Land Ecology on Kronos:
The Tundra Biome
 

 

The Tundra Biome on Kronos is located on the continent of Robea.  It is truly a unique place; it provides quite a challenge for plant life.  There are strong winds, up to 100 miles per hour. In the tundra it is very cold: the average winter temperature is -13° F, and in the summer it is rarely over 50° F. The summertime only lasts six to eight weeks. In the winter it is dark most of the time, and even in the summer it is usually overcast; therefore plants get little sunlight. The tundra is also unusually dry; it gets an average of just 6 inches of rainfall per year .
 

Primary Producers

After Zuleus moved on to land, a new species evolved in the tundra, Mosseus tundrianus. The plant is moss-like and grows near the ground. There are lots of leaves on the stem, usually only one cell thick. They do not have flowers or fruit. They can either reproduce by growing shoots or by sending out spores, which need to be wet to survive. Mosseus lives between seven and twelve years. Its growth is less than 0.5 cm per year, the largest plant seen was only three inches high. They have two life stages; gametophyte and sporeophyte. Mosseus stores nutrients in extreme cold so new leaves can be made quickly the next growing season. These changes are evident in the plant due to the extreme temperatures in the tundra.
 

The Landable plant was also able to adapt and grow in very cold regions of Kronos.  It had to change its physical, outer structure in order to survive in the tundra environment.  After many years, the Landable plant evolved into the Red Luposy.  The Red Luposy is a dark-colored plant for a very good reason.  Since it grows in the tundra a region where sometimes there is not a lot of sunlight, its dark, red color absorbs more heat (sunlight) from the sun than any other plant on Kronos which helps it to survive.  The Red Luposy rarely grows alone, it usually clumps together with other Red Luposies so that it can protect itself from the cold weather.  The Red Luposy is small, averaging about  0.5 feet in height, and growing close to the ground.  The Red Luposy has about 40 days during the warmest season to reproduce and its average life-span is around 1.7 years.

Primary Consumers

 Lemmus are small herbivores that eat moss and grass.  They resemble mouse-like creatures called guinea pigs that are found on Earth.  These small Toothentia live less than 2 years in the wild.  They range from 3 to 6 inches (8-15 cm) long not including their very short tail, and weigh from 2 to 4 ounces.  They are active both day and night.  Breeding takes place during the brief summertime on Robea. Their average litter size is 7 younglings, and each youngling usually weigh only a little over one-tenth of an ounce at birth.

The Frioso is an omnivorous animal that lives in the tundra. It measures approximately 4 feet long by 2 feet wide. It is believed that some of these animals can weigh about 100 pounds when fully grown.  They are usually found in herds of 10 to 20. The average female Frioso gives birth to five offspring during her lifetime. These cold-environment animals average a life-span of 40 years.

 

Secondary Consumers

As previously mentioned, the Frioso is an omnivore which means that it feeds on both plants as well as animals.  This behavior makes the Frioso a secondary consumer in the tundra biome.

The Tundra Food Web

The Energy Pyramid

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