Ecozones of Canada
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 1991, a collaborative project was undertaken by a number of federal agencies in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments to establish a common ecological framework for Canada. The resulting report, A National Ecological Framework for Canada, released by the Ecological Stratification Working Group in 1995, established the 20 ecozones (15 terrestrial and 5 marine), 194 ecoregions, and 1,031 ecodistricts of Canada. A second report published in 1999 established the 53 ecoprovinces of Canada in accordance with the requirements of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).[1]
In 2010, Environment Canada published the report Canadian Biodiversity: Ecosystem Status and Trends 2010 utilizing a modified hierarchy called "Ecozone+". Major modifications included adjustments to terrestrial boundaries to reflect improvements in ground truthing, the combining of three Arctic ecozones, and the addition of two ecoprovinces (Western Interior Basin and Newfoundland Boreal) and nine marine ecosystem-based units.[2]
In 2014, the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CCEA) released an update to the first digital version of the Canadian Ecological Framework. The new spatial framework was designed to replace the 1995 ecological framework as well as the Ecozone+ framework used in the Canadian Biodiversity: Ecosystem Status and Trends 2010 Report. This new ecozone map includes 18 terrestrial, 12 marine and 1 freshwater ecozone, the latter two of which were derived from the marine bioregions outlined by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in 2009.[3][4]
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 revises 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).[5]
| Ecozone | Area (km²)[5] | Percent total area[5] | Percent protected (2019)[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Ecological classification system for the ecosystem status and trends report (ESTR) | biodivcanada". biodivcanada.chm-cbd.net. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- ^ admin (2014-05-22). "Ecozones Introduction | CCEA-CCAE". ccea-ccae.org. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- ^ Secretariat, Treasury Board of Canada; Secretariat, Treasury Board of Canada. "Federal Marine Bioregions - Open Government Portal". open.canada.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- ^ a b c d Canada, Environment and Climate Change (2010-02-09). "Canada's conserved areas". aem. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
External links
- Ecological Land Classification Structure by Statistics Canada, 2017
- Ecozones of Canada interactive map by Esri Canada, 2015
- 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
- Ecozones introduction Canadian Council on Ecological Areas, 2014 Update
- Ecozones of Canada / Écozones du Canada Canadian Council on Ecological Areas, 2014 Update
- Ecozones Digital files Canadian Council on Ecological Areas, 2014 Update
