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Ecozones Of Canada
Canada has 20 major ecosystems—ecozones, comprising 15 terrestrial units and 5 marine units. These ecozones are further subdivided into 53 ecoprovinces, 194 ecoregions, and 1,027 ecodistricts. These form the country's ecological land classification within the Ecological Land Classification framework adopted in 2017. They represent areas of the Earth's surface representative of large and very generalized ecological units characterized by interactive and adjusting biotic and abiotic factors. Terrestrial ecozones On November 20, 2017, Statistics Canada approved the Ecological Land Classification (ELC) framework as the official government standard in classifying the ecological regions of Canada. This framework mirrors that which was originally established in 1995, but revises number of ecodisiricts to 1,027 in order to better align them with the Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC) database of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Though this framework originally included 5 marine eco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Arctic Ecozone (CEC)
The Northern Arctic Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone which includes most of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Boothia and Melville Peninsulas of Nunavut, and the northwestern tip of Quebec. Its marine borders are with the Arctic Archipelago Marine Ecozone, and it is adjacent to the mainland Southern Arctic Ecozone. Sparsely populated, it is home to 15,000 inhabitants, approximately 80% of whom are Inuit. The largest settlement is Iqaluit. The cold winters are very dark, typically having no daylight for weeks or even months north of the Arctic Circle. Geography Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rock forms the western portion of the ecozone, whereas Precambrian granite is the dominant feature in the east. Broad flat plains are common on the coastlines, and extend inland up to in some parts. In the east, plateaus and rocky hills merge into the foothills of the Arctic Cordillera. The west is character ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hudson Plains Ecozone (CEC)
The Southern Hudson Bay taiga is a terrestrial ecoregion, as classified by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends along the southern coast of Hudson Bay and resides within the larger taiga biome. The region is nearly coterminous with the Hudson Plain, a Level I ecoregion of North America as designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its ''North American Environmental Atlas''. Entirely located in Canada, the Southern Hudson Bay taiga covers an area of approximately and crosses the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and the western portion of Quebec. Various islands in James Bay which belong to Nunavut are also considered to be part of the ecoregion. It includes the largest continuous wetland in the world. It covers nearly a quarter of Ontario's landmass, and 3.6% of Canada's total area, Its historical prominence is due to the harshness endured by pioneer explorers who established fortifications for Hudson's Bay Company, and as a result of regional wars be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montane Cordillera
The Montane Cordillera Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is an ecozone in south-central British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, Canada (an ecozone is equivalent to a Level I ecoregion in the United States). A rugged and mountainous ecozone spanning 473,000 square kilometres, it still contains "two of the few significant agricultural areas of the province", the Creston Valley and the Okanagan Valley. Primarily a mountainous region, it consists of rugged ecosystems such as alpine tundra, dry sagebrush and dense conifer forests. The interior plains are encircled by a ring of mountains. The area has a mild climate throughout the year, with typically dry summers and wet winters. The corresponding name in the United States for this ecozone, where it is classed as a Level I ecoregion by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which is identical though differently-named than the CEC system, is the Northwestern Forested Mountain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Maritime Ecozone (CEC)
The Pacific Maritime Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial Ecozones of Canada, ecozone, spanning a strip approximately 200 kilometres wide along the British Columbia Coast, then narrowing along the border with Alaska. It also includes all marine islands of British Columbia and a small portion of the southwestern corner of the Yukon. Fourteen ecoregions comprise the Ecozone, ranging from the Mount Logan Ecoregion in the north to the Cascade Range, Cascade Ecoregion and Lower Mainland Ecoregion in the south. The name of the comparable ecozones in the United States, where Level II ecoregions correspond to the international term "ecozone", are the List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)#Marine West Coast Forest, Marine West Coast Forest and the List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)#Northwestern Forested Mountains, Northwestern Forested Mountains ecoregions. In the floristic province system, the region is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boreal Cordillera
The Boreal Cordillera Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial Ecozones of Canada, ecozone occupying most of the northern third of British Columbia and southern half of Yukon. Within it is found Kluane National Park and Reserve, and a small portion of the southern range of Nahanni National Park Reserve. Most of the area's population is based in the city of Whitehorse, Yukon, Whitehorse, and it contains most of Yukon's population. The portion in British Columbia is barely populated. The main economic activity is mining, particularly of gold, which discovery in the region led to the Klondike Gold Rush. In addition to the area's rich mineral deposits, active industries exist in forestry and tourism. Geography This mountainous ecozone is between the Montane Cordillera Ecozone (CEC), Montane Cordillera Ecozone to the south-east and the Taiga Cordillera Ecozone (CEC), Taiga Cordillera Ecozone to the north. The three zones cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Northwest Territories. This ecozone is very sparsely populated, with only a few hundred inhabitants who rely on subsistence living and the tourism industry. Most of the area's population consists of members of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in the community of Old Crow, located on the Porcupine River. Geography To the south is the Boreal Cordillera, to the east are the Taiga Plains, and its northern extent is defined by Yukon's coastline, at which it abuts the Southern Arctic ecozone. The northernmost area is an arctic tundra which is beyond the tree line, so is characterised by small plants and shrubs. These transition to alpine tundra and lowland taiga in a southeastern arc across the zone. To the northwest are rolling hills, throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prairies Ecozone
The Prairies Ecozone is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone which spans the southern areas of the Prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. 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 and oil 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, this ecozone is adjacent to the Montane Cordillera on the west. The two zones are bifurcated by the Boreal Plains about 70 kilometres southwest of Calgary, which also wraps around the remaining extent of the zone north of the United States border toward the Red River Valley. It is part of the Interior Plains, the Canadian extension of the Great Plains, and covers appr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boreal Plains Ecozone (CEC)
The Boreal Plains Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a terrestrial Ecozones of Canada, ecozone in the western Canada, Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It also has minor extensions into northeastern British Columbia and south-central Northwest Territories. The region extends over 779,471 km2, of which 58,981 km2 is conserved (7.6 percent). Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest national park in Canada, and Whooping Crane Summer Range, the only nesting and breeding area for the critically endangered whooping crane, are both located in the northern portion of this ecozone. Industry in this ecozone once consisted primarily of forestry and agriculture, but in 1967 Great Canadian Oil Sands, Great Canadian Oil Sands Limited began extracting bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands. Operations there have expanded significantly since 2003, and the oil sands are becoming an increasingly significant economic factor in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mixedwood Plains Ecozone (Canada)
The Mixedwood Plains Ecozone is the Canadian ecozone with the most southern extent, covering all of southwestern Ontario, and parts of central and northeastern Ontario and southern Quebec along the Saint Lawrence River. It was originally dominated by temperate deciduous forest growing mostly on limestone covered by glacial till. It is the smallest ecozone in Canada, but it includes the country's most productive industrial and commercial region, and is home to nearly half of Canada's population, including its two largest cities, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. Hence, little of the original forest cover remains, making protection of the remaining forests a high conservation priority. This ecozone includes two regions described by J.S. Rowe in his classic ''Forest Regions of Canada'': the entire Deciduous Forest Region, and the southern portions of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest Region. In the province of Ontario, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources maps this area a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantic Maritime Ecozone
The Atlantic Maritime Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is an ecozone which covers the Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, as well as the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. It is adjacent to the Atlantic Marine Ecozone to the east, and the Mixedwood Plains to the west. The roughly-corresponding Level I Ecoregion to this ecozone in the United States Environmental Protection Agency's classification, which is also part of the CEC system, is the Northern Forests ecoregion, though that classification includes the woodlands and swamps of northern Michigan and Minnesota, which are adjacent to the Boreal Shield ecozone. The coastal areas are generally cooler in summer and warmer in winter than the inland regions, with richer soils suitable for farming. Hence, coastal communities have the greatest concentration of the zone's 2.5 million inhabitants. The largest urban area in this ecozone is Halifax. Geography Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boreal Shield Ecozone (CEC)
The Boreal Shield Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is the largest Ecozones of Canada, ecozone in Canada. Covering 1.8 million square kilometres it covers almost 20% of Canada's landmass, stretching from northern Saskatchewan to Newfoundland. Geography Landforms The retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet left a landscape of broadly rolling uplands and lowlands with precambrian granitic bedrock outcrops. Few clear drainage channels were left in the rocky sediments deposited by the glacier resulting in a Drainage system (geomorphology), deranged drainage pattern. The numerous wetlands and lakes formed give this ecozone a unique character. Water features in this ecozone contain 22% of Canada's freshwater surface area. Soils Canadian system of soil classification, Soil types vary widely across the region in response to the wide range of climate and soil components present. Cryosols are found in the most northerly areas wherever there is permafr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
