The Ogilvie–MacKenzie alpine tundra

ecoregion 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 l ...

(WWF ID: NA1116) covers the mountainous middle of the

Yukon Territory Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

in Canada, with extensions into the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. 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 The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

and there are therefore relic species in the region. The area is remote and supports large, sustainable predator-prey systems.

Location and description

The

Yukon Ranges The Yukon Ranges are a mountain range comprising the mountains in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alaska and most of the Yukon in Canada. Named after the Yukon, this range has area of .North American Cordillera The North American Cordillera, sometimes also called the Western Cordillera of North America, the Western Cordillera or the Pacific Cordillera, is the North American portion of the American Cordillera, the mountain chain system (cordillera) alon ...

(chain of mountain ranges). From the northwest to the southeast the mountains of this ecoregion are the

Ogilvie Mountains The Ogilvie Mountains are a mountain range in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada. Geologically they are part of the Yukon Ranges, in the upper Laramide Belt of the North American Cordillera. Geography The range lies north of Dawson Ci ...

, the Wernecke Mountains Group, the

Mackenzie Mountains The Mackenzie Mountains are a Canadian mountain range forming part of the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni Nat ...

, and the

Selwyn Mountains The Selwyn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Canada, forming part of the border between the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, and which are part of the Eastern System of the Canadian Cordillera (aka the Western Cordillera). ...

. The alpine regions of this region is situated between the lower elevation ecoregions - Northwest Territories taiga ecoregion to the north, and the

Yukon Interior dry forests The Yukon Interior dry forests is a taiga ecoregion of Canada. Setting This ecoregion, which covers much of the southern Yukon and a very small portion of northwestern British Columbia, is mainly located on the Yukon Plateau, which consists of r ...

ecoregion to the south.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is ''

Tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...

'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

ET), a local climate in which at least one month has an average temperature high enough to melt snow (0 °C (32 °F)), but no month with an average temperature in excess of 10 °C (50 °F). Temperatures in the region average in the summer months, and in the winter. Average precipitation ranges from 300 mm/year in the low elevations in the north to 750 mm/year in the higher elevations of the Selwyn Mountains of the southeast.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation is alpine and subalpine. The ground cover is 23% low herbaceous cover, 19% shrub, 17% is closed evergreen forest, 11% is open forest, and 28% is bare or has sparse vegetation. The open forest is characterized by discontinuous stands of white spruce (''

Picea glauca ''Picea glauca'', the white spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in North America. ''Picea glauca'' is native from central Alaska all through the east, across southern/central Canada to the Avalon Pe ...

''), alpine fir (''

Abies lasiocarpa ''Abies lasiocarpa'', the subalpine fir or Rocky Mountain fir, is a western North American fir tree. Description ''Abies lasiocarpa'' is a medium-sized evergreen conifer with a very narrow conic crown, growing to tall, exceptionally , with a ...

'') and lodgepole pine (''

Pinus contorta ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine ...

''). These are typically surrounded by lower willow (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

'' spp.), dwarf birch (''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

'' spp.) and northern Labrador tea ('' Rhododendron subsect. Ledum''). There are extensive stands of paper birch (''

Betula papyrifera ''Betula papyrifera'' (paper birch, also known as (American) white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named for the tree's thin white bark, which often peels in paper like ...

'') in the north. The higher elevations see alpine tundra of lichens, mountain avens (''

Dryas octopetala ''Dryas octopetala'', the mountain avens, eightpetal mountain-avens, white dryas or white dryad, is an Arctic–alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies. The specific epithet ...

''), shrubs (

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

), sedge (''

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...

'' spp.), and cottongrass (''

Eriophorum ''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found throughout the arctic, subarctic, and temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere in acid bo ...

'' spp.). Large mammals in the region include caribou ('' Rangifer tarandus''), grizzly bear (''

Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...

''), brown bear (''

Ursus americanus Ursus is Latin for bear. It may also refer to: Animals *Ursus (mammal), ''Ursus'' (mammal), a genus of bears People * Ursus of Aosta, 6th-century evangelist * Ursus of Auxerre, 6th-century bishop * Ursus of Solothurn, 3rd-century martyr * Ursus ...

''), Dall's Sheep ('' Ovis dalli''), moose (''

Alces alces The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

''), beaver (''

Castor canadensis The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe (primarily Finland and ...

''), red fox (''

Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

''), wolf (''

Canis lupus The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

''), and hare (''

Lepus Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...

'' spp.)

Protected areas

Over 10% of the ecoregion is officially protected. These protected areas include: *

Nahanni National Park Reserve Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, approximately west of Yellowknife, protects a portion of the Mackenzie Mountains Natural Region. The centrepiece of the park is the South Nahanni River ('' ...

Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve Náátsʼihchʼoh National Park Reserve ( ) is a Canadian National Parks of Canada, national park reserve encompassing parts of the South Nahanni River watershed in the Northwest Territories. The name means "stands like a porcupine" in the Chipew ...

Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve is a United States national preserve located in east central Alaska along the border with Canada. Managed by the National Park Service, the preserve encompasses 130 miles (208 km) of the 1,800-mile (3 ...

Tombstone Territorial Park Tombstone Territorial Park is a territorial park in the Yukon, one of three territories in Canada. It is in central Yukon, near the southern end of the Dempster Highway, stretching from the 50.5 to the 115.0 kilometre marker. The park protects o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogilvie-MacKenzie alpine tundra Nearctic ecoregions Ecoregions of Canada Ecoregions of Alaska Ecoregions of the United States Tundra ecoregions