Arctic Flora and Fauna

Beautiful land, Nunatsiaq, is what the Canadian Inuit call their homeland, the tundras and icy coasts in the north of Canada. It is an austere and yet in many ways enchanting land, with vastness almost beyond our imagination: the three territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut cover more than ten times the area of Germany, around 4 million square kilometres.

"dwarf fireweed"
[vgl. Im Land der Inuit S. 225]

The photographs in this website are intended to reflect the visual impression given by this unique landscape in different seasons. In some pictures we also show the centuries-old tracks left by the present-day Inuit's forebears in this vast landscape. A smaller number of pictures also give some information on the variety of flora found in the Arctic landscape – albeit only a few examples, by no means exhaustive. At the same time they document the close historical relationship of Arctic flora to our own families of Alpine plants. (“Land des Großen Bären”, p. 9)

“The artic is a land of contrasts – a land of comprehensible distances and awe-inspiring landforms, and a land of delicate, transient beauty.

Immense glacier-carved ridges, high rocky hills, ancient beaches, millions of lakes, and sparkling arctic rivers tumbling into dark gorges are part of the picture. On the coast and barrenlands, however, horizons recede into the far distance. Here the tundra stretches a thin green cape over the rocky skeleton of the land. Close up, in summer, the tundra becomes an exquisite oriental carpet, with dozens of species of flowers, all in a headlong rush to complete their cycles in a few weeks.

Compared to other biomes, the tundra is a simple system. Amateur botanists have a chance to learn a fair number of the local plants in a brief visit. The plants of the tundra are obvious, too – there’s no forest to confuse and to occupy vertical space. Yet there are a lot of images; minute flowers, dwarf shrubs, and colourful lichens and mosses all jumbled together into a mosaic of intricate beauty. Simple though the system is, it is still complex enough to frustrate the casual visitor.” (Page Burt, Barrenland Beauties; Outcrop Ltd. Yellowknife, NT, 2000)

"Caribou mother and kid“ [vgl. Der Polarbär kam spät abends S. 120]

Only a few decades ago the fauna and hunting still played a crucial role in the survival of humans living in the tundra regions: the animals were not only a source of food and clothing, but they also provided building and other materials. On land it was mainly caribou, polar bear, musk ox, Arctic wolf and Arctic fox that were hunted; other land animals, such as wolverine, Arctic and northern hare, lemming and some kinds of squirrel were not quite so important. In the Arctic seas and near their coast marine mammals were harvested - whales, walrus and seals. Various kinds of bird and their eggs were a major source of food, as of course were the innumerable fish in the lakes and rivers. (“Land des Großen Bären”, p. 61)