Canada’s 15
Terrestrial Ecozones
What is an Ecozone?
• It is a geographic zone that can be
defined by similar characteristics
• The characteristics can include: landforms,
climate, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and
human activity
• Canada has 15 ecozones
Arctic Cordillera
Bylot Island
Pond Inlet, Baffin Island
Ice Tongue,
Ellesmere Island
Arctic Cordillera
• Northern Nunavut, including sections of
Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island
• Most inhospitable ecozone
• Little to no vegetation
• About 1,000 permanent residents, mostly
Inuit
• Too harsh for reptiles, amphibians or
insects
Arctic Wolf
Snowy
Owl
Walrus
Northern Arctic
Polar Bear
Pass,
Bathurst
Island
Arctic Landscape during
summer months
Barren
Land
Caribou
Snow Goose
Northern Arctic
• Northern Nunavut and NWT
• Coldest and driest ecozone
• There is total permafrost, and this can
extend to over 1km in thickness
• Little vegetation
Southern Arctic
Wetlands, Yukon
Polar Bear
Arctic Hare
Southern Arctic
• Northern edge of continental NWT and
northern Quebec
• Landscape formed through glaciation
• The tree line is at the very south edge of
this ecozone
• Population is around 10,000
Beaver pond in
Northern Alberta
Taiga Plain
Keg River, Alberta
Western Toad
(found only in
BC and the
Yukon
Moose
Taiga Plain
• Centred around the Mackenzie River
• Population is around 22,000, with most
people making their income off the land –
mining, forestry, etc.
Taiga Shield
Osprey
American Marten
Lynx
Taiga Shield
• Stretches eastward from NWT to Quebec
• Part of the Canadian Shield, which has
some of the world’s oldest rock deposits
• Landforms include: wetlands, shrub lands
and forests
Boreal Shield
Saguenay Fjord,
Quebec
Lower Laurentians,
Quebec
Shawbridge,
Quebec
Boreal Shield
• Largest ecozone in Canada (reaches
across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba,
Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland
• Glaciers responsible for wetlands, lakes in
the area
• Many diverse landscapes
Beaver
Great Blue Heron
Eastern Red Cedar
American Black Bear
Atlantic Maritime
Harbour Seal
(top and left)
Gooseberry Bay,
Nova Scotia
Atlantic Maritime
• Comprises the Maritime provinces
• Very high precipitation rates – this area is
home to the most storms in all of Canada
• New Brunswick is densely forested, and
that industry is very large in this ecozone,
in addition to fisheries
Mixedwood Plains
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Groundhog
Killdeer
Raccoon
Mixedwood Plains
• Southern Ontario and Quebec
• Most heavily populated ecozone
• Major land use is agriculture
• Smallest ecozone
• Highly changeable weather patterns
Buffalo Jump
Prov. Park, Alberta
Boreal Plain
Alberta
landscape
American
Badger
Great Horned Owl
Boreal Plain
• Population around 750,000 scattered in
small communities
• Canada’s oil and gas industry
• Located in the central to northern sections
of the Prairie Provinces
• Rocky Mountains create rainshadow effect
Alberta Hay Field
Prairie Plain
Canola Field
Long-tailed Weasel
The Bad Lands
Prairie Plain
• Southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba
• Major land use is agriculture
• 80 per cent of the population resides in
cities
• Glaciers formed landscape – the “Bread
Basket” created when an inland lake dried
up leaving fertile land
Taiga Cordillera
Mountain Goat
Gyrfalcon
American Pika
Taiga Cordillera
• The border between Yukon and NWT
• This area represents the most northern
section of the Rocky Mountains
• Landforms consist of mountains and
valleys
Boreal Cordillera
Kluane Lake, Yukon
Glacier in Yukon
Kaskawalsh Glacier, Kluane
Boreal Cordillera
• Southern Yukon and northern British
Columbia
• Mining is a primary industry (Klondike
Gold Rush)
• Landforms include: mountains, plateaus
and valleys
Kluane Lake, Yukon
Arctic Ground Squirrel
Whitebark Pine
Pacific Maritime
Mountain Lion (Cougar)
California Sea Lion
BC
Rainforest
Salmon Glacier, BC
Pacific Maritime
• Comprises BC’s west coast
• This ecozone has the wettest weather and
tallest trees in Canada
• Climate is dictated by Pacific Ocean
• There are still glaciers found in high
elevations
Montane Cordillera
Burstall Pass
Helmcken Falls
(Wells Gray
National Park,
BC)
Jasper Provicial Park
California Big
Horn Sheep
Wolverine
Montane Cordillera
• Southern BC and western Alberta
• The most diverse ecozone because of its 2
mountain ranges
• Susceptible to orographic (relief)
precipitation
• Many national parks (e.g., Banff, Jasper)
Hudson Plains
Bearded Seal
Balsam Poplar
American Mink
Hudson Plains
• Area surrounding Hudson Bay
• This area represents the largest system of
natural wetlands in the world
• Large vegetation (trees) found only at
higher and drier elevations
Source:
Canadian Biodiversity Website. (2012).
Retrieved from:
http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english
/index.htm