Greenland, often visualized as a vast, icy expanse, holds a surprising diversity of plant life within its ice-free regions. While the Greenland Ice Sheet covers about 80% of the island, the coastal areas and sheltered valleys support a unique range of vegetation. These plants have developed specific adaptations to thrive in the Arctic’s extreme environmental conditions.
Key Plant Types
Greenland’s vegetation is largely dominated by Arctic tundra, with dwarf shrub heath being the most widespread plant community. This includes species such as black crowberry, bog bilberry (Arctic blueberry), dwarf birch, willow, and heather. These low-lying shrubs often form dense mats across large areas.
Beyond dwarf shrubs, Greenland is home to various mosses and lichens, which form a widespread ground cover, particularly in northern regions. Grasses and sedges are also common, contributing to moorland, bog, and grassland plant communities. While trees are absent due to shallow soil and short growing seasons, a few native tree and large shrub species, like downy birch (Betula pubescens) and grey-leaf willow (Salix glauca), exist, with the only natural forest found in the Qinngua Valley in the south. Flowering plants, such as Arctic poppy, yellow poppy, and various saxifrages, add splashes of color during the brief summer, often growing close to the ground.
Surviving the Harsh Climate
Greenland’s plants face environmental challenges, including extreme cold, strong winds, a short growing season, permafrost, and nutrient-poor soils. Temperatures remain low, slowing metabolic processes and increasing the risk of frost damage. Strong winds also cause abrasion and desiccation.
To overcome these obstacles, Arctic plants have developed effective adaptations. Many grow in compact forms like cushions, tussocks, or rosettes, creating a warmer, more humid microclimate close to the ground, which can be over 10 degrees Celsius warmer than the air just above. Their shallow root systems are an adaptation to permafrost, where the ground remains frozen just inches below the surface. Some plants produce cryoprotectants, a type of “antifreeze” protein, and sugars to lower the freezing point of their cells, while others, like the Arctic poppy, complete their life cycle rapidly during the short summer. Many species are perennials, persisting through multiple years storing energy in underground rhizomes or buds, protected by snow cover.
Where Plants Thrive
Greenland’s vegetation is not uniformly distributed; it thrives primarily in ice-free coastal areas and sheltered valleys. The interior remains covered by the ice sheet, which is inhospitable to life. Plant density and species diversity increase from the colder northern regions to the milder southern parts of Greenland.
For instance, northern Greenland features sparse vegetation, with widespread mosses, lichens, and low-lying dwarf willows and crowberries. Further south, particularly in areas like the Qinngua Valley, the climate supports taller dwarf birch and willow species, some reaching several meters in height. The southwest, east, and northeast coastal regions have experienced an increase in vegetation, including dense wetland vegetation, especially around Kangerlussuaq.
Changing Landscape
Greenland’s vegetation is undergoing changes due to a warming climate, with the Arctic warming at about twice the global average rate. Over the past three decades, 28,707 square kilometers of Greenland’s ice sheet and glaciers have melted, an area comparable to the size of Albania. This ice loss exposes bare rock, which is then colonized by tundra and eventually shrubs.
The land area covered by vegetation has more than doubled, increasing by 87,475 square kilometers over 30 years. This expansion includes a quadrupling of wetlands, particularly in the southwest and northeast, as meltwater moves sediment and silt. These changes are leading to the expansion of shrublands into previously barren areas, with plants starting to grow taller. This “greening” of Greenland, while seemingly positive, can exacerbate permafrost thaw, releasing greenhouse gases previously trapped in Arctic soils and and further impacting the ecosystem.