The Taimyr-Central Siberian 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: PA1111) is an ecoregion that broadly covers the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrati ...

in the

Russian Far North The Extreme North or Far North (russian: Крайний Север, Дальний Север) is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources. Its total area is about , ...

. It ranges from the delta of the

Yenisei River The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...

in the west, across the Taymyr Peninsula and

Khatanga Gulf The Khatanga Gulf or Khatanga Bay (russian: Хатангский залив) is a large tidal estuary in the Laptev Sea. It is relatively narrow, its length being with a maximum width of . Geography The Bolshoy Begichev Island divides the gulf i ...

, to the

Lena River The Lena (russian: Ле́на, ; evn, Елюенэ, ''Eljune''; sah, Өлүөнэ, ''Ölüöne''; bua, Зүлхэ, ''Zülkhe''; mn, Зүлгэ, ''Zülge'') is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean ...

delta in the east. The region is an important area for breeding birds. It is in the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

in the

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 moun ...

biome, and is mostly located in

Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District (russian: Таймы́рский Долга́но-Не́нецкий райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #10-4765 and municipalLaw #2-54 district (raion), one of the forty-three in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia ...

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Siber ...

. It has an area of .

Location and description

The Taymyr Peninsula reaches into the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

, between the

Kara Sea The Kara Sea (russian: Ка́рское мо́ре, ''Karskoye more'') is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. ...

and the

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, th ...

in northern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. Unlike much of the Arctic North, which is lowland tundra, the Taymyr Peninsula is built around highlands - the

Byrranga Mountains The Byrranga Mountains (russian: го́ры Бырра́нга; ''Gory Byrranga'') are a mountain range in the middle of the Taymyr Peninsula, Siberia, Russia. Even though they were first explored in 1736, the Byrranga Mountains are one of the lea ...

. A notable feature of the ecoregion is

Lake Taymyr Lake Taymyr (russian: Таймыр, Таймырское озеро, Taymyr, Taymyrskoye ozero) is a lake of the central regions of the Taymyr Peninsula in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Federation. It is located south of the Byrranga Mountains. Geog ...

, a large (165 km long) lake in the south of the Byrranga Mountains. The coastal plain to the north is arctic coastal desert and tundra, with terrain to the south of the mountains featuring tundra, wetlands, and

thermokarst Thermokarst is a type of terrain characterised by very irregular surfaces of marshy hollows and small hummocks formed as ice-rich permafrost thaws. The land surface type occurs in Arctic areas, and on a smaller scale in mountainous areas such as ...

. The area is one of continual permafrost. Laptev Sea map

Climate

The region has a

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 ...

(Koppen ET), with the southern regions grading into

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...

(DWC). Mean precipitation is about 257mm/year. The mean temperature at the center of the ecoregion is in January, and in July.

Flora and fauna

The flora is predominantly

forb A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically these are dicots without woo ...

grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

, dwarf shrubs, and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Branta ruficollis The red-breasted goose (''Branta ruficollis'') is a brightly marked species of goose in the genus ''Branta'' from Eurasia. It is currently classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. Taxonomy and etymology The red-breasted goose is sometimes placed ...

'').

Protections

There are several significant nationally protected area that reach into this ecoregion: *

Putorana Nature Reserve Putoransky State Nature Reserve( ''Путоранский заповедник'' ) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) in the northern part of Central Siberia in Russian Federation, located about 100 km north of the Arctic Circ ...

, situated on the

Putorana Plateau The Putorana Plateau () or the Putorana Mountains is a mountainous area in the Russian Federation. It is a large massif or plateau crossed by mountain ranges. The nearest large settlement is Norilsk, where foreign travel is restricted. The cit ...

south of Taymyr Peninsula, *

Great Arctic State Nature Reserve The Great Arctic State Nature Reserve (russian: Большой Арктический государственный природный заповедник) is a nature reserve in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. With an area of , it is the largest res ...

, located on the coast west of the Taymyr Peninsula, *

Taymyr Nature Reserve Taymyr Nature Reserve (russian: Таймырский заповедник) (also Taimyrsky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) located in the northern lowlands of Siberia, on the Taimyr Peninsula, and on the coast of the Laptev Sea o ...

, located on four different sectors of the Taymyr region, including the Laptev coast, the Byrranga mountains, and lowland areas, and *

Lena Delta Wildlife Reserve Lena Delta Nature Reserve (russian: Усть-Ленский государственный природный заповедник) is a ''Zapovednik'' (“scientific nature reserve”) located in the delta of the Lena River in Sakha Republic, in ...

, covering the lower reaches of the Lena River as it reaches the Laptev Sea.

References

Ecoregions of Russia Palearctic ecoregions Tundra ecoregions {{DEFAULTSORT:Taimyr-Central Siberian tundra

Location and description

Climate

Flora and fauna

Protections

See also

References