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.

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