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.

At a glance

About the tundra biome

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.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer published current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions