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Explorer

Past stories Living off-the-grid New Brunswick's Saint John River Ontario's Bruce Trail Canadian Ski Marathon Elk Island National Park Rallying for rallysport Montreal - Circus city Beluga Bytes Dawson - a musical adventure Bald Eagle Confederation Trail Boning up on the badlands Ukkusiksalik National Park Geocaching Discover Cypress Hills Saint Joseph's Oratory A walk through Stanley Park Sudbury's science centre Acadia continues Toronto's underground world

Just north of the 58^th paralell near the icy shores of Hudson Bay, the small community of Churchill (map) straddles an ectone. An ecotone is the area where two ecoregions meet, and in Churchill the boreal forest of the south and the Arctic tundra of the north converge.

The subarctic Canadian boreal forest and the southerly part of the Arctic taiga are characterized by coniferous spruce, pine and fir that have adapted to the cold climate. There are also some broadleafed trees, such as birch, aspen and willow. The area is also home to muskeg bogs and the low-lying sphagnum moss and sedge peat that thrive there.

As the tree-line and the taiga give way to the permafrost soil of the Arctic tundra, where the ground is frozen for a large part of the year, it is difficult for plants to take root. Vegetation on the tundra consists of grasses, sedges, lichens, and willow shrubs.

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