Transcript Arctic Biodiversity - Life Sciences Outreach at Harvard

The Arctic
Summer 2010 Workshop
in Biology and Multimedia
for High School Teachers
Where is the Arctic?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Arctic
_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg/541pxArctic_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arctica_surface.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sunny_Skies_over_the_Arctic_in_Late_June_2010.jpg
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers
Arctic Biodiversity
What does the arctic look like?
There are two main parts of the arctic-the arctic
ocean and the arctic tundra. This presentation will
focus on the tundra, but hear are some ocean
photos too!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Banquise_img_5961.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polar_bears_near_no
rth_pole.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1YrIceFlow.png
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers
Arctic Biodiversity
The Tundra!
http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubor:Tundra_coastal_vegetation_Alaska.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NorthSlopeAlaska_L7_20010616.jpg
False color satellite image of the north slope of Alaska. At
the bottom is the Brooks Range with several major rivers
flowing north across tundra to the arctic ocean, which is
covered in sea ice. Light blues are snow and ice, dark blue is
open water, green is vegetation, pink is bare ground.
Alaskan tundra looking south the Brooks range. The tundra
is largely flat with low vegetation and frequent large ponds.
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI
Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for
Biology Teachers
Arctic Biodiversity
What lives on the tundra?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Hare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_fox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_owl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladonia_rangiferina
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_goose
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxifraga_oppositifolia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassiope_tetragona
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_willow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk_oxen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyria_digyna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribou
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inupiat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene_acaulis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptarmigan
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen
Activity!
• Use the cards provided by your teacher to
research the flora and fauna of the tundra.
• Now use your cards to build a basic trophic
pyramid for the tundra.
• Now make a food web with your cards.
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI
Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for
Biology Teachers
How will climate
change alter Arctic
biodiversity?
• Remember that all ecosystems respond over
time to local abiotic factors (climate).
• Now lets look at how the tundra might
respond to modern climate change.
• First we will look at evidence for
anthropogenic climate change and then at a
case study of how climate change may alter
the arctic tundra ecosystem.
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI
Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for
Biology Teachers
Climate Change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png
Global average temperature over the last 2000+ years.
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers
Climate Change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Instrumental_Temperature_Record.png
Global average temperature over the last 130 years.
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers
Climate Change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Satellite_Temperatures.png
Global average temperature over the last 35 years. Note that while there is
variation between years (some warm and some cold) the overall upward
trend over time is clear. Climate is defined as the 30 year average of local
weather, therefore this 35 year record shows a clear warming of the global
climate.
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers
Climate Change
Climate Change
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations for the last 50 years
(left) and global average surface temperature for the last 35 years
(right).
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI
Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for
Biology Teachers
Climate Change
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Greenhouse_Effect.svg
The greenhouse effect: Solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth. The earth then radiates infrared light (heat) back towards space. Greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, absorb some of
this heat and store that energy in the atmosphere. This process makes the atmosphere warm
enough for life to exist all over the planet.
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers
Climate Change
Attribution of climate change to human greenhouse gas emissions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GHG_per_capita_2005.png
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI
Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for
Biology Teachers
Climate Change
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Warming_Predictions_Map.jpg
Note that the high arctic tundra is projected to warm more than any other
terrestrial biome, potentially up to 5.5°C!
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI
Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for
Biology Teachers
Final Activity!
Print these quotes and cut out each one. Now arrange them in an order that leads
to a logical argument about the effects of climate change on this ecosystem.
Depending on your result, rearrange your food web diagram to show how the
tundra system might change as a result of climate change. Discuss with the class.
• “The arctic fox and the snowy owl have been declining through the last
decade . . .”
• “. . . generalist predators like the red fox seem to be spreading northward .
. .”
• “Intense winter breeding, leading to rapid population growth under the
snow, precedes peak years in arctic lemmings . . . . Seasonal peak
densities are then reached in the spring.”
• “For small mammals, deep snow offers protections both from low ambient
temperatures and from many predators.”
• “In areas with short winters and a shallow snow cover, it seems that voles
[and lemmings] always decline to very low populations densities in the
spring.”
• “Specialist predators [like the snowy owl and arctic fox] depend on a high
density of of prey [lemmings] in the spring to breed successfully.”
• “Models of climate change predict that winters in the Arctic will become
considerably warmer and more variable . . . .”
Ims, Rolf A., Eva Fuglei. Trophic Interaction Cycles in Tundra Ecosystems and the Impact of Climate Change. BioScience. April
2005/Vol. 55 No.4. Accessed on 7/17/10 at http://www.arcus.org/alaskafws/downloads/pdf/general_arctic_change/Ims2005.pdf
Harvard University Life Sciences - HHMI Outreach Summer 2010 Workshop for Biology Teachers