When most people think of the North they think of only snow and ice. Canada’ s North actually has four distinct biomes. Biomes are areas of land that have certain characteristics such as vegetation, climate, groundcover and wildlife. Some parts of the Arctic are mountainous and others are flat. There are many small islands in the most northern reaches of the Arctic, but also vast areas of continuous land with lakes, wetlands and rivers.

The four major biomes of the arctic are: Forest-tundra transition zone ’ An area of continuous mainly boreal forest. Tundra and polar desert – An area with no trees, some low vegetation cover, and some areas with no vegetation cover. Arctic freshwater areas – Rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Arctic marine environment – The Arctic Ocean including areas with permanent ice cover.

The North experiences almost total darkness in the winter and total sunlight in the summer because of the tilt of the Earth as it orbits around the sun. That is why it is sometimes called the “Land of the Midnight Sun.” During the long dark winter, most of the landscape is covered in snow and ice.

Permafrost covers most of the land in the North. Permafrost is permanently frozen land with a layer of soil near the surface that thaws when the temperatures rise. Where there is permafrost it is impossible for trees to grow; instead the land is sparsely covered by stunted shrubs, lichen and moss.