[6] Canada's tundra is characterized by extreme climatic conditions with year-round frozen grounds, long and cold winters, a very short growing season and low precipitation rates.

[9][10][11][12] Changing climate, recorded and documented over several decades has already caused noticeable regional environmental instability and threatened or endangered a number of species.

It comprises areas on the mainland - the southern half of Nunavut and the Northwest territories and stretches down into Quebec, Hudson Bay, the Ungava Peninsula and includes the Aberdeen and Amundsen Plains.

Dominant features are hills and plains, ponds and lakes that allow growth of low shrubs mixed with herbs, lichens, and cotton-grass.

For almost a million square kilometres, the pattern of habitats in the Southern Arctic is the same: sprawling shrublands, wet sedge meadows, and cold, clear lakes.

Local soil, elevation and drainage quality are influential factors for the growth of the transition, some scholars also pointed to "differences in albedo and snow retention caused by the presence of certain coniferous trees".

[19] Northern Canada's present physiognomy formed beginning around 750 to 600 million years ago by the breakup and subsequent rifting of the supercontinent Rodinia.

As these formations are of deep tectonic nature they do not necessarily constitute the structure and material found on the surface, are observable elevated mountain ranges or orogenic belts.

Large areas of the Canadian Shield - the ancient geological core of the North American continental plate are buried under sedimentary rocks of the Interior Platform.

There are nunataks, ice fields and deeply cut valleys, a rugged coastline with long winding fjords and large areas of exposed bedrock.

The Southern Arctic sits on Precambrian granitic bedrock outcrops, followed in the west by Cretaceous shales from the Great Bear Lake to the Firth River, Yukon.

Seasonally frozen top layers vary in depth as differences in moisture give rise to a variety of land forms and habitats.

[24] The active top layer of most southern and central soil profiles is only seasonally frozen, contains water, gases and nutrients, its depth varies depending on material, vegetative cover and the local temperature.

The tundra classifies as a desert due to low precipitation rates, yet permafrost causes even lower degrees of drainage and evaporation and as a result the ground, lakes and glaciers hold large quantities of fresh water.

A symbiotic life form with a photobiont (algae or cyanobacteria) living among the filaments of a fungus where it benefits from moisture, elementary nutrients and is protected from the environment.

[31] Beringia is also one of the main migration routes of paleo-humans into North America including the Paleo-Eskimo communities of Alaska, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic.

Typically, only patches of moss, lichen, Arctic poppy (Papaver radicatum) and cold-hardy vascular plants such as sedge and cotton grass are found.

Some endemic plants, such as the Yukon Whitlow-grass (Draba yukonensis) and the Long's northern rockcress (Braya longyi) have become endangered due to industrial activities.

In certain regions - such as Nunavut, the Baffin Uplands and the Lancaster Plateaus - Arctic willow (Salix arctica), purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) and Kobresia simpliciuscula are also common.

Some exceptions are the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), which since its introduction to the region has proliferated on beaches and shores and near newly opened roads on Baffin Island, Barley (Hordeum vulgare), shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) and the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum).

[45] Invasive species include the cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae), common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and the house sparrow (Passer domesticus).

Due to the self-sufficient lifestyle in the Arctic, a large amount of time is spent hunting, fishing and gathering other food sources, which makes motor vehicle accidents in hazardous terrain common.

[50][51] The local population has observed climate change of the Canadian Arctic, such as "a significant thinning of sea- and freshwater ice, a shortening of the winter ice season, reduction in snow cover, changes in wildlife and plant species’ distribution, melting permafrost, and increased coastal erosion of some shorelines"[52] The combination of rain and snow on the Arctic terrain has been damaging for plants.

At Old Crow, Yukon considerable lowering of water levels was observed and a significant increase in shrub cover, especially those belonging to the Salix genus.

Researchers reported peak annual greenness increases of 0.49 to 0.79% per year in dwarf shrubs, mosses and lichens of the Northern Arctic.

[13][54] "The Government of Canada is committed to working with international partners to reach an ambitious global agreement this is anchored in science and leads the world towards a low-carbon, climate resilient economy."

A publication of the U.S. National Park Service concludes that the native caribou will be affected by increasing climate change in the Canadian Arctic.

Thick fur, specialized ‘heat-retaining’ circulatory systems in their feet and an ability to lower their metabolic rate are traits that are rather disadvantageous in warmer non-polar habitats.