Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, and the steppe of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Lands typically referred to as "prairie" tend to be in North America. The term encompasses the area referred to as the Interior Lowlands of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which includes all of the Great Plains as well as the wetter, hillier land to the east.
Palliser's Triangle, or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Western Canadian Canadian Prairies, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be unsuitable for crops outside of the fertile belt due to arid conditions and dry climate, expansionists questioned this assessment, leading to homesteading in the Triangle. Agriculture in the region has since suffered from frequent droughts and other such hindrances.
Alberta is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. Located in Western Canada, the province has an area of 661,190 km2 (255,290 sq mi) and is bounded to the south by the United States state of Montana along 49° north for 298 km (185 mi); to the east at 110° west by the province of Saskatchewan for 1,223 km (760 mi); and at 60° north the Northwest Territories for 644 km (400 mi). The southern half of the province borders British Columbia along the Continental Divide of the Americas on the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, while the northern half borders British Columbia along the 120th meridian west. Along with Saskatchewan it is one of only two landlocked provinces or territories.
The Palliser expedition, officially the British North American Exploring Expedition, explored and surveyed the open prairies and rugged wilderness of western Canada from 1857 to 1860. The expedition was led by Irish-born explorer John Palliser, and accompanied by a party of four other men: James Hector, Eugène Bourgeau, Thomas Blakiston and John W. Sullivan. With the support of the British government and the Royal Geographical Society it became an official expedition with the stated purpose of gathering scientific information about the landscapes of British-claimed north-western North America, in particular the territory of Rupert's Land, including information on the geography, climate, soil, flora and fauna, in order to discover its capabilities for settlement and transportation.
Val Marie is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Val Marie No. 17 and Census Division 4. It is about 30 kilometres from the Canada-United States border.
Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections, namely the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area stretching from central Alberta, all across central Saskatchewan to south central Manitoba and continuing into small parts of the US states of Minnesota and North Dakota. Aspen parkland consists of groves of aspen, poplar and spruce, interspersed with areas of prairie grasslands, also intersected by large stream and river valleys lined with aspen-spruce forests and dense shrubbery. This is the largest boreal-grassland transition zone in the world and is a zone of constant competition and tension as prairie and woodlands struggle to overtake each other within the parkland.
A block settlement is a particular type of land distribution which allows settlers with the same ethnicity to form small colonies. This settlement type was used throughout western Canada between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were planned and others were spontaneously created by the settlers themselves. As a legacy of the block settlements, the three Prairie Provinces have several regions where ancestries other than British are the largest, unlike the norm in surrounding regions.
Fort Pitt Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Fort Pitt was built in 1829 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and was a trading post on the North Saskatchewan River in Rupert's Land. It was built at the direction of Chief Factor John Rowand, previously of Fort Edmonton, to trade for bison hides, meat and pemmican. Pemmican, dried buffalo meat, was required as provisions for HBC's northern trading posts.
Strongfield is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Loreburn No. 254 and Census Division No. 11. It lies approximately 100 km south of the City of Saskatoon on Highway 19 between its sister communities of Hawarden and Loreburn.
Lake Bassano was a proglacial lake that formed in the Late Pleistocene during the deglaciation of south-central Alberta by the impoundment of a re-established drainage system and addition of glacial meltwater. It is associated with the development of through-flowing drainage within the Red Deer River basin in particular, and the South Saskatchewan drainage network in general. Approximately 7,500 square kilometres (2,900 sq mi) of the Bassano basin is covered with lacustrine sediments. These sediments are bordered by the topographically higher Buffalo Lake Moraine to the west, the Suffield Moraine to the east and the Lethbridge Moraine to the south.
There are numerous heritages and cultural attractions in the province of Saskatchewan. Museums, dinosaur digs, aboriginal cultural and heritage sites, art galleries, professional sport venues, spas, handcraft, antique and tea shops, agricultural tours, theatre and archaeological sites comprise over 600 varied Saskatchewan institutions.
The native flora of Saskatchewan includes vascular plants, plus additional species of other plants and plant-like organisms such as algae, lichens and other fungi, and mosses. Non-native species of plants are recorded as established outside of cultivation in Saskatchewan, of these some non-native species remain beneficial for gardening, and agriculture, where others have become invasive, noxious weeds. Saskatchewan is committed to protecting species at risk in Canada. The growing season has been studied and classified into plant hardiness zones depending on length of growing season and climatic conditions. Biogeographic factors have also been divided into vegetative zones, floristic kingdoms, hardiness zones and ecoregions across Saskatchewan, and natural vegetation varies depending on elevation, moisture, soil type landforms, and weather. The study of ethnobotany uncovers the interrelation between humans and plants and the various ways people have used plants for economic reasons, food, medicine and technological developments. The Government of Saskatchewan has declared 3 indigenous plants as provincial symbols.
The Rural Municipality of Willow Bunch No. 42 is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 3 and SARM Division No. 2. It is located in the south central portion of the province.
The Rural Municipality of Mountain View No. 318 is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 12 and SARM Division No. 6.
Cymric is an unincorporated community in the Rural Municipality of Last Mountain Valley No. 250, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located along Saskatchewan Highway 20 between Duval and Govan, it is also serviced by the Canadian Pacific Railway and located at mile 62.3 on the rail line running between Regina and Lanigan, Saskatchewan.
Moose Mountain Upland, Moose Mountain Uplands, or commonly Moose Mountain, is a hilly plateau located in the south-east corner of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, that covers an area of about 13,000 km2 (5,000 sq mi). The upland rises about 200 m (660 ft) above the broad, flat prairie which is about 600 m (2,000 ft) above sea level. The highest peak is "Moose Mountain" at 830 m (2,720 ft) above sea level. The area was named Moose Mountain because of the large number of moose that lived in the area. When it was originally used by fur traders, Métis, and the Indigenous peoples, the plateau was called Montagne a la Bosse, which is French for "The Mountain of The Bump or Knob."
Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area is a National Wildlife Area (NWA) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The protected area is in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion. The site is an Important Bird Area (IBA) of Canada, designated as Last Mountain Lake NWA .
The Dirt Hills and neighbouring Cactus Hills, are an arcuate moraine and the largest glacial push in the world. The hills were formed during the deglaciation of the last ice age over 10,000 years ago. They are located in the southern region of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, east of Old Wives Lake and about 60 kilometres (37 mi) south-east of Moose Jaw and are part of the Bearpaw Formation within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.
Wood Mountain Hills are a hilly plateau in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The hills are located in the southern part of the province and are part of the Missouri Coteau, which is part of the Laurentian Divide between the watersheds of the Hudson Bay drainage basin of the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico of the Atlantic Ocean. The hills are in a semi-arid region known as Palliser's Triangle in the Great Plains ecoregion of North America.
Eagle Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The watershed of Eagle Creek is within the semi-arid Palliser's Triangle and is the major drainage system in mid-western Saskatchewan between the South and North Saskatchewan Rivers. Eagle Creek begins at the eastern end of Eaglehill Lake and travels through a glacier-cut valley in the moist, mixed grasslands ecozone of Canada en route to the North Saskatchewan River. The North Saskatchewan River merges with the South Saskatchewan River farther downstream to become the Saskatchewan River.
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