Ecozones of Canada

This article is about Environment and Climate Change Canada classifications. For an alternate classification system, see List of ecoregions in Canada (WWF).

File:Proportion of area conserved, by ecozone, Canada, 2019.png

Ecozones of Canada by percent area conserved, 2019

Environment and Climate Change Canada identifies 18 terrestrial ecozones, 12 marine ecozones, and one freshwater ecozone which contain geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. These ecozones are further subdivided into 215 "ecoregions" which exhibit regional ecological characteristics distinct from neighbouring ecoregions.

History

Establishment

On January 1, 1994, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established by Canada, Mexico and the United States to implement the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Environment Canada coordinated with the CEC to establish an international environmental framework from which conservation measures could be effectively coordinated. This resulted in the creation of the ecozones of Canada, which corresponding with the Level I ecoregions designated by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States. The extent of these ecozones were finalized in 1995 and managed by Statistics Canada as the Conservation Areas Reporting and Tracking System.

Original structure

Original extent of Canada's terrestrial ecozones and ecoprovinces

The system consisted of 15 terrestrial ecozones and 5 marine ecozones, each one representing an ecologically similar collection of ecosystems. These ecozones were further subdivided into 53 "ecoprovinces" which featured constituent physiographic forms, faunal and floral realms, hydrological systems and soils that were inter-related. Ecoprovinces were further subdivided into 194 "ecoregions" which exhibited regional ecological characteristics distinct from neighbouring ecoregions, though there are typically gradual gradations between them.

An ecodistrict is a portion of one ecoregion having a unique collection of landforms, fauna, flora, soils, geological composition, and water features. Originally, 1031 ecodistricts were defined, but ten were later removed, leaving 1021 current districts. Further subdivisions include ecosections, ecosites, and the smallest unit, ecoelements.

Reorganization

In 2014, the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CCEA) published a new ecological framework designed to supplant the ecological framework established in 1995. The goal was to redefine the country's ecozones to better align them with those defined by provincial and territorial governments across Canada.

In 2018, the Conservation Areas Reporting and Tracking System was converted to the Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database and brought formally within Environment and Climate Change Canada. This resulted in the reorganization of Canada's ecozones into 18 terrestrial ecozones, 12 marine ecozones, and 1 freshwater ecozone. These ecozones are further subdivided into 215 "ecoregions" defined in accordance with provincial and territorial governments, and are unique from those defined by the CEC in 1995.

Terrestrial ecozones

Canada is divided into 18 terrestrial ecozones covering a total area of 9,891,584 km² (3,819,162 sq mi).

Ecozone	Area (km²)	Percent total area	Percent protected (2019)
Arctic Cordillera	233,619	2.4	22.5
Northern Arctic	1,481,481	15.0	7.1
Southern Arctic	957,139	9.7	17.1
Taiga Plains	554,013	5.6	10.9
Taiga Shield	1,322,786	13.4	10.0
Boreal Shield	1,897,364	19.2	9.9
Atlantic Maritime	110,590	1.1	8.5
Mixedwood Plains	116,206	1.2	2.0
Boreal Plains	779,471	7.9	8.7
Prairies	465,990	4.7	6.0
Montane Cordillera	437,761	4.4	18.8
Pacific Maritime	216,942	2.2	24.2
Boreal Cordillera	557,937	5.6	17.3
Taiga Cordillera	231,161	2.3	9.3
Hudson Plains	350,693	3.5	12.5
Tundra Cordillera	28,980	0.3	24.6
Atlantic Highlands	93,017	0.9	4.1
Semi-Arid Plateaus	56,434	0.6	9.4
Total	9,891,584	100.0	11.3

Marine ecozones

Canada is divided into 12 marine ecozones covering a total area of 5,747,004 km² (2,218,931 sq mi).

Ecozone	Area (km²)	Percent protected (2019)
Strait of Georgia	8,969	0.2
Southern Shelf	28,158	0.5
Offshore Pacific	315,724	5.5
Northern Shelf	101,663	1.8
Arctic Basin	752,053	13.1
Western Arctic	539,807	9.4
Arctic Archipelago	268,792	4.7
Eastern Arctic	782,636	13.6
Hudson Bay Complex	1,244,670	21.7
Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves	1,041,588	18.1
Scotian Shelf	416,296	7.2
Gulf of Saint Lawrence	246,648	4.3
Total	5,747,004

Freshwater ecozones

Canada features only one freshwater ecozone covering a total area of 88,250 km² (34,070 sq mi).

Ecozone	Area (km²)	Percent protected (2019)
Great Lakes	88,250	13.5

See also

• Forests of Canada#Regions
• List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)

External links

• Ecological Land Classification Description by Statistics Canada, 2017
• Ecological Land Classification Structure by Statistics Canada, 2017
• Terrestrial Ecozones and Ecoregions of Canada map by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Environment Canada, 1995
• Ecozones: The Ecological Framework of Canada
• Canada's Ecozones from the Canadian Biodiversity Project at McGill University's Redpath Museum