Nature

Walker Lake panorama with the Brooks Range across the lake in summer.

NPS Photo

Located entirely above the Arctic Circle, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve protects 13,000 square miles of arctic ecosystem. Established in part to preserve its natural features, wildlife, and scenic beauty, the park provides habitat for nearly 900 different species of plants and animals that thrive in the oftentimes harsh climate. Located at the northern end of the Continental Divide, the park was formed by land-building forces that created the Brooks Range and carved peaks and valleys from ice and wind. Today, this intact and undeveloped landscape provides scientists with evidence of the past, present, and clues to an ever-changing future, as a warming climate continues to impact today's arctic.

For the Koyukon and Inupiaq people that call this park their home, nature and culture are tightly linked. The living and nonliving components of the ecosystem are often connected in ways that are obscure, or are very complex and unexpected. Science (both western science and local knowledge) is essential in understanding these connections.

 

 

Park Species Lists

The following species lists were assembled and comprehensively reviewed by our park biologists to be as accurate as possible, as of 2015. The absence of a species from the list does not necessarily indicate its absence from the park, since it is possible that formal census techniques targeting rare, unique, cryptic, or seasonally present species were not used in all cases. Some lists are complete, while others may always be in development, due to the remote, wild, unexplored or surveyed, and changing nature of the land.

 

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Species Category (optional):

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Species attribute definitions

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Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.