BIOL 2903 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Tyrrell Sea, Thicket, Desiccation
14 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
When tide goes out, vast mudflats provide important feeding sites for sandpipers & plovers. Least sandpiper, hudsonian godwits diff bill sizes allow for niche partitioning. Farther inland, tundra = higher & drier. When growth>decomposition, moss layer thickens, creating its own form of soil : organic soil e. g. peatland. Lichen plateaus (lichen fields: reindeer lichens caribous eat them. Woodland caribou have been called lichen burners b/c of their fondness of lichens. Caribou migrate from hudson bay lowland & boreal forest to tundra in late spring; after summer, they head back south. Woodland caribou adaptations: small extremities, large hooved feet. What birds would you not find here: horned lark, american pipit, longspurs, snow bunting (in winter) Dunlin, least sandpipers nest on sedge & moss hummocks. Willow ptarmigan stay year-round turn pure white in winter, have fully-feathered feet. Offers severe challenges for plants: cold, permafrost, wind, lack of nutrients, short growing seasons (< 140 days)
