Table 1.4
Biophysical characteristics of terrestrial ecozones
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| Ecoregions | Land area | Landforms | Vegetation | Climate and oceanographic characteristics | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | square kilometres | ||||
| Arctic Cordillera | 4 | 245,000 | Mountains | Mainly unvegetated; some shrub-herb tundra | Extremely cold; dry; continuous permafrost |
| Northern Arctic | 23 | 1,523,000 | Plains; hills | Herb-lichen tundra | Very cold; dry; continuous permafrost |
| Southern Arctic | 18 | 852,000 | Plains; hills | Shrub-herb tundra | Cold; dry; continuous permafrost |
| Taiga Plains | 17 | 658,000 | Plains; some foothills | Open to closed mixed evergreen- deciduous forest | Cold; semiarid to moist; discontinuous permafrost |
| Taiga Shield | 16 | 1,393,000 | Plains; some hills | Open evergreen-deciduous trees; some lichen-shrub tundra | Cold, moist to semi-arid; discontinuous permafrost |
| Boreal Shield | 28 | 1,921,000 | Plains; some hills | Evergreen forest; mixed evergreen- deciduous forest | Cold; moist |
| Atlantic Maritime | 15 | 203,000 | Hills and coastal plains | Mixed deciduous-evergreen forest stands | Cool; wet |
| Mixed Wood Plains | 4 | 168,000 | Plains; some hills | Mixed deciduous-evergreen forest | Cool to mild; moist |
| Boreal Plains | 10 | 744,000 | Plains; some foothills | Mixed evergreen-deciduous forest | Cold; moist |
| Prairies | 7 | 466,000 | Plains; some hills | Grass; scattered deciduous forest (aspen parkland) | Cold; semiarid |
| Taiga Cordillera | 7 | 267,000 | Mountains | Shrub-herb-moss-lichen tundra | Very cold winters; cool summers, minimal precipitation |
| Boreal Cordillera | 12 | 467,000 | Mountains; some hills | Largely evergreen forest; some tundra; open woodland | Moderately cold; moist |
| Pacific Maritime | 13 | 205,000 | Mountains; minor coastal plains | Coastal evergreen forest | Mild; temperate; very wet to cold alpine |
| Montane Cordillera | 17 | 487,000 | Mountains; interior plains | Evergreen forest; alpine tundra; interior grassland | Moderately cold; moist to arid |
| Hudson Plains | 3 | 376,000 | Plains | Wetlands; some herb-moss-lichen tundra; evergreen forest | Cold to mild; semiarid; discontinuous permafrost |
Source(s):
Environment Canada, 1996,The State of Canada's Environment
Part II: Canadian Ecozones,www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/SOER/1996report/Doc/1-1.cfm (accessed
June 3, 2008). Statistics Canada, 2009, Human Activity and
the Environment, Catalogue no. 16-201-X, Table. 2.1.
Wiken, E.B. et al., 1996, A Perspective on Canada's Ecosystems: An
Overview of the Terrestrial and Marine Ecozones, Canadian Council on Ecological
Areas, Occasional paper, no.14.
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