CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Abraham, K.F.
Date : 2000.
Title : Hudson Bay Lowlands.
Publication : Quebec 2000: The Millennium Wetland Event, August 6 to 12, 2000, Quebec City, Quebec.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
The Hudson Bay Lowland (HBL) is a 324,000 km 2 area of former sea bottom which lies south of Hudson Bay and west and south of James Bay in central Canada. It makes up 3.5% of Canada and occupies portions of 3 Canadian provinces. Approximately 85-90% of the HBL is covered by wetlands, having peat accumulation deeper than 30 cm. The coastal zone is variable, some areas dominated by depositional features and others by erosional features; saltmarshes are widespread, and non-peat wetlands abound. Some areas have broad tidal mudflats. Climate near Hudson Bay has produced a narrow coastal zone of tundra. Discontinuous permafrost is found in the northern portions, but diminishes and disappears as one moves south. The wetlands of the muskeg interior vary widely from sedge, shrub and treed fens, to open, shrub and treed bogs, to swamps and the many shallow ponds and lakes with emergent vegetation. Open spruce and tamarack forest is interspersed with large fen-bog complexes in the north and this changes to a more closed humid boreal forest in the south where the HBL borders the Canadian Shield. The lowland contains an estimated 1000 plant species, 300 bird species, 40 fish species, and 50 terrestrial and marine mammal species. The mainly Cree human population of under 20,000, is now concentrated in about fifteen, coastal villages which rely on traditional hunter-gatherer economies. Eco-tourism is growing in importance. The area remains essentially roadless. Climate change and societal demands may make forestry more viable along the southern edge of the HBL. Hydroelectric dams, diversions and water export proposals represent threats to the environmental integrity of the HBL that will need to be met in the new Millennium.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology