Arctic coastal tundra
Arctic coastal tundra
The Arctic Coastal Tundra spans most of Alaska's northern coastline, a low coastal plain (0-150 m) along the Beaufort Sea in the Nearctic realm. Poorly drained terrain is dotted with thaw lakes covering up to half the ecoregion, and vegetation is dominated by wet tundra, fens, bogs, and marshes of grasses, sedges, and mosses, with dwarf shrubs on better-drained ground. The Arctic climate brings low precipitation (100-300 mm) and continuous, ice-rich permafrost with ice wedges and pingos. Its flagship species is the beluga whale; only about 4% lies in protected areas though most remains intact.
RESOLVE 407
Nearctic
19,174 sq mi
Tundra
Landscape type
Tundra
Plant region
Nearctic
Region footprint
19,174 sq mi
Habitat pressure
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
Source & care
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Use this as the broad planting pattern for the region: Treeless polar and high-mountain landscapes of low shrubs, sedges, mosses, and lichens, where cold and a short growing season cap plant height. Soils are frequently frozen as permafrost, and these systems recover only slowly from disturbance. For garden decisions, pair that context with the plant list below, then narrow by your site's light, water, soil, and mature-size constraints.
Range & origins
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 70.3°N, 155.5°W.
Region through time
Modern footprint
RESOLVE 2017 maps 19,174 sq mi
This boundary is a modern ecological footprint for Arctic coastal tundra, not a permanent line on the planet. It is useful for today's plant and wildlife context because it follows recurring vegetation, climate, landform, and disturbance patterns.
Why here
tundra conditions
The region sits in the Nearctic realm and is classed as tundra. Elevation, moisture, fire, soils, coasts, and human land use can all make the real landscape more varied than a single map color suggests.
Change pressure
Nature Could Reach Half Protected
Plotwright shows this as the current RESOLVE footprint. Over decades to centuries, warming, disturbance, invasive species, land use, and restoration can move the living edge of a region even when the reference map stays fixed.
Planting collections
Finished planting recipes where every member can handle this region's climate range. The fit badge uses the collection's most sensitive plant, so a resilient collection is a safer starting point than any single standout.
Climate-resilient · 2 plantas
Bright shade foundation
A part-shade planting with shrub structure and low foliage contrast.
Newly possible by 2070 · 8 plantas
Climate-resilient natives for warming zones (eastern NA)
A pollinator-supporting palette of eastern North American natives with broad hardiness ranges and wide native distributions. Built for gardeners who want a planting that can handle warming zones without giving up wildlife value.
Newly possible by 2070 · 9 plantas
Native pollinator border (eastern US)
A continuous-bloom native pollinator strip for eastern North America. Covers spring through frost with host + nectar plants spanning monarchs, native bees, hummingbirds, and specialist Lepidoptera. Little bluestem provides the matrix grass + Hesperiidae host.
Newly possible by 2070 · 4 plantas
Sunny pollinator border
A durable sunny border with summer bloom, seedheads, and upright winter texture.
Similar planting regions
Browse other regions with a similar hot, dry-summer rhythm. Their plant lists can suggest species and combinations worth comparing.
RESOLVE 404 - Nearctic
Ahklun and Kilbuck Upland Tundra
The Ahklun and Kilbuck Upland Tundra ecoregion spans the rugged Ahklun and Kilbuck mountain ranges of southwestern Alaska, bounded by the Bering Sea and its bays. Steep, sharp mountains—glaciated during the Pleistocene, with only a few small glaciers remaining—are separated by broad, flat valleys. Vegetation is largely moist and alpine tundra and dwarf scrub thickets dominated by heath-family plants, dwarf Arctic birch, and mountain avens; trees such as white and black spruce, paper birch, and balsam poplar are confined to valley floors and lower slopes. The climate mixes maritime and continental influences, with annual precipitation ranging from about 1,020 mm in lowlands to 2,030 mm in the high mountains. It is among the most pristine ecoregions on the continent, with 99% of habitat intact, much of it within the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge.
Tundra
Zones 7b-8b
+11.9°F by 2070
19,511 sq mi
NNH tier 1
RESOLVE 405 - Nearctic
Alaska-St. Elias Range tundra
The Alaska-St. Elias Range tundra spans a broad arc of northern mountains across Alaska, southwestern Yukon, and northwestern British Columbia, encompassing the Alaska Range and Wrangell-St. Elias Range and reaching the summit of Denali, North America's highest peak. Much of the ecoregion is rocky slopes, ice fields, and glaciers; where permanent snow and ice are absent, alpine tundra dominated by dwarf shrub communities, mountain avens, and heath-family shrubs prevails, with willows, alders, and dwarf birch on more protected slopes. The climate is alpine and glacierized North Pacific cordilleran, largely continental except for a maritime influence near Cook Inlet. The hoary marmot is the flagship species, and roughly 45% of the ecoregion is protected.
Tundra
Zones 5b-10b
+7.7°F by 2070
63,442 sq mi
NNH tier 2
RESOLVE 406 - Nearctic
Aleutian Islands tundra
The Aleutian Islands tundra spans the 1,500-km arc of volcanic islands stretching from the Alaska Peninsula toward Russia's Kamchatka, plus the Pribilof Islands, dividing the North Pacific from the Bering Sea. Treeless maritime tundra covers the islands: dwarf scrub of crowberry and willows on exposed high ground, bluejoint-grass meadows on moist sites, and heath, sedge, and sphagnum bogs in the lowlands. The climate is cool and maritime, with mild winters, cool summers, and annual precipitation ranging from roughly 530 to 2,080 mm. About 98% of the ecoregion is protected within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, which supports breeding habitat for an estimated 40 million seabirds.
Tundra
Zones 6b-11a
+6.6°F by 2070
4,722 sq mi
NNH tier 1
RESOLVE 408 - Nearctic
Arctic foothills tundra
The Arctic foothills tundra is a transitional belt of rounded hills and plateaus spanning northwestern Alaska, northern Yukon, and the northwestern Northwest Territories, lying between the Arctic Coastal Tundra to the north and the Brooks-British Range Tundra to the south. Its better-drained terrain—with fewer thaw lakes than the saturated coast—supports moist tussock sedges, dwarf shrubs, and scrub, with open white spruce stands mixed with balsam poplar and willow along the Noatak River Valley. The climate is Arctic, with continuous, thick permafrost and an active layer averaging about 1 m, while much of the landscape escaped glaciation during the Pleistocene. The region remains roughly 99% intact, though the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Dalton Highway, and coal and mineral mining pose growing threats; the gyrfalcon is its flagship species.
Tundra
Zones 5a-6b
+12.8°F by 2070
49,954 sq mi
NNH tier 2
RESOLVE 409 - Nearctic
Beringia lowland tundra
The Beringia lowland tundra is a flat, wetland-rich tundra ecoregion along the Bering Sea coast of western Alaska, from Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta north to Kotzebue Sound and the Seward Peninsula, including offshore islands such as St. Lawrence. Lakes and ponds cover nearly a quarter of the area, and sedge- and grass-dominated wet meadows give way to dwarf-shrub heath and crowberry on better-drained, sloping ground. The subarctic climate brings harsh winters and cool summers, with rainfall ranging from roughly 250 mm near Kotzebue Sound to far wetter conditions toward Bristol Bay. Globally important for waterbirds, it hosts the world's largest tundra swan communities, most of the emperor goose population, and is largely intact, much of it protected within refuges like the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.
Tundra
Zones 6a-10a
+11.2°F by 2070
58,987 sq mi
NNH tier 1
RESOLVE 410 - Nearctic
Beringia upland tundra
The Beringia upland tundra is a mountainous tundra ecoregion on the west coast of Alaska, made up chiefly of the Seward Peninsula (its dominant area), the Ahklun Mountains in the southwest, and the hilly western half of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. These hilly uplands climb to steep, barren mountains reaching roughly 1,400-1,500 m and still hold a number of cirque glaciers. Their slopes carry tussock-forming sedges and dwarf shrubs (dwarf birch, willows, heaths) along with lichens and mosses, with taller shrubs lining streams and floodplains. The subarctic climate brings long, severe winters, strong persistent winds, continuous permafrost, and only about ten frost-free weeks in summer. The region is described as a surviving remnant of the former Bering land bridge that once joined Asia to North America; some 98% remains intact, though only about 21% lies within protected areas such as Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.
Tundra
Zones 6b-8a
+14.1°F by 2070
18,112 sq mi
NNH tier 2
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or regional planting notes that use this Plotwright page. To cite the underlying ecoregion framework or a specific editorial profile, use the source cards below.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Arctic coastal tundra (Arctic coastal tundra). Retrieved 2026, June 14, from https://plotwright.garden/regions/resolve-407
Sources for this region
This page cites Plotwright first for the compiled view, then lists the upstream framework, climate, and editorial source pages so readers can cite the original material directly.
RESOLVE 2017 Terrestrial Ecoregions (Dinerstein et al.)
Primary ecoregion framework
Backs 4 fields
RESOLVE id
Biome + realm
Area
NNH tier
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
Published hardiness-zone authority
Backs 1 field
USDA zone range