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...

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…