1. Canada’s 15 Terrestrial Ecozones

2. 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

3. Arctic Cordillera Bylot Island Pond Inlet, Baffin Island
Ice Tongue, Ellesmere Island

4. 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

5. Arctic Wolf
Snowy Owl
Walrus

6. Arctic Landscape during summer months
Northern Arctic
Polar Bear Pass, Bathurst Island
Arctic Landscape during summer months
Barren Land Caribou
Snow Goose

7. 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

8. Southern Arctic
Wetlands, Yukon
Polar Bear
Arctic Hare

9. 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

10. Taiga Plain Beaver pond in Northern Alberta Keg River, Alberta Moose
Western Toad (found only in BC and the Yukon
Moose

11. Taiga Plain Centred around the Mackenzie River
Population is around 22,000, with most people making their income off the land – mining, forestry, etc.

12. Taiga Shield
Osprey
American Marten
Lynx

13. 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

14. Lower Laurentians, Quebec
Boreal Shield
Saguenay Fjord, Quebec
Lower Laurentians, Quebec
Shawbridge, Quebec

15. 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

16. Beaver
American Black Bear
Great Blue Heron
Eastern Red Cedar

17. Atlantic Maritime Harbour Seal
(top and left) Gooseberry Bay, Nova Scotia

18. 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

19. Mixedwood Plains
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Groundhog
Killdeer
Raccoon

20. Mixedwood Plains Southern Ontario and Quebec
Most heavily populated ecozone
Major land use is agriculture
Smallest ecozone
Highly changeable weather patterns

21. Boreal Plain Buffalo Jump Prov. Park, Alberta Alberta landscape
American Badger
Great Horned Owl

22. 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

23. Prairie Plain Alberta Hay Field Canola Field Long-tailed Weasel
The Bad Lands

24. 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

25. Taiga Cordillera
Mountain Goat
Gyrfalcon
American Pika

26. 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

27. Boreal Cordillera Kluane Lake, Yukon Glacier in Yukon
Kaskawalsh Glacier, Kluane

28. Boreal Cordillera Southern Yukon and northern British Columbia
Mining is a primary industry (Klondike Gold Rush)
Landforms include: mountains, plateaus and valleys

29. Kluane Lake, Yukon
Arctic Ground Squirrel
Whitebark Pine

30. Pacific Maritime Mountain Lion (Cougar) California Sea Lion
BC Rainforest
Salmon Glacier, BC

31. 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

32. Montane Cordillera Burstall Pass
Helmcken Falls (Wells Gray National Park, BC)
Jasper Provicial Park
California Big Horn Sheep
Wolverine

33. 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)

34. Hudson Plains
Bearded Seal
Balsam Poplar
American Mink

35. 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

36. Source: Canadian Biodiversity Website. (2012). Retrieved from: