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The Tundramedia type="custom" key="5715637" align="right" By: Alexa Kimker and Elisa Simonsen

Research Question: 100 years from now if the landfills are still leaching, how will the organisms in the Tundra be affected?

Sub Questions: 1. What is a landfill? 2. What is leaching out of the landfills? 3. How does it effect autotrophs and heterotrophs? 4.What will the landscape look like? 5. How can you prevent it?  [|Canadian tundra] The Tundra, located in the northern part of the world, is an empty area with very little vegetation. It is cold most of the year but has a very beautiful scene. Because it is cold many people do not go their unless they are a scientists and care to study more about the tundra. But after looking at our webpage about the tundra you will know everything there is and have no need to go. :)

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*Orange coloring indicates tundra

The Canadian Tundra is a "vast area of stark landscape"(Terraformerrs). It is "796,500 sq. km (307,500 sq. miles)"(Canadian). The ground is frozen which makes it impossible for trees to grow. Very few plants are able to survive but some are mosses, heaths and lichens that grow on rocks. Not many animals can survive in this climate so the biodiversity of the tundra is low.

The current threat to this biome is permafrost, a cause of global warming."When the permafrost melts, it releases carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas" (Terraformerrs). In decades or centuries from now that area will radically change because of the permafrost and possibly different species and humans could inhabit the area. Better invest in property now!

Abiotic Factors: __Climate-__ The temperature ranges from dropping to -70°C (-94°F) in the winter and rising to 12 °C (54°F) in the summer. "In the summer, temperatures rise and the top layer of the permafrost melts, leaving the ground very soggy." The Tundra is a windy area with winds blowing up to 48–97 km/h. The precipitation is of mostly snow but very minimal with approximatley 150–250 mm falling a year. The animals can survive in this weather because they have thick fur and a special coating on their skin to keep them warm (Terraformers).

__Soil-__ During the summer, "the permafrost thaws just enough to let plants grow and reproduce, but because the ground below this is frozen, the water cannot sink any lower." Because of that lakes and marshes form during the summer months(Terraformers). __Snow-__ Most of the animals that live in the tundra, for example the arctic hare are white furred which helps them camouflauge in with the snow. In the summer they turn a brownish grey color with their white fur beneath (Animals).

__Water-__ The snowy owl when looking for food soars high above and goes into the water to feed on fish and crustaceans (Animals).

__Sun-__ The caribou eats lichen and moss off of rocks because it is very nutritious and eats a lot of it. Lichen and moss can grow because of the sun light and is one of the only types of plants that can survive in the tundra (Animals).

[|Snow in canadian tundra] [|Lichen on a rock]

__Biotic Factors:__ There are only "1700 species of flora and 48 land mammals that can be found" (Terraformerrs). Few fish also live in the tundra such as the flat fish. Larger populations of animals in the arctic tundra are caribou, musk ox, arctic hare and snowy owl. Many of the plants that grow in the Tundra tend to grow low to the ground or in a dwarf form. (The Tundra)

Some of the animals include: __The Arctic Fox-__ a scanvenger that will follow the Polar Bears and feed on what they leave behind. __The Caribou-__ scrapes away snow with their strong wide feet and eats "lichens, dried sedges and small shrubs" In the summer they will eat willow leaves, flowering tundra plants and mushrooms. __The Ermine-__ eats rabbits, small insects and rodents. Ermines have sharp teeth and because of this they are able to catch animals larger than their size. When ground is covered in snow the ermine will hunt under snow for small rodents. __The Musk Ox-__ feeds on willow and bearberry. __The Snowy Owl-__ feeds on arctic fox, lemmings, rabbits and voles. (Schaffner)

[|Caribou] [|Ermine] [|Arctic fox] [|Musk Ox]

__Food Web and Pyramid:__ = =

New Food Web:



__Sub Questions:__

A landfill is a noun that is "a method of solid waste disposal in which refuse is buried between layers of dirt so as to fill in or reclaim low-lying ground." (Dictionary) In other words a landfill is a large pile where people and companies dump their trash. Coming out of the landfill is a substance called leachate. Leachate is a combination of "nitrogen, iron, organic carbon, manganese, chloride and phenols. Other chemicals including pesticides, solvents and heavy metals may also be present." Leachate gathers at the bottom of the landfill. When it rains the water runs through the landfill gathering all the chemicals from the trash. It then poses a threat of getting into the ground water. Ground water is 40-90% of organisms' water supply. The leachate can either be really harmful or not harmful at all. (What is landfill leachate). Humans, consumers, are being affected by the leaching landfills. Canadians only recycle about two percent of their batteries, which means thousands of them land in the landfills. Batteries contain heavy metals that leach into drinking water. The lead inside the batteries is "known to impair intelligence in children" and "mercury can damage the human nervous system" (Earth Island Journal). The chemicals also effect the animals. When plants and animals are exposed to too much chlorine if can begin to effect their immune system, the blood, the heart and the respitory system of the animals. Chlorine is espically harmful to the plants living in the soil. Also there is methane in the leachate. Methane can cause explosive mixtures when mixed with certain chemicals in the air (Chlorine). Also, The chemical phenol is very dangerous to the animals. When there is high amounts of phenol in the air and is breathed in it can cause irritation of the lungs. If this happens repeated it can induce "muscle tremors and loss of coordination. Exposure to high concentrations of phenol in the air for several weeks causes paralysis and severe injury to the heart, liver, kidneys, and lungs, and in some cases, death. Some animals that drink water with very high concentrations of phenol suffer muscle tremors and loss of coordination. " What would the tundra look like in 100 years. Well, The permafrost that is happening now in the canadian tundra will make a severe threat to the tundra. "Melting of the permafrost in a given area ... could radically change which species can survive there" (Terraformers). Also in the tundra it is a concern about the treeline. "Brian Starzomski, a post-doc researcher, is focusing on White Spruce growing beyond the treeline in the Yukon. He’s also monitoring how bird communities change as they move across the treeline in Labrador." Because of the warmer climate it "causes the treeline to simply expand beyond where it is currently found, both further north, and higher up on mountains" (Watching Treeline). “The general expectation is increased growth and reproduction as a result of warming climate that causes the treeline to simply expand beyond where it is currently found, both further north, and higher up on mountains,” says Dr. Starzomski. “So, the treeline expands. Darker trees absorb more solar radiation, leading to more warming. This leads to further expansion and the creation of a positive feedback cycle.” (Watching treeline). To prevent leachate from leaching out the landfills, "landfill sites must now have an impermeable layer at the bottom. The landfill <span class="yellowFadeInnerSpan" style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">leachate <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> that collects at the bottom must be monitored and treated if required. This liquid can be treated in a similar manner to sewage, and the treated water can then be safely released into the environment." But some of the older landfills do not have this layer of protectint or it is damaged. The only way to fix this is to dig up the landfill and move to a new area with the layer or to put the layer in and then re-fill it. But the cost to dig it up is expensive and most of the time it is left alone. But even when it is fixed most of the time the damage is already done and cannot be fixed (What is landfill leachate). Also, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, "the average American produces about 4.4 pounds of garbage a day, or a total of 29 pounds per week and 1,600 pounds a year. This only takes into consideration the average household member and does not count industrial waste or commercial trash." Out of all the garbage produced in America alone, you could cover the state of Texas two and half times. Or form a line of filled-up garbage trucks and reach the moon. Or bury more than 990,000 football fields under six-foot high piles of waste. Americans alone throw away enough aluminum to duplicate the full commercial air fleet of the US. Most of the trash in a landfill is "packaging, especially in the form of fast-food containers, but office paper, disposable diapers, Styrofoam inserts, and plain plastic bags" In fact paper waste makes up 35% of a landfill when that paper is recyclable. If you recycle newspaper, aluminum containers, and certain plastics then you will be saving space in landfills. Another way is to reduce the amount of garbage you produce. To do this you can buy less, buying things in smaller packaging, and reusing what you already have. Also buying used is great because you do not produce additional waste. Clothes, furniture, and electronics can be reused. So give them to a second-hand store or pass them on to friend and you will be slowly saving the environment. (Dennis)

[|Landfill]

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">Conclusion: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Leaching landfills can cause a lot of damage to not only the landscape and the organisms that live there. A landfill is an ugly thing and it ruins the beauty of the landscape. Also as you read above the chemicals in the landfill hurt the animals and can sometimes slowly and painfully kill them. Before the leaching landfills the animals were surviving and living their lives. The landscape was beautiful and thriving. But with the leachate the animals are slowly dying and the landscape isnt as beautiful. The ermine,lemming,artic hare,artic fox,arctic ground squirrel and the snowy owl will most likely die off becasue they have smaller immune systems. The phenol and chlorine will effect the smaller animals more because their immune system is smaller. Therefore if they get the same amount of chemicals as the larger animals (the musk ox and the caribou) then they will die and the larger animals will only be damaged becasue their immune system is smaller and it cant handle as much. The food pyramid will be serious damaged becasue the only thing being eaten will be the plants. The musk ox and the caribou will eat the plants and when the plants die off from the chemicals and being eaten the musk ox and caribou will die as well. In the end their will be no animals or plants living in the Tundra. The abiotic factors wont be able to save the animals and the water will make it worse. When the leachate leaks into the ground water which is drinking water the animals will be exposed to more leachate than from just the air. The Tundra is doomed and the only it can be saved is to recycle and follow the tips mentioned above. Dont let your beautiful, icey Tundra be ruined.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: center;">Work Cited: <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">"Animals of the Arctic." Arctic Animals//. N.p., 1998. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. <http://library.thinkquest.org/3500/>.//

//Canada. Canadian Tundra Conservation Foundation. "Canadian Tundra."// Canadian Tundra//.// Terraformerrs Canadian Tundra Conservation Foundation <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">. Google, Sugar Baby Ink, M-W, Joomla Bear, Pearl Group, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. [].

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">"Canadian Low Arctic Tundra." <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left;">http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/cl.htm.

//Dennis. "How much garbage does a person create?"// Wise Geek//. Wise Geek, 2003. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. <http://www.wisegeek.com/how-much-garbage-does-a-person-create-in-one-year.htm>.//

Dictionary.Com//. Ask.com Service, 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/landfill>.//

//"Environmental Problems:Landfills."// Love to Know//. Green Living, 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. <http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Environmental_Problems:_Landfills>.//

Earth Island Journal//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. <http://76.12.47.118. eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=1160&journalID=93>.//

Frieden, Thomas R. "ToxFAQs of Phenol." //ATSDR//. ATSDR, 18 Feb. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. <http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts115.html#bookmark03>.

//Schaffner, Brynn, and Kenneth Robinson. "Blue Planet Biomes."// Blue Planet Biomes//. N.p., 2009. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.<http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/tundra_animal_page.htm>.//

//- - -. "What is landfill Leachate?"// Wise Geek//. Wise Geek, 2003. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-landfill-leachate.htm>. ​