British Columbia mainland coastal forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Nearctic |
Biome | Temperate coniferous forests |
Borders | |
Bird species | 221 [1] |
Mammal species | 78 [1] |
Geography | |
Area | 120,500 km2 (46,500 sq mi) |
Countries | |
States | |
Climate type | Oceanic |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Critical/Endangered |
Habitat loss | 0.4161% [1] |
Protected | 16.97% [2] |
British Columbia mainland coastal forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion the Pacific coast of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The WWF defines the ecoregion as the mainland coast of British Columbia up to 150 km inland to the crest of the Coast Mountains, extending along the western front of the northern Cascade Range in northwestern Washington. Specific areas include the Pacific and Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains, the Nass Ranges and the basin of the Nass River. An exclave of the ecoregion occupies the eastern slope of the Olympic Mountains on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. The landscape is a mixture of coastal lowland with many steep valleys, inlets, and fjords. The climate is drier on the inland mountains than right on the coast and the average annual temperature in the valleys is 6.5 °C.
Major urban centres located within this ecoregion include Whistler, Terrace, Kitimat, and Prince Rupert.
There are three distinct types of vegetation on this coast: the forests of the coastal plain dominated by western hemlock ( Tsuga heterophylla ), western red cedar ( Thuja plicata ) and amabilis fir ( Abies amabilis ); mountain forest of mountain hemlock ( Tsuga mertensiana ), amabilis fir and yellow cedar ( Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ); and alpine tundra with sedge ( Carex ) meadows and lichen-covered rocks.
Mammals of the area include the Kermode bear a rare white subspecies of the American black bear (Ursus americanus) found on Princess Royal Island and elsewhere, grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus), moose (Alces alces), migratory woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), grey wolf (Canis lupus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), American mink (Neogale vision), American marten (Martes americana), North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), American beaver (Castor canadensis) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus). Birds include spotted owl (Strix occidentalis), dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and many waterbirds.
This is a well-preserved ecoregion with about 40% of original forest intact. Most disturbance has occurred in the valleys rather than the mountain tops and logging is ongoing. Blocks of intact habitat can be found in the Skagit Valley on the British Columbia/Washington border and the following parks in British Columbia: Kitlope Heritage Conservancy Protected Area, Garibaldi Provincial Park, Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy Area, Fiordland Conservancy, Gitnadoiks River Provincial Park, Golden Ears Provincial Park, Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, Homathko River-Tatlayoko Protected Area and Swan Lake Provincial Park.
Yukon is in the northwestern corner of Canada and is bordered by Alaska and the Northwest Territories. The sparsely populated territory abounds with natural scenic beauty, with snowmelt lakes and perennial white-capped mountains, including many of Canada's highest mountains. The territory's climate is Arctic in territory north of Old Crow, subarctic in the region, between Whitehorse and Old Crow, and humid continental climate south of Whitehorse and in areas close to the British Columbia border. Most of the territory is boreal forest with tundra being the main vegetation zone only in the extreme north and at high elevations.
The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada along the Pacific Ocean is in B.C., it is synonymous with being the West Coast of Canada.
The Pacific Maritime Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone, spanning a strip approximately 200 kilometres wide along the British Columbia Coast, then narrowing along the border with Alaska. It also includes all marine islands of British Columbia and a small portion of the southwestern corner of the Yukon. Fourteen ecoregions comprise the Ecozone, ranging from the Mount Logan Ecoregion in the north to the Cascade Ecoregion and Lower Mainland Ecoregion in the south.
The Central Pacific coastal forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Cascade Mountains leeward forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The eastern forest–boreal transition is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of North America, mostly in eastern Canada. It is a transitional zone or region between the predominantly coniferous Boreal Forest and the mostly deciduous broadleaf forest region further south.
The Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of Eastern Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Alberta Mountain forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Alberta–British Columbia foothills forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system. This ecoregion borders Canada's taiga and contains a mix of subarctic forest and temperate forest species as a result. This makes the region an ecotone region, or a region that acts as a buffer between two other biomes.
The Eastern Canadian forests is a taiga ecoregion in Eastern Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Eastern Canadian Shield taiga is an ecoregion of Canada as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Muskwa-Slave Lake forests ecoregion covers Canadian taiga in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and a large portion of the southwestern Northwest Territories around the Mackenzie River valley and the Great Slave Lake.
The North Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Canada and the United States. This region overlaps in large part with the North American inland temperate rainforest and gets more rain on average than the South Central Rockies forests and is notable for containing the only inland populations of many species from the Pacific coast.
The Mid-Continental Canadian forests are a taiga ecoregion of Western Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
The Western Great Lakes forests is a terrestrial ecoregion as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It is within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome of North America. It is found in northern areas of the United States' states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in southern areas of the Canadian province of Manitoba and northwestern areas of the province of Ontario.
The Southern Hudson Bay taiga is a terrestrial ecoregion, as classified by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends along the southern coast of Hudson Bay and resides within the larger taiga biome. The region is nearly coterminous with the Hudson Plain, a Level I ecoregion of North America as designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas.
Puget lowland forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion the Pacific coast of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.
Okanagan dry forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in the Pacific Northwest of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system. It is closely associated with the Okanagan region of British Columbia and Washington. Only 20% of the ecosystem is still intact, and continues to be under threat for preservation due to land clearing and urban expansion, alongside the increasing threats of fire and extreme weather due to climate change.
The Ogilvie–MacKenzie alpine tundra ecoregion covers the mountainous middle of the Yukon Territory in Canada, with extensions into the Northwest Territories. The vegetation is alpine and subalpine open forest of stunted spruce, fir and pine. The area is rugged but sections appear to have been unglaciated in the late Pleistocene and there are therefore relic species in the region. The area is remote and supports large, sustainable predator-prey systems.