CLIMATE AND VEGETATION OF THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS OF SOUTHERN BAFFIN-ISLAND - LONG-TERM STABILITY AT THE LOW ARCTIC LIMIT

The interior of southern Baffin Island between 64 degrees N and 68 deg rees N latitude is a mainly lowland area over 50 000 km(2) in extent, containing two large lakes (Amadjuak and Nettilling) and numerous smal ler lakes and ponds. This area is important as summer range for caribo u and a variety of birds, and there is evidence for a human presence a s early as 3000 B.P. Field studies between 1984 and 1988 and the opera tion of climatic autostations from 1987 to 1995 revealed a warm summer climate and cold winters. There is a locally rich and diverse vegetat ion, including Betula glandulosa and other species that are indicative of the low arctic bioclimatic zone and mark the present northern limi t of that zone in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Air photos and Landsat imagery were used to map vegetation beyond the field areas, leading to an estimate of 46% of the land area in continuous vegetation (tundra) of some type and 15% with shrub and heath elements. Palynology of sed iment cores taken from Nettilling Lake permitted extrapolation from pr esent bioclimatic conditions to 4750 years B.P. Betula and therefore e lements of a low arctic vegetation association appear to have been pre sent in the area during most of that period, indicating a local biocli matic system that has been relatively stable under regional variations of climate.