The Northwest Russian-Novaya Zemlya tundra stretches roughly 1,000 km along the north coast of European Russia, from the White Sea-bound Kanin Peninsula eastward toward the Yugorsky and Yamal peninsulas, and takes in Barents Sea islands including Kolguyev and the southern half of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. This is mostly lowland tundra of extensive marshes, lakes, and coastal meadows, dominated by characteristic shrub, moss, and lichen communities, with small stands of Siberian spruce, willow, and dwarf birch in floodplain areas and on the islands. The climate is humid continental with long, cold winters and short, cool summers, averaging about -20 C in January and roughly 13 C in July. The region is a major nesting ground for migratory geese, swans, and ducks; its flagship is the Bewick's swan, and the vulnerable lesser white-fronted goose occurs on the Kanin Peninsula, with the Nenets Nature Reserve protecting the Pechora River delta. For gardeners, the dwarf birch and willows native here are among the hardy woody plants suited to cold, boggy northern ground.

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 CHELSA-derived 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