Tuesday 9 April 2013

Biotic and abiotic factors of Antarctica

ABIOTIC FACTORS
  • 44% is compromised of ice shelves
  • 38% is made of ice walls
  • 13% is formed off ice streams/ outlet glaciers
  • 5% is composed of rock

The lowest recorded temperature was -89.2`C and the highest being -2`C. However in the summer months the temperature may rise to 2`C.

BIOTIC FACTORS

Phytoplankton and zoo-plankton

  • Phytoplankton are the primary producers in the Antarctic food web
  • Zoo-plankton are small organisms such as krill and are fed upon by larger creatures such as blue whales
Squid and fish
  • There is approximately 100 million tonnes of squid in the Antarctic and are eaten by whales, seals and sea birds
  • There are between 120 and 200 of.fish in the Antarctic. Most feed.on krill and on one another
Penguins
  • There are 5 species of penguin in the Antarctic environment, these include: Adelie, Emperor and Chinstrap penguins
  • The Emperor penguins are the largest of all species
  • They feed on fish and krill
  • They are preyed on b y leopard seals and killer whales
Seals
  • There are 4 species of seal in Antarctica:
  • Weddell seals feed on squid and fish
  • Crabeater seals feed on krill
  • Leopard seals feed on penguins and small seals
  • Ross seals are very seldom observed. They mostly feed on squid and fish, however there are no known predators
Sea Birds
  • Skuas are both predators and scavengers. They feed on carcasses and eggs as well as living penguin chicks
  • Snow Petrels feed on zoo-plankton
Whales
  • Orcas (killer whales) feed on penguins, seals and fish the the surface of the sea
  • Sperm whales feed on fish and squid in deep water
  • Minke whales are the smallest of the baleen whales. They feed on krill and are preyed upon by Japanese and Norwegian whalers for supposedly 'scientific research'
  • Blue whales are the largest mammal on Earth. They feed on krill and are preyed upon by humans and Orcas

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