CGC1DG Grade 9 Canadian Geography - Chapter 15 Test Notes Making the Connections: Canada’s Ecozones Key Definitions Ecozone - a distinct ecological region determined on the basis of physical, biological, and human factors. GDP (gross domestic product) - total value of the goods and services produced within a country, excluding transactions with other countries. Canada’s Ecozones Canada is divided into 15 separate terrestrial ecozones. An ecozone is a distinct ecological region determined on the basis of physical, biological, and human factors. An area can be defined as a distinct ecological zone based on the way its landform, climate, soil, geological history, water features, vegetation, wildlife, and human activities are linked together. Canada’s 15 ecozones are: 1. Arctic Cordillera 2. Northern Arctic 3. Southern Arctic 4. Atlantic Maritime 5. Boreal Cordillera 6. Boreal Plains 7. Boreal Shield 8. Hudson Plains 9. Prairie 10. Mixedwood Plains 11. Montane Cordillera 12. Pacific Maritime 13. Taiga Cordillera 14. Taiga Plains 15. Taiga Shield Why Ecozones Are Useful Ecozones are useful because they help us study how different regions and areas develop, as well as understand the interconnections among natural and human systems. It provides us with a basis for decision-making for sustaining an ecozone. Ecozones allow us to create a collection of information about the particular place and place it into a single “file folder” of data. Fun Fact: The first map of Canadian ecozones was published in 1986. A Tour of Canada’s Terrestrial Ecozones (4) Note: - Growing season is the average number of days per year when the average temperature is more than 5°C. - GDP, which stands for gross domestic product, represents the value of all economic production (goods and services), in the ecozone. Categories: 1. Landforms 2. Climate 3. Vegetation 4. Soils 5. Human Activties 6. Major Urban Areas – 1. Mixedwood Plains ● Location: The Mixedwood Plains extends along the Quebec City-Windsor corridor ● Landforms: Plains and rolling hills; Great Lakes are an important feature ● Climate: Continental climate; cool, short winters; relatively long, mild summers; precipitation is 700 to 1000 mm; 180 to 260 days ● Vegetation: Coniferous and Deciduous trees ● Soils: Leached, wet-climate soils ● Human Activities: Highest population and GDP among the ecozones; urbanization, manufacturing, agriculture, recreation ● Major Urban Areas: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Hamilton, Windsor, London 2. Northern Arctic ● Location: The Northern Arctic ecozone encompasses most of Nunavut and a portion of both the Northwest Territories and northern Quebec. ● Landforms: Plains and upland areas ● Climate: The climate is very dry and cold. Long winters, short summers; precipitation 200 mm; growing season 50 days ● Vegetation: Tundra; ground-hugging plants ● Soils: Permafrost; tundra soils ● Human Activities: Low population and GDP; hunting, tourism, some mining ● Major Urban Areas: Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay, Resolute 3. Pacific Maritime ● Location: The Pacific Maritime ecozone lies along British Columbia's coast and its border with Alaska. ● Landforms: Mountains with small areas of coastal plains ● Climate: This ecozone has some of the warmest and wettest climatic conditions in Canada; mild winters; cool summers; precipitation 600 to 2000 mm; growing season 200 to 260 days ● Vegetation: Varies with elevation; coniferous trees ● Soils: Wide variety of mountain soils ● Human Activities: High population and GDP; forestry, urbanization, agriculture, fish processing, tourism, recreation ● Major Urban Areas: Vancouver, Victoria, Prince Rupert 4. Prairie ● Location: The Prairies cover the south of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. ● Landforms: Flat to rolling plains ● Climate: Moderately long, cold winters; moderately warm summers; precipitation 250 to 700 mm; growing season 170 to 190 days ● Vegetation: Short-grass prairie in drier areas; long-grass prairie in wetter areas; some trees; little natural vegetation remains ● Soils: Rich, grassland soils ● Human Activities: High population and GDP; agriculture, urbanization, oil and gas development ● Major Urban Areas: Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon Table Comparison - Boreal Shield and Mixedwood Plains *Might be important Factor Boreal Shield Mixedwood Plains Landforms Canadian Shield Great Lakes Lowlands Climate Boreal region Southeastern region Vegetation Evergreen and mixed forest Deciduous and mixed forest Soils Wet climate, leached soils Wet climate, leached soils Wildlife Moose, black bear, lynx, boreal owl, woodland caribou Raccoon, skunk, great blue heron, grey squirrel Human activities Forestry, mining, trapping Agriculture, urbanization —————————————————————————————— Geography Questions - Chapter 15 Questions: 1a, 2, 3a, c, d, e, 4, 6a, c, 7 1. What is an ecozone? An ecozone is a distinct ecological region determined on the basis of physical, biological, and human factors. 2. Which ecozones list tourism or recreation as a major human activity? How would the kind of tourism/recreation vary in different ecozones? -Mixedwood Plains -Pacific Maritime -Hudson Plains -Atlantic Maritime -Taiga Cordillera -Southern Arctic -Boreal Plains -Taiga Shield -Northern Arctic -Montane Cordillera -Boreal Cordillera -Arctic Cordillera The types of tourism and recreation varies because each ecozone is different, with unique landforms and different climates. As a result, each area will have different types of tourism and recreation. For example, the Northern Arctic is a tourist attraction because of its islands and beautiful mountains. 3a. What is the GDP of an ecozone? GDP, which stands for gross domestic product, is the value of all economic production (goods and services) in an ecozone. 3d. What relationship do you see between GDP and area? The relationship between GDP and area is very weak. However, the ecozones with the greatest GDP usually have the smallest area. For example, mixedwood plains that have the highest GDP have the smallest area among the other ecozones. On the other hand, ecozones with the biggest areas have the lowest GDP, such as Taiga Cordillera ecozone and Northern Arctic ecozone. 3e. What relationship do you see between GDP and population? The relationship between GDP and population is very strong. If the population is large, that means the GDP will be higher as there is higher demand for goods and services because there are more people. For example, mixedwood plains has the largest population among all ecozones, and as a result, it has the highest GDP. ON the other hand, ecozones that have a low population tend to have low GDP as there isn’t a high demand for goods and services because there aren’t as many people that live there. For example, the Taiga Cordillera ecozone has the lowest population among all ecozones, which results in a low GDP. 4. Examine the growing seasons found in each ecozone. In what ecozones would you expect to find most of Canada’s agricultural activities? We expect to find most of Canada’s agricultural activities in places where they have longer growing seasons, which tend to be in the south of Canada, pacific and the maritime. For example, the mixedwood plains, atlantic maritime, pacific maritime, montane cordillera, atlantic maritime, prairie, boreal plains, and taiga plains. 6. In this chapter, you learned about the usefulness of ecozones in helping us to understand and explain Canada’s geography. Consider how this would apply in each of these cases: a. solving environmental problems Ecozones can aid in solving of environmental issues by allowing for the monitoring of both natural and human-caused stress on the ecosystem, as well as the preservation of specific information on an ecozone in one place where it's easy to access. Analyzing the data may provide insight into locations where environmental pressures and related environmental changes are likely to occur. c. planning a family holiday trip Ecozones can help in the planning of a family vacation since they are organised in such a way to be able to read precise information on the 15 ecozones, as well as what human activities are available there. A family can determine where they want to travel depending on their interests and wishes by reading the information. For example, if a family wishes to go skiing, then the northern places, such as the Northern Arctic, are the best option. 7a. If you live in a highly populated ecozone, which lightly populated ecozone would you like to i. live in? I chose the Boreal Cordillera for a variety of reasons. To begin, I believe the climate is ideal for me based on my preferences. Summers are short and cool, while winters are long and cold. The area is very dry due to the lack of precipitation. There are several human activities that can be done for fun or to find employment. For example, there is tourism, mining, forestry, trapping, and hunting. ii. visit? I chose the Northern Arctic ecozone for a variety of reasons. To begin, I chose it because of the climate. Although the winters can be brutally cold, the summers seem to be a pleasant time to visit because the climate is generally cool. The human activities there are hunting, trapping, tourism, and mineral development. Tourism was the human activity that stuck out the most to me in my case. There are several national parks to visit, each with stunning landscapes and exciting activities. Furthermore, there are beautiful islands to visit on your journey. Fill In the Blanks Exercise 1. Canada is made up of different kinds of ________ that offer special __________and _________ to the people who live there. 2. Canada’s landforms, climate, soil, geological history, water, natural vegetation, together with the activities of ________ and animals all ________ to form new kinds of regions called _______________________ or _____________. 3. An ecozone is a region or area based on its __________________. 4. All these factors are ________ in such a way that a change in just ________ factor will result in ________ or _____________ in the rest of them. 5. Canada is currently divided into ________ ecozones, each having an area of at least ___________km². 6. The first map of Canada’s ecozones was published in ________. 7. Before the concept of ecozones was conceived, people had a tendency to keep ________ and ________ information about any one particular area ___________. 8. The ecozone concept allowed people to bring together all the different ____________ and ________ factors in each unique region in Canada and to study the ________ among them. 9. The ecozone approach was developed by Canadian geographers to help them identify ________ __________associated with different habitats. 10. By studying these large-scale areas known as ecozones, geographers can find out what________ human activities have on ________ and ________ populations and what steps can be taken to help ___________ these unique regions. Find the Ecozone(s) That Best Match the Following Description: 1. Most populated (2) ______________________________ 2. Least populated (1) ______________________________ 3. Mining is an important activity (3) ______________________________ 4. Hunting and trapping is an important activity (6) ______________________________ 5. Contain mountains (5) ______________________________ 6. Largest in area (1) ______________________________ 7. Smallest in area (1) ______________________________ 8. Lowest GDP (1) ______________________________ - Why do you think this ecozone has the lowest GDP of all ecozones? 9. How many ecozones contain permafrost? ______________________________ 10. How many ecozones contain plains? ______________________________ 11. In which ecozone would you find Nunavut’s capital city? _____________________ 12. Name a city that would be found in the Pacific Maritime region. ______________ 13.Which area has permafrost, tundra soils and bare rock exposed at the surface and has virtually no growing season? ______________ 14.Which area has the longest growing season? ____________________ For each photo, complete the following steps. Begin by copying the graphic organizer from Fig 15-2 into your notebook, and use it to record your answers. Photo Landform Region Climate Region Vegetation Region Soil Region Activities Shown* 1 Interior Plains Prairie Grassland Dry-climate soils -Agriculture -Wildlife -Hunting -Transportation 2 Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands Southeastern Deciduous forest Wet-climate soils -Agriculture -Hunting -Forestry -Hiking -Sight-seeing 3 Canadian Shield Arctic Tundra Tundra -Hunting -Fishing -Tourism -Hockey -Skiing 4 Appalachian Mountains Atlantic Maritime Mixed forest Wet-climate soils -Fishing -Agriculture -Tourism -Urbanization -Transportation -Cycling 5 Canadian Shield Boreal and Taiga forest Wet-climate soils -Tourism -Forestry -Recreation Boreal For each of the following ecozones, identify its major cities: Ecozone Major Urban Cities Northern Arctic Prairie Pacific Maritime Mixedwood Plains Answer the Following Questions: 1. How many ecozones exist in Canada? What are the 6 categories of information used to classify the different area of the country? 2. Select the ecozone in which you live plus one other ecozone and compare them. How are they different? How are they similar? 3. Why is the ecozone concept useful in terms of organizing information about an area? 4. Define: GDP 5. Define: Growing season 6. Name each of the 15 ecozones. Locate each one on a map of Canada.
