Brooks-British Range tundra ecoregion

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Brooks-British Range tundra

RESOLVE 411

The Brooks-British Range tundra spans a belt of mountains from the Brooks Range in Alaska east through the British and Richardson ranges into Canada's Yukon and northwestern Northwest Territories. Elevations climb from about 800 to 2,400 meters, with Pleistocene glaciers lingering on the highest peaks above continuous permafrost. The Arctic-to-subarctic climate brings short cool summers and long cold winters; vegetation grades from subalpine white spruce woodland and dwarf birch and willow at lower elevations to lichen, mountain avens, sedges, and cottongrass higher up. The ecoregion remains nearly fully intact, with roughly 63% inside protected areas such as Gates of the Arctic National Park, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and Ivvavik National Park.

Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 68.2°N, 149.1°W.

Climate snapshot for this ecoregion

°C

°F

USDA zone range (now)

1b-3b

USDA

What seed packets and nursery tags reference. Coldest-day survival semantics.

Plotwright projection (2041–2070)

5b-7a

Plotwright

Where CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.

Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +12.1°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.

At a glance

Dominant biome

Tundra

Realm

Nearctic

Approximate area

61,564 sq mi

Conservation tier

Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)

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.

National refinement sub-regions

Within this RESOLVE ecoregion, national agencies recognise finer-grained sub-regions. Plotwright assigns each sub-region polygon to its containing RESOLVE polygon by centroid.

Canadian NEF Ecoprovinces — 1 ecoprovince

11.1 · Northern Yukon Mountains

Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, NEF v2.2 (Open Government Licence — Canada).

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.

Climate-resilient picks · 138

These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.

Bearberry (kinnikinnick)

Calendula (pot marigold)

Canadian serviceberry

Firecracker penstemon

Foamflower

Foxglove beardtongue

Fragrant plantain lily

Northern maidenhair fern

Summersweet (sweet pepperbush)

Newly possible by 2070 · 97

These plants don't fit the current zone range yet, but the mid-century projection brings them into reach. Long-horizon picks for the climate-adaptation wedge.

American red raspberry

Black tupelo (black gum)

Carolina allspice (sweetshrub)

Maypop (purple passionflower)

Short-toothed mountain mint

Tulip tree (yellow poplar)

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.

Climate-resilient · 2 plants

Bright shade foundation

A part-shade starting point with shrub structure and low foliage contrast.

Annabelle hydrangea

Coral bells

Newly possible by 2070 · 8 plants

Climate-resilient natives for warming zones (eastern NA)

A pollinator-supporting palette of eastern NA natives whose USDA zone range and broad continental distribution score high on the climate-resilience composite. Every plant tolerates 6-7 USDA zones and is native across 15+ US states + multiple Canadian provinces. Holds up under the SSP3-7.0 mid-century projection without the gardener trading wildlife value for resilience.