| Urals montane tundra and taiga | |
| Image Alt: | Urals montane tundra and taiga |
| Map: | File:Ecoregion_PA0610.svg |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Map Alt: | Ecoregion territory (in purple) |
| Ecozone: | Palearctic |
| Biome: | boreal forests/taiga |
| Area: | 174,565 |
| Climate: | Dfc |
The Urals montane tundra and taiga ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0610) covers the main ridge of the Ural Mountains (both sides) - a 2,000 km (north-south) by 300 km (west-east) region. The region is on the divide between European and Asian ecoregions, and also the meeting point of tundra and taiga. It is in the Palearctic realm, and mostly in the Boreal forests/taiga ecoregion with a Humid continental climate, cool summer climate. It covers 174565km2.[1]
The ecoregion is centered on the Ural mountains, a range that reaches heights of 1895m (6,217feet). The western edge of the region is the Russian Plain, and the eastern edge is the beginning of the West Siberian Plain.[2] To the north is the Northwest Russian-Novaya Zemlya tundra ecoregion, to the west are the Scandinavian and Russian taiga, Sarmatic mixed forests and East European forest steppe ecoregions, to the east the West Siberian taiga, and to the south the Kazakh steppe.
The climate of the Urals is Humid continental climate, cool summer (Köppen climate classification (Dfc)). This climate is characterised by long cold winters, and short, cool summers.[3]
Large federally protected areas in the ecoregion include: