1. Canada’s 15 Terrestrial Ecozones

2. Mixedwood Plains
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Groundhog
Killdeer
Raccoon

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

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

5. 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

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

7. 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

8. Taiga Cordillera
Mountain Goat
Gyrfalcon
American Pika

9. 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

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

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

12. Kluane Lake, Yukon
Arctic Ground Squirrel
Whitebark Pine

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

14. 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

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

16. 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)

17. Hudson Plains
Bearded Seal
Balsam Poplar
American Mink

18. 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

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