The Taiga Plain Ecozone, as defined by the

Commission for Environmental Cooperation The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC; es, Comisión para la Cooperación Ambiental; french: Commission de coopération environnementale) was established by Canada, Mexico, and the United States to implement the North American Agree ...

(CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial

ecozone An Ecozone may refer to: * Ecozone (Canada), one of 15 first-level ecological land classifications in Canada * Biogeographic realm, the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface (referred to as ''ecozone'' by BBC) * Biome, a large ...

that covers most of the western Northwest Territories, extending to northwest

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 Terri ...

, northeast British Columbia and slightly overlapping northeastern Yukon. It is the site of the Peace-Athabasca Delta, a globally significant wetland in Wood Buffalo National Park, and Nahanni National Park Reserve.

Geography

Its eastern boundary is located by Great Bear and Great Slave lakes in the

Taiga Shield The Taiga Shield Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is an ecozone which stretches across Canada's subarctic region. Some regions exhibit exposed Precambrian bedrock of the Canadian Shield, the oldest of th ...

, site of the world's oldest known rock formations. To its south are 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 ...

, a vast forest of spruce and other timber with numerous wetland habitats. Portions of Wood Buffalo National Park and

Whooping Crane Summer Range Whooping Crane Summer Range is a 16,895-km2 wetland complex in the boreal forests of northern Alberta and southwestern Northwest Territories in Canada. It is the only natural nesting habitat for the endangered whooping crane. On May 24, 1982, it ...

, the only nesting area for the critically endangered

whooping crane The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is the tallest North American bird, named for its whooping sound. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to N ...

, overlap onto the Taiga Plains from the Boreal Plains. To the west it abuts the foothills of the

Boreal Cordillera The Boreal Cordillera Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone occupying most of the northern third of British Columbia and southern half of Yukon. Within it is found Kluane Nat ...

in British Columbia and southern Yukon, and the

Taiga Cordillera The Taiga Cordillera Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a rugged, mountainous terrestrial ecozone of Canada spanning most of northern Yukon and significant portions of the border between the Yukon and the ...

further north. These two ecozones comprise the

Mackenzie Mountains The Mackenzie Mountains are a Canadian mountain range forming part of the Yukon- Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni ...

. Its northern borders are with the

Southern Arctic The Southern Arctic Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone which spans the northern coast of mainland Northwest Territories, most of northern mainland Nunavut excepting the nort ...

ecozone in northeastern Northwest Territories, and the

Arctic Archipelago Marine The Arctic Archipelago Marine Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a marine ecozone in the Canadian Arctic, encompassing Hudson Bay, James Bay, the internal waters and some shores of the islands in the Can ...

ecozone at the delta of Canada's largest river, the

Mackenzie Mackenzie, Mckenzie, MacKenzie, or McKenzie may refer to: People * Mackenzie (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Mackenzie (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Clan Mackenzie, a Sco ...

. The ecozone consists primarily of strata of limestone, shale, and sandstone sedimentary rocks, and has formed wide flat plains with rolling terrain throughout. The sedimentary layers contain some "rich natural reservoirs of oil and gas". The western portion, dominated by the Mackenzie, is more rugged with deep canyons and trenches cut by the river and tributaries.

Ecoprovinces

This ecozone can be further subdivided into three ecoprovinces: * Great Bear Lowlands * Hay-Slave Lowlands * Mackenzie Foothills

Climate

Summers are cool and short in this sub-arctic climate, with mean temperatures ranging from 7 °C in the north to 14 °C in the south. Winters are long and very cold in the Mackenzie Delta, with a typical January mean of -26 °C, but are somewhat milder in the southern extent, with a mean January temperature of -15 °C. Little precipitation falls here, an annual average of 250 to 500 mm throughout the zone. Snow and ice cover lasts at least six months, and it is not unusual for it to persist for eight months.

Conservation

A number of

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s have been established to protect representative and/or significant portions of this ecozone. These include the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary, Nahanni National Park Reserve, and Wood Buffalo National Park.

References

{{Reflist Ecozones of Canada Ecozones and ecoregions of Alberta Ecozones and ecoregions of British Columbia Ecozones and ecoregions of the Northwest Territories Ecozones and ecoregions of Yukon