News from the coast of Hudson Bay

We are working near the adjacent Cree (Whapmagoostui; “place of the beluga” in Cree) and Inuit (Kuujjuarapik; “little great river” in Inuktitut) villages. The relief consists of low rolling hills built of Prekambrain rocks, depressions and coastal dunes. Vegetation pattern is connected with landscape. The W-K region is located in the transition zone between the forest and tundra. Vegetation types include grass-dominated cover along the coast, lichen-heath cover on rocky outcrops, and lichen-spruce woodlands. In this beautiful scenery we are happy to collect samples from trees and shrubs. Thanks to excellent logistic support of the W-K Research Station, managed by Maxime Saunier, our field work is fast and efficient. We can reach the sampling sites by ATV and boat. During the last few days we have already collected about 200 cores of spruce, 50 samples of dwarf shrubs, mainly willow and birch. The weather is against us (see image J) but we don’t stop our work!