Arctic coastal plain, Alaska, USA Photograph by Bill Eichbaum   Northwestern North America: Northern United States (Alaska) into northern Canada Tundra   37,900 square miles (98,200 square kilometers) -- slightly smaller than Virginia Relatively Stable/Intact

· A Fertile Breeding Ground
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Fertile Breeding Ground

The entire Arctic Coastal Plain is important breeding and calving ground for many species. Three major caribou herds, the Western Arctic, Central Arctic, and Porcupine, migrate here each year to have their young, and many species of shorebirds and waterfowl such as snow geese, spectacled and steller's eiders, king eiders, and yellow-billed loons come here every summer to breed. Permafrost, a thick, unbroken layer of ice lies underneath the ecoregion. Water that melts on top of the permafrost collects into what are called thaw lakes, of which this area has many, covering nearly 50 percent of the ecoregion. Wetland vegetation is common, dominated by sedges and grasses, and there are small raised peat mound bogs or marshes along the coast. Mosses and lichens almost entirely blanket wet soils.

Special Features

The plentiful water and arctic climate of this ecoregion can do some interesting things. Freezing water in ground cracks from thawing and contraction of permafrost can create ice wedges. These are v-shaped pieces of ice in the ground that can be as small as a few millimeters wide and one meter deep up to 19 feet (6 m) wide and 98 feet (30 m) high. Pingos are large frost mounds of ice covered with soil. They can be up to 164 feet (50 m) high and 1312 feet (400 m) in diameter.

	Snowy owls nest on the ground of open tundra. They prey on lemmings and waterfowl.

Wild Side

Polar bear, walrus, beluga whale, snowshoe and arctic hare, red fox, wolf, Arctic ground squirrel, seal, and Arctic char (a fish) are some of the vertebrates that live in this ecoregion. Muskox are common on Banks Island, and the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Plants only have three months to grow, June to August, but during this time, spectacular displays of wildflowers occur. The coastal plains support mostly shrub tundra vegetation such as dwarf birch, willow, northern Labrador tea, and sedge. Warmer areas within the ecoregion support tall dwarf birch, willow, and alder, especially around the Mackenzie River delta and Yukon coastal plain. Thousands of shorebirds come here to nest in the summer. Swarms of mosquitoes are common in the summer as well.

Cause for Concern

Over 90 percent of this ecoregion remains intact. Disturbance is focused around Barrow, associated with oil development in the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk oil fields. The Dalton Highway and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline also have caused habitat loss and wildlife impacts through changing migration patterns and increased human access to wildlife. Vehicles disrupt wetlands and their tracks last for decades in the fragile soil. Major future threats come from the current expansion of the Prudhoe Bay oilfield around the bay and into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain, and heavy pressure for further oil exploration and development. Global warming may devastate this fragile ecosystem.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.