The Prairies Ecozone is a Canadian terrestrial
ecozone which spans the southern areas of the
Prairie provinces
The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...
of
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
, and
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
. It is a productive
agricultural area, and is commonly referred to as "Canada's breadbasket".
Farmland covers about 94% of the land, and is the dominant domestic economic activity of the zone, as well as an important factor in Canadian foreign trade.
Natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
and
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
are abundant in the area. The corresponding Level II ecoregion of the US
Environmental Protection Agency is the
Great Plains Ecoregion.
Geography
Following Alberta's border with
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, this ecozone is adjacent to the
Montane Cordillera on the west. The two zones are bifurcated by the
Boreal Plains
The Boreal Plains Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a terrestrial ecozone in the western Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It also has minor extensions into northeastern British C ...
about 70 kilometres southwest of Calgary, which also wraps around the remaining extent of the zone north of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
border toward the
Red River Valley. It is part of the
Interior Plains
The Interior Plains is a vast physiographic region that spreads across the Laurentian craton of central North America, extending along the east flank of the Rocky Mountains from the Gulf Coast region to the Arctic Beaufort Sea. In Canada, it en ...
, the Canadian extension of the
Great Plains, and covers approximately 520,000 square kilometres of land and water.
Establishment of the agricultural industry has had a significant effect on the land, which now retains "little of the natural vegetation"
it had before the area was settled. Fewer than half of the original
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
s in the region remain, though during years of high
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
, numerous ephemeral wetlands may form, typically for very short periods of time.
Characterised by vast tracts of flat and rolling plains, it nonetheless exhibits a variety of relief, including
hummock
In geology, a hummock is a small knoll or mound above ground.Bates, Robert L. and Julia A. Jackson, ed. (1984). “hummock.” Dictionary of Geological Terms, 3rd Ed. New York: Anchor Books. p. 241. They are typically less than in height and ...
y lands and deep river valleys.
The ecozone transformed into a relatively treeless
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...
following the last glacial retreat from 11,000 to 8,000 years ago.
The
strata of
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
are from the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
and
Tertiary
Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.
The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
periods, and contain "isolated pockets and cracks
ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
rich reservoirs of oil and gas".
Ecoprovinces
This ecozone can be further subdivided into three ecoprovinces:
*
Central Grassland
*
Eastern Prairies
*
Parkland Prairies
Climate
Because of its location east of the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
, the Prairies ecozone can be semi-arid in some areas, annual precipitation generally increases farther east in the ecozone from in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan to in parts of Manitoba, as well humidity increases eastward through this zone.
Winters are cold, due to the lack of a major body of water, and summers are warm, means can very and tend to be colder eastward due to the lack of a major body of water, and warmer in summer. due to the lack of a major body of water. Winters averages around , and summers around .
Demographics
Despite the predominance of
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...
, less than 10% of the population is involved in agriculture. It is a highly urbanized area, with all major population centres of these provinces located in this ecozone. These include
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Calgary,
Regina,
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...
and
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
, as well as
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
,
Moose Jaw
Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javian ...
,
Red Deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...
and
Lethbridge. Nearly 80% of the region's four million inhabitants live in these and other urban areas.
Conservation
A number of
protected areas have been established to protect representative and/or significant portions of this ecozone. These include
Elk Island National Park,
Grasslands National Park, and
Turtle Mountain Provincial Park
Turtle Mountain Provincial Park is a provincial park located in the southwestern portion of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Within it are the Adam Lake and Max Lake campgrounds. The park is known for its bike trails, fishing, back country cabi ...
.
See also
*
Northern short grasslands
References
{{Reflist
Ecozones of Canada
Ecozones and ecoregions of Alberta
Ecozones and ecoregions of Manitoba
Ecozones and ecoregions of Saskatchewan
Canadian Prairies