Making the Making the ConnectionConnection

s:s:Canada’s EcozonesCanadian Geography 11

Unit 3: Physical Connections

PowerPoint Presentation

                                                                                                                  

Canada is divided into

15 terrestrial ecozones,

very extensive

geographical areas,

each with a distinct

combination of

climate, landforms and soils,

water features, animals,

vegetation, and people.

• An ecozone is an area of the earth's surface that represents a large ecological zone and has characteristic landforms and climate.

• Canada is divided into 15 broad terrestrial ecozones. These are very extensive geographical areas, each with a distinct combination of climate, landforms and soils, water features, animals, vegetation, and people.

• Fifteen ecozones make up terrestrial Canada and five make up the marine waters bordering Canada.

Located along the northeastern edge of Nunavut and on

the northernmost tip of Labrador, this

ecozone is Canada’s “Far

North.” The zone’s high mountains offer spectacular scenery,

much of it in the three National Parks

of the area – Quttinirpaaq, Sirmilik and Auyuittuq.

The icy Northern Arctic ecozone takes in most of the islands off the northern shores of Nunavut

and the Northwest Territories, as well as the northern tip of

Ungava Peninsula, in Quebec. The drifting North Magnetic Pole is located in this western part of the ecozone. The only National

Park located here is Aulavik.

A cold climate and rocks, lakes and rivers define this

ecozone that stretches along the northern mainland of Canada, from the border with

Alaska in the west to Quebec’s

Ungava Bay in the east. Hudson Bay divides the zone into two unequal

parts, with 80 percent of the

region lying west of the bay.

Straddling the southern Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia, the

extensively glaciated Boreal Cordillera ecozone boasts some of Canada’s highest mountains. Kluane National Park is located

in this ecozone.

The Boreal Plains ecozone extends across four provinces, from the Peace River area of

northeastern British Columbia, through central Alberta and Saskatchewan, to southeastern Manitoba (a narrow band extends a short

distance into the Northwest Territories). National Parks here are Elk Island, Wood Buffalo, Prince

Albert and Riding Mountain.

Canada’s largest ecozone, the

heavily forested Boreal Shield is

almost 4000 kilometers wide, stretching across

five provinces, from northern

Saskatchewan in the west to

Newfoundland in the east. Georgian Bay Islands, Gros Morne and Terra Nova National

Parks are located in the ecozone.

This ecozone, located at the southern end of Hudson Bay, also encompasses the

western and southeastern shores of

James Bay; small portions spill west into Manitoba and east into

Quebec. In this region of swamp, bogs and

wetlands, there is only one National Park in this

ecozone – Wapusk.

                                                                                              

                    

This ecozone covers southern

Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, from the

foothills of the Rockies to near

Ontario’s southwestern

border. The fertile Prairies zone is Canada’s most

extensive agricultural region. Grasslands is the only National Park

located here.

This ecozone offers stunning vistas of the

Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of St. Lawrence,

covering New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward

Island, and Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula

and Îles de la Madeleine. Fundy, Cape Breton

Highlands, Kejimkujik, and Prince Edward

Island National Parks are in the ecozone.

A mere two percent of Canada, this ecozone, the country’s most heavily populated and ecologically

disturbed, follows the St. Lawrence River’s course, taking in three of the five Great Lakes. Quebec City sits at its

eastern end, Windsor at its western. National Parks here include Bruce Peninsula, St. Lawrence Islands, Point

Pelee, and Fathom Five.

                                                                                              

                    

This ecozone contains the famous Rocky Mountains, taking up most of southern British Columbia and a narrow band of

southwestern Alberta. The region is very popular with outdoor adventurers;

National Parks in the ecozone include Banff and Jasper.

This is Canada’s west coast, from the northern Yukon/Alaska border to British Columbia’s southern boundary with the U.S.A, as well as Canada’s Pacific

Islands. Mountains and ocean define the region, which contains the Gulf Islands National Park

Reserves and Pacific Rim National Park

A region largely undisturbed by

glaciers, the wild and beautiful

Taiga Cordillera ecozone covers

the northern Yukon and the

southwest corner of the Northwest

Territories. Ivvavik, Nahanni (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and Vuntut National

Parks are located here.

The Taiga Plains are located mainly in the western part of the Northwest Territories. Bordered by the Mackenzie Mountains on the west, they are

distinguished, in the east, by the presence of two very large lakes: Great Bear and Great Slave. A very small portion of Wood Buffalo National Park is located in this

ecozone.

A subarctic ecozone, Taiga Shield is

characterized by forest and wetlands. It flanks

Hudson Bay, its western part extending to the Northwest Territories,

but also in small areas of northern Alberta, Saskatchewan,

and Manitoba. East of Hudson Bay, it crosses

central Quebec and southern Labrador. It contains no National

Parks.

Pacific Marine

Ecozone

• The waters of the Pacific Coast are best known to Canadians today for their popular tourism destinations and the prominent, though troubled, fishing industry.

• The Pacific coast of British Columbia is also home to ancient indigenous cultures. On his famous third voyage around the world in 1778, Captain James Cook became the first known European to reach the Pacific coast of present-day B. C.

• The heavily forested and mountainous terrain led to the emergence of a sea-dependent culture and the people of the Pacific coast acquired sea-faring and fishing skills superior to those of the first European explorers.

Arctic Archipelago Marine Ecozone

From Greenland in the east to Alaska in the west, the Arctic Archipelago Ecozone has lured mariners for centuries.

• The hope that a northerly route could be found to the Orient attracted many of the earliest explorers to the Arctic.

• History has recorded the hardships and, indeed, the tragedies which often happen to these ventures. Local geographical names like Franklin District, Victoria Island, Norwegian Bay, and Prince Albert Sound are tributes to the varied people and nations that have explored the region.

• This is perhaps one of the most unusual marine ecozones. Vast and open seascapes are rare. Instead, the marine area is comprised of a patchwork of interconnecting bays, fjords, channels, straits, sounds and gulfs. This area surrounds hundreds of islands such as the Queen Elizabeth chain of islands, Baffin Island, Melville Island, Devon Island and Banks Island.

• The general boundary of the ecozone follows the northern continental shelf from Mackenzie Bay in the Beaufort Sea north to the Lincoln Sea between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. It then curves south through Nares Strait, taking in all of Baffin Island, save for sections of the east coast considered part of the Northwest Atlantic Ecozone. The ecozone encompasses all waters to the west of Baffin Island, and then extends south into one of Canada's most prominent geographic features, Hudson Bay.

Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecozone •

The Northwest Atlantic Ecozone begins in Canada's Far North at the mouth of Lancaster Sound. It continues south along the eastern edge of Baffin Bay, touching Baffin Island at Cape Dyer.

• It takes in the remaining coast of Baffin Island, rounds Resolution Island and heads west to Hudson Strait. Arcing east, the ecozone encompasses Ungava Bay and all of the Labrador Coast, the west and northeast coasts of Newfoundland, and the entire Quebec, New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia coasts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

• Offshore, it follows the outer edge of the underwater continental shelf, descending south from the permanent ice sheet near Davis Strait to come ashore at Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.

Atlantic Marine Ecozone

• With the exception of the Grand Banks and the Scotian Shelf, the Atlantic Marine Ecozone is defined by deep water.

• Its offshore boundary wanders along the edge of the eastern continental shelf and about half of the ecozone is located well out to sea.

• It begins in the Davis Strait, follows the Labrador Shelf south around the Flemish Cap seamount, takes in the Grand Banks, and comes ashore at the northeastern tip of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.

• The inshore boundary encompasses all of Newfoundland's south coast and Nova Scotia's east coast, and extends into the Bay of Fundy and south to the Gulf of Maine.

• Icebergs can be the size of small mountains, with 90% of their mass underwater, are not uncommon and have been feared by mariners for centuries.

• The danger of collisions with icebergs, sailors named the stretch of ocean from Greenland to the southern coast of Newfoundland "Iceberg Alley."

Arctic Basin Marine

Ecozone

• Most of the traditional impressions people have about Canada's Arctic are

defined by the Arctic Basin Ecozone.

• This is essentially the parts of the Arctic Ocean

that remain under permanent ice cover. It

extends from the southern edge of the

permanent ice line in the Beaufort Sea north and east over the Canada

Basin of the northern tip of Greenland.

•The overwhelming ecological characteristic of this ecozone is the constant cover of ice sheets and pack

ice.

•More than 90% of the region consists of a giant

permanent ice cap floating on the ocean. It slowly rotates in a counter-

clockwise pattern, roughly centered on the North Pole.

To many Canadians, ecozones should conjure up distinct images of the country - for example the

Prairies, Boreal, Taiga, Arctic and Cordilleran ecozones bring to mind particular

features such as mountains, plains, treed and treeless regions, distinct from one another in one or more of

their characteristic features.

Ecozones are useful for general national reporting and for placing Canada's ecosystem diversity in a North American or Global

context.