Northern Yukon

Natural Region 9

VEGETATION:

Tundra blankets much of the region - alpine, moist or wet. In the mountains and foothills, alpine tundra patterns the slopes in patches and stripes.

Margaret Lake, Ivvavik © Parks Canada

Lichens and plants that grow as cushions or mats such as mountain avens, alpine bearberry, moss campion, woolly lousewort and purple saxifrage predominate. At lower elevations, moist tundra colours the land in the rich shades of golf greens. Cottongrass, the dominant plant, forms tussocks, making walking an ankle-twisting agony and quickly dispells any further comparisons to golf greens. A dense, waist-high jungle of willows grows along the rivers.

The interior plain supports open stands of stunted white or black spruce, interspersed with patches of tundra and rock barrens. The most northerly tongue of forest (white spruce) in Canada is found in this region along the valley of the Firth River. In the valleys in the southern part of the region, there are extensive stands of boreal forest.

WILDLIFE:

The large Porcupine Caribou Herd, estimated at about 160,000 animals, migrates through this region and into Alaska, wintering in the south and calving on the coastal plain. Moose are abundant in the forests of the Old Crow Flats and muskox have been reintroduced on the open tundra. All three species of bears - grizzly, black and polar -inhabit this region. One of the largest and most concentrated populations of grizzly bears left in the world is found here.

Old Crow Flats © Parks Canada

Other wildlife includes arctic and red fox, arctic ground squirrel, arctic and snowshoe hare, lynx, wolf, wolverine and muskrat. The Old Crow Flats is renowned for its abundance of muskrats.

Although only four species of birds remain here throughout the year (the raven, willow ptarmigan, a few hardy gyrfalcons and snowy owls), the richness of the bird life in summer is staggering. Tundra swans, Canada geese and other waterfowl nest in the Old Crow Flats, one of the world's most important waterfowl habitats. The chorus arising from the tundra on a spring morning is as unforgettable as the silence of the tundra on a still winter night.