1. Arctic Ocean Biome

2. Global Location and Climatic Conditions • Located in the Northern Hemisphere in the Arctic north polar region. • Surrounded by North America, Europe and Asia. • Temperatures are persistently low. • The water is frozen most of the year. • Frozen for about ten months. • Between March and April, 20 to 50 of thick ice cover the surface. • Temperatures below freezing.

3. Flora • Kelp plants were able to adapt to life in the arctic ocean biome, by having a holdfast which keeps it on the sea floor. It has fronds to pull nutrients from the ground. • Phytoplankton is able to sustain life in the arctic ocean because it requires little sunlight and little nutrients to survive.

4. Fauna • Animals in the arctic ocean have adapted to maintain life by there bodies being able to store extra amounts of fat or have a thick layer of blubber. • Its hard for a warm blooded organism to survive in this area, so animals have become cold blooded to prevent freezing or reduce the effects. • To survive during the winter, animals like krill become cannibalistic or feed off of phytoplankton. • Hemoglobin can be found in the species with vertebrates. It’s a red pigment cell that carries oxygen throughout the body in cold temperatures.

5. Value • The arctic ocean is valued because in some parts, it holds ice caps containing a percentage of the worlds freshwater.