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Southern Arctic

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Name	†	Color on Map	CEC Code‡
Amundsen Plains	○		2.4.1
Aberdeen Plains	○		2.4.2
Central Ungava Peninsula and Ottawa and Belcher Islands	○		2.4.3
Queen Maud Gulf and Chantrey Inlet Lowlands	○		2.4.4

† Status: ✓ = Complete ○ = Needs Image … = Incomplete ∅ = Stub Only

‡ This code refers to the CEC's Level 3 ecoregion codes for North America, see here.

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↑About the Southern Arctic

The Southern Arctic is classified as a level II ecoregion by the US EPA and an ecozone in Canada. It extends across much of the northernmost part of mainland Canada in two disconnected pieces east and west of the Hudson Bay.

This area is covered by continuous permafrost, but summer thaws are longer, deeper, and more consistent than regions farther north.

This region can be seen as a transition between the truly treeless tundra, and the beginning of the Taiga. Numerous woody species survive in this area, but generally grow as dwarf shrubs. Grasses, sedge, and other herbaceous plants, as well as lichens are all abundant in this area. This region is almost entirely covered in vegetation, with growth densest in sheltered areas. Wetlands and ponds are abundant.

To the north lies the more barren Northern Arctic, and to the south, the Taiga Shield over the much of the region, and the Taiga Plain farther west. Following the coastline of the Arctic Ocean to the West, this region is replaced by the Alaska Tundra.