Canadian Middle Arctic Tundra ecoregion

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Canadian Middle Arctic Tundra

RESOLVE 414

The Canadian Middle Arctic Tundra spans mainland Northwest Territories and Nunavut, northern Quebec, and Arctic islands including Banks, Victoria, and about half of Baffin, sitting ecologically between Canada's High and Low Arctic tundra. Sparse vegetation of lichens, herbs, and dwarf shrubs—Arctic willow, mountain avens, and heath-family plants—covers ground underlain by continuous permafrost, with sedges and grasses in wetter lowlands. The mid-Arctic climate brings short, cool summers and long, very cold winters, and low precipitation gives it a polar desert character. Banks Island holds the world's densest musk ox population; about 91% of the ecoregion remains intact, but only roughly 6% is protected.

Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 67.2°N, 90.3°W.

Climate snapshot for this ecoregion

°C

°F

Current zone range (2011–2040)

4a-6a

Plotwright

CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.

Projected (2041–2070)

4b-6b

Plotwright

Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.

Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +10.8°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.

At a glance

Dominant biome

Tundra

Realm

Nearctic

Approximate area

378,457 sq mi

Conservation tier

Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)

About the tundra biome

Treeless polar and high-mountain landscapes of low shrubs, sedges, mosses, and lichens, where cold and a short growing season cap plant height. Soils are frequently frozen as permafrost, and these systems recover only slowly from disturbance.

National refinement sub-regions

Within this RESOLVE ecoregion, national agencies recognise finer-grained sub-regions. Plotwright assigns each sub-region polygon to its containing RESOLVE polygon by centroid.

Canadian NEF Ecoprovinces — 2 ecoprovinces

2.3 · Victoria Lowlands

2.7 · Foxe-Boothia Lowlands

Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, NEF v2.2 (Open Government Licence — Canada).

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Climate-resilient picks · 248

These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.

American red raspberry

Bearberry (kinnikinnick)

Black tupelo (black gum)

Calendula (pot marigold)

California poppy

Canada goldenrod

Canadian serviceberry

Cantaloupe

Cardinal flower

Carolina allspice (sweetshrub)

Firecracker penstemon

Fragrant plantain lily

Maypop (purple passionflower)

Northern maidenhair fern

Short-toothed mountain mint

Summersweet (sweet pepperbush)

Tulip tree (yellow poplar)

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Climate-resilient · 2 plants

Bright shade foundation

A part-shade starting point with shrub structure and low foliage contrast.

Annabelle hydrangea

Coral bells

Climate-resilient · 8 plants

Climate-resilient natives for warming zones (eastern NA)

A pollinator-supporting palette of eastern NA natives whose USDA zone range and broad continental distribution score high on the climate-resilience composite. Every plant tolerates 6-7 USDA zones and is native across 15+ US states + multiple Canadian provinces. Holds up under the SSP3-7.0 mid-century projection without the gardener trading wildlife value for resilience.