Circumpolar distribution

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.