Arctic Foothills Tundra | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Nearctic |
Biome | Tundra |
Borders | Arctic coastal tundra, Brooks-British Range tundra, Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga and Northwest Territories taiga |
Bird species | 64 [1] |
Mammal species | 31 [1] |
Geography | |
Area | 123,512 km2 (47,688 sq mi) |
Country | United States |
State | Alaska |
Rivers | Noatak River, Colville River |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Relatively Stable/Intact [2] |
Global 200 | Yes |
Habitat loss | 0% [1] |
Protected | 67.8% [1] |
The Arctic foothills tundra is an ecoregion of the far north of North America, lying inland from the north coast of Alaska. This is permafrost tundra with an average annual temperature below freezing.
This is a hilly area that lies between the boggier Arctic coastal tundra to the north and the Brooks Range to the south, and stretching from the Chukchi Sea east across northern Alaska to the border with Canada's Yukon Territory. The Noatak River valley is the only forested area. [2]
The main vegetation is the scrubby cottongrass ( Eriophorum vaginatum ), stiff sedge ( Carex bigelowii ) and shrubs such as Betula nana , Empetrum nigrum , Rhododendron subarcticum , and the berry Vaccinium vitis-idaea .
The Colville River is a migration route for wildlife including moose, and a breeding area for gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon, and rough-legged hawks. The ecoregion is also home to a number of waterbirds. Mammals include the large ungulates moose (Alces alces) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus), the predators brown bear (Ursus arctos) and wolf (Canis lupus) breed here, while smaller mammals include Alaskan hare (Lepus othus) and Arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryi).
This ecoregion is unspoilt except that it is crossed by the Dalton Highway and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which can disrupt migratory behaviour of some wildlife. The east end of the ecoregion is part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface.
Yukon is in the northwestern corner of Canada and is bordered by Alaska and the Northwest Territories. The sparsely populated territory abounds with natural scenic beauty, with snowmelt lakes and perennial white-capped mountains, including many of Canada's highest mountains. The territory's climate is Arctic in the north, subarctic in the central region, between north of Whitehorse and Old Crow, and has a humid continental climate in the far south, south of Whitehorse and in areas close to the British Columbia border. The long sunshine hours in the short summer allow a profusion of flowers and fruit to blossom. Most of the territory is boreal forest, tundra being the main vegetation zone only in the extreme north and at high elevations.
British Columbia mainland coastal forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion the Pacific coast of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in the Komi Republic, Russia. It currently occupies 7,213 square kilometers and forms the core of the World Heritage Site Virgin Komi Forests.
The Alberta–British Columbia foothills forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system. This ecoregion borders Canada's taiga and contains a mix of subarctic forest and temperate forest species as a result. This makes the region an ecotone region, or a region that acts as a buffer between two other biomes.
The Alaska Peninsula montane taiga is a taiga and boreal forests ecoregion, located in Alaska, and defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Eastern Canadian forests is a taiga ecoregion in Eastern Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Eastern Canadian Shield taiga is an ecoregion of Canada as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The South Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States located mainly in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It has a considerably drier climate than the North Central Rockies forest.
The interior Alaska–Yukon lowland taiga is an ecoregion in the taiga and boreal forests biome, of far northern North America.
The Alaska–St. Elias Range tundra is an ecoregion of northwestern North America.
The Arctic coastal tundra is an ecoregion of the far north of North America, an important breeding ground for a great deal of wildlife.
The Beringia lowland tundra is a tundra ecoregion of North America, on the west coast of Alaska, mostly covered in wetland.
The Northeast Siberian taiga ecoregion is an area of "sparse taiga forest" between the Lena River and the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia, Russia. The ecoregion's internal borders form a patchwork of territory constituting the southern part of the East Siberian Lowland, as well as lowlands around the East Siberian Mountains, including the ridges and peaks of the Verkhoyansk Range and the Chersky Range. On the southern border of the ecoregion is the north coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, giving the region maritime boreal forests as well as the continental forests situated inland. The ecoregion is one of the largest tracts of virgin boreal forest in the world, due to the very sparse population and difficult access. It is mostly in the Sakha Republic.
The Southern Hudson Bay taiga is a terrestrial ecoregion, as classified by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends along the southern coast of Hudson Bay and resides within the larger taiga biome. Entirely located in Canada, it covers an area of approximately 373,735 km2 and crosses the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and the western portion of Quebec. Various islands in James Bay which belong to the Northwest Territories are also considered to be part of the ecoregion.
Pacific Coastal Mountain icefields and tundra is a tundra ecoregion in Alaska, British Columbia, and Yukon, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Northwest Territories taiga ecoregion (WWF:NA0614) is located in the Northwest Territories and Yukon provinces of Canada. It covers forest and tundra along the Mackenzie River Valley and the surrounding highlands in the southern portion of the valley.
The Interior Yukon-Alaska alpine tundra ecoregion covers alpine, sub-alpine, and boreal forest areas along the cordillera of Interior Alaska and south-central Yukon Territory. Geologically, they are the disjunct uplands of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane plus a southern extension of the Brooks Range. The cover is extensive 'dark taiga' of closed spruce forest, open forest of other species, and alpine vegetation at higher altitudes. The region is mostly wilderness and relatively untouched by human development.
The Low Arctic tundra ecoregion covers a rolling landscape of shrubby tundra vegetation along the northern edge of mainland Canada along the border of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and a small portion in Quebec on the northeast coast of Hudson Bay. The region is important for large herds of caribou and other large mammals, and for large nesting colonies of birds such as snow geese. The region is mostly intact, with 95% remaining intact.
The Ogilvie-MacKenzie alpine tundra ecoregion covers the mountainous middle of the Yukon Territory in Canada, with extensions into the Northwest Territories. The vegetation is alpine and subalpine open forest of stunted spruce, fir and pine. The area is rugged but sections appear to have been unglaciated in the late Pleistocene and there are therefore relic species in the region. The area is remote and supports large, sustainable predator-prey systems.