Circumpolar distribution explained

A circumpolar distribution is any range of a taxon that occurs over a wide range of longitudes but only at high latitudes; such a range therefore extends all the way around either the North Pole or the South Pole.^{[1] [2]} Taxa that are also found in isolated high-mountain environments further from the poles are said to have arctic–alpine distributions.^[3]

Animals with circumpolar distributions include the reindeer,^{[1] [2]} polar bear,^[4] Arctic fox,^{[1] [5]} snowy owl,^[5] snow bunting,^[5] king eider,^[5] brent goose^[5] and long-tailed skua^[5] in the north, and the Weddell seal^[1] and Adélie penguin^[1] in the south.

Plants with northern circumpolar distributions include Eutrema edwardsii (syn. Draba laevigata),^[2] Saxifraga oppositifolia,^[3] Persicaria vivipara^[6] and Honckenya peploides.^{[7] [8] [9]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Vladimir Kotlyakov & Anna Komarova . 2006 . Elsevier's Dictionary of Geography: in English, Russian, French, Spanish and German . . 119. 9780080488783 .
2. Web site: Circumpolar distribution . . . November 19, 2014.
3. Book: Peter D. Moore . 2009 . Tundra . Ecosystem Series . . 9781438118727 . Types of tundra . 64–85 . https://books.google.com/books?id=VdA8qT5KZvkC&pg=PA66.
4. Book: T. Kue Young . 2011 . Circumpolar Health Atlas . . 978-1-4426-4456-4 . Plants and animals . 21–33 . https://books.google.com/books?id=AwlYiuPAX-UC&pg=PT31.
5. Book: Y. I. Chernov . 1988 . The Living Tundra . Studies in Polar Research . . 9780521357548 . Distribution of animals and plants . 101–118 . https://books.google.com/books?id=agc5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA106.
6. Book: Roger L. Williams . 2002 . A Guide To Rocky Mountain Plants . . 9781461733492 . 105 .
7. Julia Sánchez Vilas . 2007 . Sexual dimorphism in ecological and physiological traits in the subdioecious dune plant Honckenya peploides (L.) Ehrh. . . 10347/2341.
8. Book: Hultén, Eric . 1962 . The circumpolar plants. 1, Vascular cryptogams, conifers, monocotyledons. Stockholm, Sweden . Almqvist & Wiksell .
9. Book: Hultén, Eric . 1971 . The circumpolar plants. 2, Dicotyledons. Stockholm, Sweden . Almqvist & Wiksell .