Arctic Desert
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Arctic Desert
The Arctic desert ecoregion (WWF ID: PA1101) is a terrestrial ecoregion that covers the island groups of Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Severny Island and Severnaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean, above 75 degrees north latitude. The region is covered with glaciers, snow, and bare rock in a harshly cold environment. The temperature does rise above freezing for short periods in the summer, so some ice melt occurs, and the area supports colonies of sea birds and mammals. It has an area of . Location and description The ecoregion stretches 2,000 km west-to-east, and 1,000 km north-to-south, across the Arctic Ocean north of Norway and Russia. It covers the island groups of Svalbard (Norway), Franz Josef Land (Russia), Severny Island (Russia), and Severnaya Zemlya (Russia). Climate The region has a Tundra (Koppen classification ET). This climate is characterized by long, cold winters and very short summers with at least one month averaging over so that snow or ice might me ...
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Tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mountain tract". There are three regions and associated types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra. Tundra vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges, grasses, mosses, and lichens. Scattered trees grow in some tundra regions. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region) between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline. The tundra soil is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. The soil also contains large amounts of biomass and decomposed biomass that has been stored as methane and carbon dioxide in the permafrost, making the tundra soil a carbon sink. As global warming heats the ecosystem and causes soil thawing, the permafrost carbon cycle accelerates and releases much of these soil-contained g ...
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Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve ( no, Nordaust-Svalbard naturreservat) is located in the north-eastern part of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. The nature reserve covers all of Nordaustlandet, Kong Karls Land, Kvitøya, Sjuøyane, Storøya, Lågøya, Wilhelm Island, Wahlbergøya and a small section of the north-east corner of Spitsbergen. The reserve is , of which is on land and is on water—making it the largest preserved area in Norway (including national parks). It includes the largest glacier in Norway, Austfonna, as well as Vestfonna and parts of Olav V Land. The reserve has been protected since 1 July 1973 and borders in the south to Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve. Description Three-quarters of Nordaustlandet is covered by glaciers, the largest being Austfonna at . The landscape has low, rounded hills and plains, created by glaciation during former ice ages. Most of the reserve has little or no vegetation, and the reserve belongs to the polar desert. The nature res ...
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Ecoregions Of Norway
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. In theory, biodiversity or conservation ecoregions are relatively large areas of land or water where the probability of encountering different species and communities at any given point remains relatively constant, within an acceptable range of variation (largely undefined at this point). Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Sec ...
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List Of Ecoregions In Europe
The continent of Europe comprise a large part of the Palearctic ecozone, with many unique biomes and ecoregions. Biogeographically, Europe is tied closely to Siberia, commonly known as the Euro-Siberian region. The European Environmental Agency (EEA) divides Europe into a total of eleven terrestrial biogeographical regions and seven regional seas. The agency has issued the Digital Map of European Ecological Regions (DMEER), and operates with a total of 70 ecoregions, of which 58 are within the European continent. Some of these ecoregions are congruent with the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) ecoregions, and some are not. List of ecoregions in Europe Below is an exhaustive list of the ecoregions of Europe as defined by the WWF. Global 200 ecoregions in Europe Terrestrial Terrestrial Global 200 ecoregions in Europe comprise three regions of Scandia alpine tundra and taiga, which is present in Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden: * PA0608 Scandinavian and Russian taiga Th ...
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List Of Ecoregions In Russia
The following is a list of ecoregions in Russia, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF): Terrestrial Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests *Caucasus mixed forests (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey) *Central European mixed forests (Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine) *Crimean Submediterranean forest complex (Russia, Ukraine) *East European forest steppe (Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine) *Manchurian mixed forests ( China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea) *Sarmatic mixed forests (Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Sweden) * South Sakhalin-Kurile mixed forests (Russia) *Ussuri broadleaf and mixed forests (Russia) *West Siberian broadleaf and mixed forests (Russia) Temperate coniferous forests * Altai montane forest and forest steppe ( China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia) * Da Hinggan-Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests ( China, Russia) * Sayan montane conifer f ...
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Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve ( no, Søraust-Svalbard naturreservat) is located in the south-eastern part of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. The nature reserve covers all of Edgeøya and Barentsøya in addition to a number of smaller islands, including Thousand Islands, Ryke Yseøyane and Halvmåneøya. The reserve is , of which is on land and is on water—making it the second-largest preserved area in Norway (including national parks). The reserve has been protected since 1 July 1973 and borders the Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve to the north. Description The reserve is dominated by strandlines and patterned ground, although large sections are glaciated. On Edgeøya, many areas have raised beach deposits, giving distinct strandline, and showing whale bones formerly below sea level. The most popular tourist destinations within the reserve are Kapp Lee, Diskobukta and Halvmåneøya. There is an all-year visitation ban on Zieglerøya, Delitschøya, Spekkholmen, Ha ...
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Sør-Spitsbergen National Park
Sør-Spitsbergen National Park ( no, Sør-Spitsbergen nasjonalpark, eng, South Spitzbergen National Park) encompasses the southern end of Spitsbergen island in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. The park was opened in 1973 and includes Wedel Jarlsberg Land, Torell Land and Sørkapp Land. Over 65% of the region is ice cap, with much of the rest tundra. Important Bird Area The park contains bird sanctuaries which protect islands with grassy vegetation, freshwater ponds and areas of bare rock. One of these is the Isøyane Bird Sanctuary which has also recognised as a wetland of international importance by designation under the Ramsar Convention. The park has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of barnacle geese (850–950 pairs), common eiders (1000 pairs), black-legged kittiwakes (25,900 pairs) and thick-billed guillemot The thick-billed murre or Brünnich's guillemot (''Uria lomvia'') is a bird in t ...
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Russian Arctic National Park
Russian Arctic National Park (russian: Национальный парк "Русская Арктика") is a national park of Russia, which was established in June 2009. It was expanded in 2016, and it covers a large and remote area of the Arctic Ocean, the northern part of Novaya Zemlya (Severny Island), and Franz Josef Land. Geography After expansion in 2016, approximately 74,000 km2, 16,000 km2 in land area and 58,000 km2 in sea area were added to the National Park. In 2009 the total area of the national park was 14,260 km2, including 6,320 km2 on the land and 7,940 km2 of the Arctic Ocean. The area is the habitat of polar bears and bowhead whales. The area also includes one of the largest bird colonies in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as walrus and seal rookeries. In addition to preserving natural habitats, the area of the national park is important for preserving the cultural heritage, which is related to the history of discovery and c ...
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Spitzbergen
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. The largest island is Spitsbergen, followed by Nordaustlandet and . The largest settlement is Longyearbyen. The islands were first used as a base by the whalers who sailed far north in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal mining started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway. They also established Svalbard as a free economic zone and a demilitarized zone. The Norwegian Store Norske and the Russian remain the only mining companies in place. Res ...
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Nordre Isfjorden National Park
Nordre Isfjorden National Park ( no, Nordre Isfjorden nasjonalpark) lies on Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. It lies across the Isfjorden north of Barentsburg. The park was opened in 2003. The park carries the name of the fjord Isfjorden, one of the largest fjords in Svalbard. On the northern section of this fjord lies a virgin coastal landscape that sustains considerable vegetation and wildlife. Wildlife During certain points in the year there is an inflow of warm, saline water into the Isfjorden, which results in the circulation of water layers that foster the growth of plankton, which sustains large number of crustaceans. The crustaceans attract fish like the capelin and polar cod, which in turn draw seabirds and mammals. Birds Only a few species of birds live in or visit the park, but the ones that are found here often gather in huge numbers. The birds found in Isfjorden include Brünnich's guillemot, little auk, Atlantic puffin, glaucous gull, nort ...
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Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway. Constituting the westernmost bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea, and the Greenland Sea. Spitsbergen covers an area of , making it the largest island in Norway and the 36th-largest in the world. The administrative centre is Longyearbyen. Other settlements, in addition to research outposts, are the Russian mining community of Barentsburg, the research community of Ny-Ålesund, and the mining outpost of Sveagruva. Spitsbergen was covered in of ice in 1999, which was approximately 58.5% of the island's total area. The island was first used as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which it was abandoned. Coal mining started at the end of the 19th century, and several permanent commun ...
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Nordvest-Spitsbergen National Park
Nordvest-Spitsbergen National Park ( no, Nordvest-Spitsbergen nasjonalpark) is located on the Norwegian arctic archipelago of Svalbard and includes parts of north-west Spitsbergen (Albert I Land and Haakon VII Land) and nearby islands such as Danes Island and Moffen. It contains, among other things, warm springs and remains of volcanoes in Bockfjorden. History There are remains of whaling stations and graves from the 17th century. In addition there are remains of several Arctic expeditions, for instance in Virgohamna, Danes Island, the launching point for Swedish engineer S. A. Andrée's failed 1897 attempt to reach the North Pole in a hydrogen balloon. The park was established by royal resolution on 1 June 1973. Fauna The park contains numerous colonies of seabirds, in addition to Svalbard reindeer and Arctic fox. It is also a hibernating area for polar bears, and walrus can be found there. About a third of the area, consisting mainly of its sea-cliffs, islands and other coast ...
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