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==History==
==History==
In 1995, [[Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada]], [[Environment and Climate Change Canada]], and the [[Commission for Environmental Cooperation]] established the 15 terrestrial and 5 marine ecozones of Canada to provide an spatial framework for the research, assessment, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components across [[North America]]. Further modifications were made in 1999, reducing the number of ecodisiricts from 1,031 to 1,021.<ref name=intro/>
In 1995, [[Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada]], [[Environment and Climate Change Canada]], and the [[Commission for Environmental Cooperation]] established the 15 terrestrial and 5 marine ecozones of Canada to provide an spatial framework for the research, assessment, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components across [[North America]]. Further modifications were made in 1999, establishing the 54 [[ecoprovince]]s of Canada and reducing the number of ecodisiricts from 1,031 to 1,021.<ref name=intro/>


On November 20, 2017, [[Statistics Canada]] approved the Ecological Land Classification (ELC) framework as the official government standard in classifying the ecological regions of Canada. This framework mirrors that which was originally established in 1995, but increases the number of ecodisiricts to 1,027 in order to better align them with the Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC) database of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Though this framework originally included 5 marine ecozones, these were never formally adopted by Statistics Canada.<ref name=intro/>
On November 20, 2017, [[Statistics Canada]] approved the Ecological Land Classification (ELC) framework as the official government standard in classifying the ecological regions of Canada. This framework mirrors that which was originally established in 1995, but increases the number of ecodisiricts to 1,027 in order to better align them with the Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC) database of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Though this framework originally included 5 marine ecozones, these were never formally adopted by Statistics Canada.<ref name=intro/>

Revision as of 11:58, 9 November 2020

This article is about Environment and Climate Change Canada classifications. For an alternate classification system, see List of ecoregions in Canada (WWF).
Ecozones and ecoprovinces of Canada, 2017

Canada is divided into 15 ecozones, forming the country's first level of ecological land classification. They represent areas of the earth's surface representative of large and very generalized ecological units characterized by interactive and adjusting biotic and abiotic factors. These 15 ecozones can be further subdivided into 53 ecoprovinces, 194 ecoregions, and 1,027 ecodistricts.[1]

History

In 1995, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation established the 15 terrestrial and 5 marine ecozones of Canada to provide an spatial framework for the research, assessment, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components across North America. Further modifications were made in 1999, establishing the 54 ecoprovinces of Canada and reducing the number of ecodisiricts from 1,031 to 1,021.[1]

On November 20, 2017, Statistics Canada approved the Ecological Land Classification (ELC) framework as the official government standard in classifying the ecological regions of Canada. This framework mirrors that which was originally established in 1995, but increases the number of ecodisiricts to 1,027 in order to better align them with the Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC) database of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Though this framework originally included 5 marine ecozones, these were never formally adopted by Statistics Canada.[1]

Marine ecozones

The Canadian marine ecozones adjoin to each other, except for the Pacific ecozone which is adjacent to international marine ecozones and terrestrial Canadian ecozones. The largest is the Arctic Archipelago, which actually extends to subarctic regions.

Ecozone Area (km²)
Territorial waters 		Area (km²)
Exclusive Economic Zone 		Percentage of total area (for EEZ) Percentage of marine area (for EEZ)
Pacific Marine 102,920 457,646 3.1 8.3
Arctic Basin Marine 24,997 704,849 4.8 12.7
Arctic Archipelago Marine 2,051,393 2,178,998 14.8 39.3
Northwest Atlantic Marine 536,895 1,205,981 8.2 21.8
Atlantic Marine 72,144 996,439 6.8 17.9
Total 2,788,349 5,543,913 37.7 100.0

Terrestrial ecozones

Canada is divided into 18 terrestrial ecozones covering a total area of 9,891,584 km2 (3,819,162 sq mi).[2]

Ecozone Area (km²)[2] Percent total area[2] Percent protected (2019)[2]
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


See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2018-01-10). "Introduction to the Ecological Land Classification (ELC) 2017". www.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  2. ^ a b c d Canada, Environment and Climate Change (2010-02-09). "Canada's conserved areas". aem. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
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