tundra food chain is interdependent on the other, either directly or indirectly, simply because of a lack of alternative food sources. If there are no grasses, shrubs and.