Vegetation Cover and/or Land Use

Vegetation cover or land use, or both.

Cultivated field crops.

Bogs may be treed or treeless and are usually covered with Sphagnum spp. and ericaceous shrubs.

Dominated by needle-leaved, cone-bearing species. In the Subarctic Ecoclimatic Regions this refers to an open lichen coniferous forest; in the Boreal Ecoclimatic Regions this refers to a closed canopy coniferous forest.

Dominated by broadleaf species.

Dominated by sedges, grasses, reeds, and brown mosses with some shrubs and, at times, a sparse tree layer.

Perennial native grassland or improved pasture.

Unvegetated areas in the High Arctic; may be caused by either climatic (too cold or too dry) or edaphic (low soil nutrients or toxic substrates such as salt) factors, or a combination of both.

Dominated by lichens with significant amounts of mosses and usually including low to medium ericaceous shrubs.

Composed of both coniferous and deciduous tree species (refer to codes C and D).

A forest - grassland transition consisting of a mosaic of trembling aspen stands interspersed with patches of cropland, grassland, and meadow.

A mosaic surface pattern composed of pools or channels interspersed with clumps of emergent sedges, grasses, rushes, and reeds, and bordered by grassy meadows and peripheral bands of shrubs or trees; submerged and floating aquatics flourish in open water areas.

Dominated by shrub species.

Dominated by Carex spp. and generally moderately decomposed and matted; the sedge leaves are readily identifiable to the naked eye.

Treeless terrain occurring at high altitudes, immediately above the forest zone and the upper altitudinal timberline; vegetation consists of lichens, mosses, sedges, grasses, forbs, and low shrubs (<20 cm) such as heath, dwarf willows, and birches.

Dominated by 20-60 cm high shrubs occurring in the Low Arctic Ecoclimatic Region.

Dominated by 10 - 20 cm high shrubs occurring in the Mid-Arctic Ecoclimatic Region.

Ground without tree found at high latitudes and especially in the area immediately north of the boreal forest, including parts of the ecozone treeless forest - tundra adjacent to the treeline, tundra vegetation consists of lichens, mosses, sedges, grasses, forbs and low shrubs (20 cm or less) including heath, dwarf willows and birches.

Dwarf shrubs, Dryas and willows are important components of the vegetation. Other vascular plants are present but have low total coverage. Crustose lichens are common on the ground surface. Ground cover ranges from 10-20%.

Rock and Other Unvegetated Surfaces

Dominated by sedges and cotton grass, with 'wet' mosses (e.g., Mnium spp., Sphagnum spp.) and occasional herbs.

Not applicable