Taiga Shield By: Fiona & Nick

Landforms Swampy marshland and big bodies of water Plenty of forests, hills and mountains Very rocky with a lot of gravel and boulders The land forms have been shaped largely by glaciers in the past ice age There are a lot of bedrock outcrops

Climate Short, cool summers and long, cold winters Winters are generally very long with long nights Snow and freshwater ice-cover persist for six to eight months precipitation ranges from about 400 mm in the south to about 200 mm in the north. The temperature is usually from 7.5 c° to 17.5 c°

Vegetation The taiga shield has lots of trees The soil is usually very thin There’s always forest fires in the forests The trees in the taiga shield endures forest fires More than half of the taiga shield is covered of permafrost

Soils Taiga shield is a wet climate soil region . The wet soil that lays in the taiga shield is good for mining and recreation The soil in the taiga shield is not good for agriculture because it has a thick layer of permafrost and a thin layer of acidic soil The taiga shield floods at times so there is a thin layer of acidic soil

Wildlife About 50 mammals are found in the taiga shield During spring and migration there is plenty of ducks, loons, geese and swans Lake trout, lake whitefish, arctic grayling, burbot and northern pike are all found in the water parts of the taiga shield Three species of amphibians in the taiga shield There are no reptiles in the taiga shield

Human Activities Total population of taiga shield is about 37 000 people The gross domestic product is $1.1 billion Tourism: Hunting, mining, and trapping - Very beautiful country side - The Great Bear and Great Slave Lake that were carved by glaciers

Major cities Yellowknife Uranium City Happy valley Goose Bay.

Interesting facts The Taiga Shield contains some of the oldest rocks in the entire world. The winters in this ecozone can last up to six months long. The worlds oldest trees are the bristlecone pinesIs located in the Taiga Shield that is 4600 years old.

Bibliography Clark, Bruce W., and John K Wallace. Geographic Issues Of the 21st century. Toronto, ON : Pearson Education Canada, 2005. Canada, Parks. Parks Canada , "ParksCanada.gc.ca." Last modified 2009. Accessed October 3, 2012. http://www.pc.gc.ca/apprendre- learn/prof/itm2- crp- trc/htm/ecozone_e.asp. Author , Unknown. Ecological Framework of Canada, "Taiga Shield Ecozone." Last modified 1990. Accessed October 3, 2012. http://ecozones.ca/english/zone/TaigaShield/index.html.