Mid-Canada Boreal Plains Forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Nearctic |
Biome | Boreal forests/taiga |
Borders | |
Bird species | 183 [1] |
Mammal species | 55 [1] |
Geography | |
Area | 568,470 km2 (219,490 sq mi) |
Country | Canada |
Provinces | |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Vulnerable [2] |
Habitat loss | 0.4% [1] |
Protected | 15.5% [1] |
The Mid-Canada Boreal Plains Forests is a taiga ecoregion of Western Canada, designated by One Earth. It was previously defined as the Mid-Continental Canadian Forests by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system, before it was modified by One Earth, the successor to WWF. [2] [3]
This ecoregion extends from south of the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories through most of northeastern Alberta, central Saskatchewan and parts of west-central Manitoba and consists of three main areas: the Slave River basin in northeastern Alberta, the lowlands of the northern Manitoba plain, and the uplands south of the Canadian Shield from north-central Alberta to southwestern Manitoba. This is a mixed area of lowlands and mountains up to 800m high, including areas of wetland and peat bog and mountain lakes and ponds. The area has a subhumid mid-boreal ecoclimate with short summers (average temperature 14°C) and long, cold winters (ave. -15°C) and patches of permafrost in the lowlands. [2]
These forests, like so much of Canada at this latitude, are a mixture of conifers and deciduous trees including quaking aspen ( Populus tremuloides ), balsam poplar ( Populus balsamifera ), white spruce ( Picea glauca ), paper birch ( Betula papyrifera ), black spruce ( Picea mariana ), jack pine ( Pinus banksiana ) and balsam fir ( Abies balsamea ).
Wildlife of the area includes moose ( Alces alces ), American black bear ( Ursus americanus ), wolf ( Canis lupus ), Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis ), white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ), elk ( Cervus canadensis ), North American beaver ( Castor canadensis ), muskrat ( Ondatra zibethicus ), snowshoe hare ( Lepus americanus ). The plain to the south of the lake is home to moose, coyote ( Canis latrans ), and eastern cottontail ( Sylvilagus floridanus ) as well. Wood Buffalo National Park on the Slave River is the largest national park in Canada and home to the world's largest herd of American bison ( Bison bison ).
Birds include ducks, geese, American white pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos ), sandhill crane ( Grus canadensis ), ruffed grouse ( Bonasa umbellus ) and common loon ( Gavia immer ) The wetlands of the region, such as Cumberland Lake, are an important refuge for migratory birds and include the most important breeding populations of the endangered whooping crane in North America.
Half of the natural forest remains intact, the other half having been removed by extensive logging, oil and gas exploration and mining. Blocks of intact forest include Wood Buffalo Park, the areas around Cold Lake/Primrose Lake and Doré Lake, Prince Albert National Park, to the north of Cumberland Lake, Riding Mountain National Park, Porcupine Hills, Duck Mountain Provincial Park (Manitoba), Duck Mountain Provincial Park (Saskatchewan) (near the town of Kamsack) and the Peace–Athabasca Delta on the Slave River. Other protected areas include Clearwater River (Saskatchewan), Meadow Lake Provincial Park (near Goodsoil, Saskatchewan) and Narrow Hills Provincial Park.
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.
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.
Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.
The New England-Acadian forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion in North America that includes a variety of habitats on the hills, mountains and plateaus of New England and New York State in the Northeastern United States, and Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.
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 Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It lies mostly in south and eastern Ontario and Quebec in Canada, and Upstate New York and Vermont in the United States.
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 Boreal Forests is a boreal ecoregion in Eastern Canada, defined by the One Earth ecoregion categorization system.
The Muskwa-Slave Lake Taiga 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 South Central Rockies forests is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the United States located mainly in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It has a considerably drier climate than the North Central Rockies forest.
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 Midwest Canadian Shield Forests is an ecoregion in Canada, classified as a Taiga and Boreal Forests Biome.
The Central Canadian Shield forests are a taiga ecoregion of Eastern 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 Great Lakes lowland forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. Located near the Great Lakes, it lies mostly in the central northeastern United States and extends into southeast central Canada. In modern times, little of it remains intact due to land use, including agriculture and urban uses.
The Northwest Territories taiga ecoregion (WWF:NA0614) is located in the Northwest Territories and Yukon provinces of Canada. It covers forest and tundra along the Mackenzie River Valley and the surrounding highlands in the southern portion of the valley.
The Swan Hills are part of the Alberta High Plains, lying within a physiographic region called the Swan Hills Upland. Reaching to 1,328 m (4,357 ft) above sea level, Wallace and Goose Mountains form the high terrain, with a radial drainage network that feeds the Smoky, Slave, and Athabasca Rivers. Regarded by some as "Alberta's forgotten wilderness", this forested and sparsely populated region has a rich natural and cultural history and is the namesake of the Town of Swan Hills.