Editing Subarctic climate (section)

===Vegetation and land use===
[[Vegetation]] in regions with subarctic climates is generally of low diversity, as only hardy tree species can survive the long winters and make use of the short summers. [[Tree]]s are mostly limited to [[Pinophyta|conifer]]s, as few broadleaved trees are able to survive the very low temperatures in winter. This type of forest is also known as [[taiga]], a term which is sometimes applied to the climate found therein as well. Even though the diversity may be low, the area and numbers are high, and the taiga (boreal) forest is the largest forest biome on the planet, with most of the forests located in [[Russia]] and [[Canada]]. The process by which plants become acclimated to cold temperatures is called [[Hardening (botany)|hardening]].

Agricultural potential is generally poor, due to the natural infertility of soils<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/land/ecosysmgmt/colorimagemap/images/130.html|title=Subarctic Division|website=www.fs.fed.us|access-date=2020-01-04}}</ref> and the prevalence of swamps and lakes left by departing [[ice sheet]]s, and short growing seasons prohibit all but the hardiest of crops. Despite the short season, the long summer days at such latitudes do permit some agriculture. In some areas, ice has scoured rock surfaces bare, entirely stripping off the overburden. Elsewhere, rock basins have been formed and stream courses dammed, creating countless lakes.<ref name="usdf" />