The Canadian High Arctic Tundra

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

encompasses most of the northern Arctic archipelago, from much of

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...

, Somerset Island, and Prince of Wales Island in the south, through all islands northward to the most northern island in Canada,

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island (; ) is Canada's northernmost and List of Canadian islands by area, third largest island, and the List of islands by area, tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total ...

. Much of the northern islands are covered in ice, and the climate is very dry with as little as 50 mm/year in places. The ecoregion has very little human habitation, and most of the non-ice terrain is moss and lichen cover. The region supports viable populations of arctic mammals such as muskox, arctic wolves, arctic foxes, arctic hares, polar bears, and caribou.

Location and description

The main Queen Elizabeth Islands are

Axel Heiberg Island Axel Heiberg Island (, ) is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 32nd largest island in the world and Canada's seventh largest island. According to Statistics Canada, it ha ...

Devon Island Devon Island (, ) is an island in Canada and the largest desert island, uninhabited island (no permanent residents) in the world. It is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the largest members of the Arctic Ar ...

Ellef Ringnes Island Ellef Ringnes Island is an uninhabited island and one of the Sverdrup Islands in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. A member of the Queen Elizabeth Islands and Arctic Archipelago, it is located in the Arctic Ocean, east of Borden Isla ...

, Somerset Island,

Prince Patrick Island A member of the Arctic Archipelago, Prince Patrick Island is the westernmost of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Northwest Territories of Canada, lying northwest of Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut), Melville Island. The area ...

, and Melville Island. The maximum elevation is . The ecoregion to the north on Baffin Island is the Davis Highlands tundra, which receives more than twice as much precipitation (400-600 mm/year). The terrain varies across the ecoregion. The north and west is mountainous and heavily covered in ice. To the south and east the covered portions of Somerset and Baffin Islands are lowland plains with glacial moraines. The ocean around the northern islands tends to be iced over even through the summer, while there is open water in the summer around the southern islands. On land, permafrost is continuous and deep.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is ''

Tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

ET), a local climate in which at least one month has an average temperature high enough to melt snow (0 °C (32 °F)), but no month with an average temperature in excess of 10 °C (50 °F).

Flora and fauna

While much of the ecoregion is ice or bare rock with very sparse vegetation, up to 68 percent of the cover is

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

. A further 6% of the land, supports herbaceous cover. In the north, only the hardiest cold-tolerant vascular plants can survive, such as sedge (

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family (biology), family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of ge ...

) and cotton grass (

Eriophorum ''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found in the cool temperate, alpine, and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, primarily in the mi ...

). In a few low-lying, protected areas there can be small stands of Arctic willow (''

Salix arctica ''Salix arctica'', the Arctic willow, is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in Arctic conditions, specifically tundras. Description ''S. arctica'' is typically a low shrub growing to only in height, rarely to ...

''), Dryas species, and low-growing purple saxifrage (''

Saxifraga oppositifolia ''Saxifraga oppositifolia'', the purple saxifrage or purple mountain saxifrage, is a species of plant that is very common in the high Arctic and also some high mountainous areas further south, including northern Great Britain, Britain, the Alps ...

''),

Kobresia ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' may ...

species and arctic poppy (''

Papaver radicatum The Arctic poppy (''Papaver radicatum'') is a flowering plant in the Papaveraceae family. It may also be referred to as rooted poppy or yellow poppy. Arctic poppies grow in cold climate conditions and are found in Arctic regions throughout the wo ...

''). In the south with a marginally relatively milder and wetter climate, the landscape may also feature stands of wood rush (''

Luzula ''Luzula'' is a genus of flowering plants in the rush family Juncaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring throughout the world, especially in temperate regions, the Arctic, and higher elevation areas in the tropic ...

'') and wire rush (''

Juncus ''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfici ...

''). Mammals in the ecoregion include muskox ('' Ovibos moschatus''), arctic hare ('' Lepus arcticus''), arctic fox (''

Alopex lagopus The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to ...

''), caribou (''

Rangifer tarandus The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represent ...

'), Polar bears (''

Ursus maritimus The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivor ...

''), and high Arctic wolves ('' Canis lupus arctos'').

Protected areas

Over 10% of the ecoregion is officially protected. These protected areas include: *

Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area is a National Wildlife Area on Bathurst Island within Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is on federal Crown land, and is administered by the Canadian Wildlife Service, a division of Environment Canada, wit ...

Quttinirpaaq National Park Quttinirpaaq National Park is located on the northeastern corner of Ellesmere Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the second most northerly park on Earth after Northeast Greenland National Park. In Inuktitut, Quttinirpaaq m ...

Prince Leopold Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary The Prince Leopold Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary is a migratory bird sanctuary in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It is located on Prince Leopold Island within Lancaster Sound at the junction of Prince Regent Inlet and Barrow Strait. It was est ...

Sirmilik National Park Sirmilik National Park (; Inuktitut: "the place of glaciers") is a National Parks of Canada, national park located in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada, established in 1999. Situated within the Arctic Cordillera, the park is comp ...

Qausuittuq National Park Qausuittuq National Park (pronounced Qow-soo-ee-tooq, from Inuktitut meaning ''place where the sun does not rise'') is a national park located on northwest Bathurst Island in Nunavut. It was established on September 1, 2015, becoming Canada's 4 ...

Auyuittuq National Park Auyuittuq National Park (, , "the land that never melts") is a national park located on Baffin Island's Cumberland Peninsula, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, the largest political subdivision of Canada. The park was initially known as ''Ba ...

References

External links