Climate
Landscape
Soil
Vegetation
Wildlife
Human Use

Climate: Total annual precipitation (mm) 262 Annual snowfall (cm) 168 Water deficit (mm) --- Mean July temperature (C) +15.6 Mean January temperature (C) -28.5 The climate is humid and very cold. The long cold winters give way to short cool summers and a short growing season. Landscape: The landscape is rugged and ice scoured with Precambrian Shield rock outcrops. Ridges are common throughout the region, as are small to medium sized lakes. Soil: Most of the soils on top of the Precambrian Shield are coarse textured forest soils. Organic soils (made up of plants and animals that are, or once were, alive) occur in depressions and are subject to permafrost (shown left). Vegetation: Species diversity is low as a result of harsh climatic conditions. Stands of black spruce forest with lichen and moss ground cover between the trees are typical. Mature trees in this region are small and widely spaced. Jack pine, the second most prevalent tree species, occupies sandy areas. White spruce, balsam poplar, trembling aspen and white birch are also present in this area. Peat moss, Labrador tea and small bog cranberry grow in organic soils. This region has a few plants that only occur here, as well as some arctic plants. Forest fires greatly influence the vegetation. Wildlife: Black bear and moose are present, with barren ground caribou migrating south from the Territories in winter. The arctic fox is rare but does accompany the caribou onto its winter range. Red fox, lynx, snowshoe hare, muskrat, wolf, marten, wolverine, and red squirrel occur in low numbers. Spruce grouse, osprey and waterfowl are characteristic of the region. The fox sparrow, ruby-crowned kinglet, common loon and herring gull are typical of the area. The surf scooter, mew gull, arctic tern and least sandpiper only use this region for nesting. (Indicator species moose and hare) Human Use: The main activities of residents are trapping, hunting and prospecting. Very little commercial or recreational fishing occurs. There are no roads.