Question

Provide examples of organisms that use different strategies to survive in cold weather and explain why you think one might be a better method than the other.

Answer 1

1. Polar bears - Hibernation.

Polar bears are highly adapted to the freezing climate. They have thick fur and an insulating fatty body to survive in cold climate. But in winter, it become extremely difficult to survive. So in that time, the bear undergoes hibernation or winter sleep. During this, the bear will be in a state of sleep with most of the body functions are down to optimum and the energy loss is minimum. Before hibernation bear eat as much as he can so that he can survive the winter without any further food. Any other animals also posses hibernation to survive winter.

2. Arctic tern - Migration

  Arctic tern is a migratory bird which fly very large distances. It nests close to North pole in the summer. In autumn, it flies south all the way to Antarctica. Each spring it returns north again. Migration is seen in large number of bird species and in butterflies.

3. Monkeys- Huddling

When it is extreme cold, these organisms clump together and huddle each other. The young ones will be deep inside so that they will get the warmth from the bodies of the others. The outer ones in the circle will be more exposed to cold and hence they regularly exchange their positions to inside and outside of the huddling circle.

4. Insects- Diapause

It is a temporary developmental arrest in the egg stage. The embryo will be in an arrested stage untill the winter is over. This helps to survive better for the insects.

These are the common methods used by the organisms to survive winter. Of these we can not say which is best because each of them have pros and cons. Migration is a risky process sometimes many of the population may die during the voyage. Hibernation is good for saving energy but during hibernation, animal is prone to predators. Huddling also attracts predator. So all the strategies have pros and cons. Some will be best for some animals and it may not suit for another one.