The Low Arctic tundra

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

(WWF ID: NA1114) covers a rolling landscape of shrubby tundra vegetation along the northern edge of the mainland

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

along the border of the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

and

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

, and a small portion in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

on the northeast coast of

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

. The region is important for large herds of caribou and other large mammals, and for large nesting colonies of birds such as snow geese. The region is mostly intact, with 95% remaining intact.

Location and description

The ecoregions stretch for across the northern tier of mainland

. The northwestern end is at the Mackenzie River Delta, stretching east across the plains north of

Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the boreal forest of Canada. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest ...

, the

mainland,

Southampton Island Southampton Island (Inuktitut: ''Shugliaq'') is a large island at the entrance to Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago, Southampton Island is part of the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut, Canada. The area of the ...

, the

Ottawa Islands The Ottawa Islands (Inuit languages, Inuit: ''Arviliit'' or ''Arqvilliit'' in Inuktitut meaning "place where you see bowhead whales") are a group of currently uninhabited islands situated in the eastern edge of Canada, Canada's Hudson Bay. The gro ...

, and a portion of northern

. Mean elevation is , with a high point of . Most of the terrain is flat or rolling lowlands on thin soil over the

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

bedrock, with many outcrops. A notable feature of the region is long, winding

eskers An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Ameri ...

of glacial gravel, some reaching 100 km in length. Permafrost is continuous, except for some areas of discontinuous permafrost in the Ottawa Islands.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is '' Subarctic climate, without dry season'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(Dfc)). This climate is characterized by mild summers (only 1-3 months above ) and cold, snowy winters (coldest month below ). Average precipitation ranges from 200 mm/year in the northwest to 500 mm/year in Quebec.

Flora and fauna

The ecoregion is a transition zone between the

taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...

forests to the south, and the treeless arctic

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

to the north. 50% of the territory is herbaceous cover, 18% moss and lichen, 6% shrubs, and about 1% tree cover in protected areas and along river courses. The region can support limited subalpine forests of black spruce (''

Picea mariana ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labra ...

'', tamarack (''

Larix laricina ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and als ...

''), white spruce (''

Picea glauca ''Picea glauca'', the white spruce, is a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in North America. ''Picea glauca'' is native from central Alaska all through the east, across southern/central Canada to the Avalon Pe ...

''), dwarf birch (''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

'' spp), and willow (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

'' spp.) There are extensive wetlands in the low areas. Many mammal species are adapted to live in this environment. In the west there are herds of barren-ground caribou ('' Rangifer tarandus'' ssp. arcticus), with collective total 1.5 million individuals. Woodland caribou are found in the east. Other notable mammals include polar bears (Ursus maritimus) on the coasts, grizzly bears (''

Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...

'') and black bear (''

Ursus americanus Ursus is Latin for bear. It may also refer to: Animals *Ursus (mammal), ''Ursus'' (mammal), a genus of bears People * Ursus of Aosta, 6th-century evangelist * Ursus of Auxerre, 6th-century bishop * Ursus of Solothurn, 3rd-century martyr * Ursus ...

'') in Quebec, and wolf (''

Canis lupus The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

''), moose (''

Alces alces The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

''), Arctic ground squirrel ('' Urocitellus parryii''), and brown lemming ('' Lemmus sibiricus''). The region is important for large nesting colonies of snow geese ('' Anser caerulescens''), Ross's goose ('' Anser rossii'') and many other migratory birds.

Protected areas

Over 17% of the ecoregion is officially protected. These protected areas include: * Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary * East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary * Harry Gibbons Migratory Bird Sanctuary *

Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary The Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, at , over twice the area of Belgium, is the largest wildlife refuge in Canada. It is located in northern Canada's Arctic region, north of the tree line, straddling the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, halfway be ...

Tuktut Nogait National Park Tuktut Nogait National Park () is a National Parks of Canada, national park located in the Northwest Territories of Canada that was established in 1998. Meaning "young Barren-ground caribou, caribou" in Inuvialuktun, the park is home to the calvi ...

References

External links