Forests of Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Forest cover percentage of Canadian provinces and territories.

The forests of Canada are located across much of the country. Approximately half of Canada is covered by forest, totaling around 2.4 million km2 (0.93 million sq mi).[1] Over 90% of Canada's forests are owned by the public (Crown land land and Provincial forest). About half of the forests are allocated for logging.

Named forests are found within eight distinct regions. These forests may also be part of ecosystems, a number of which extend south into the United States. For example, the Northern hardwood forest is an ecosystem located in large areas of southeastern and south central Canada as well as in Ontario and Quebec. This system extends south to west and even into the United States.

Canada had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.99/10, ranking it 11th globally out of 172 countries.[2]

Regions[]

Taiga forest in the Boreal Forest Region in Quebec

The forests of Canada are located within eight regions:[3][4]

  • Acadian Forest Region - This region comprises a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion located in Quebec as well as the Maritime Provinces in Eastern Canada, and extends into the United States.[5]
  • Boreal Forest Region - This the largest forest region in Canada. It is located in the north and contains about one third of the world's circumpolar boreal forests.
  • Coast Forest Region - Located on the west coast, this region almost entirely comprises coniferous trees including the Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, western hemlock, and western red cedar.
  • Columbia Forest Region - Also mostly comprising coniferous trees, this region is located between the Rocky Mountains and the central plateau in British Columbia.
  • Deciduous Forest Region - This region is located between Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario.[6]
  • Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest - This region is the second largest (the boreal being the largest), and is located from southeastern Manitoba to the Gaspé Peninsula.[6]
  • Montane Forest Region - Located in the west of Canada, this region covers parts of the Kootenays, the central plateau of British Columbia, and a number of valleys close to Alberta's border.[6]
  • Subalpine Forest Region - This region is located in British Columbia and Alberta. It covers the Rocky Mountains from the west coast Alberta's uplands.[6]

By Province[]

See also: Ecozones of Canada and List of ecoregions in Canada (WWF)

The following is a list of forests, ecoregions, ecozones, forested parklands and provincial parks.

Alberta[]

Alberta's North Central Rockies forest

British Columbia[]

British Columbia mainland coastal forests
See also:

Manitoba[]

See also: Provincial forests (Manitoba)
Ben Eoin Provincial Park

Newfoundland[]

Nova Scotia[]

Ontario[]

Ontario's Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests

Prince Edward Island[]

Quebec[]

Quebec's Laurentian Mixed Forest Province

Saskatchewan[]

Saskatchewan's Aspen parkland
See also: List of Saskatchewan provincial forests

Yukon[]

Other forest areas[]

Northern hardwood forest

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests[]

View of Niagara River from Niagara Glen Nature Reserve
A view of the Niagara River from Niagara Glen Nature Reserve, surrounded by forest

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Total forest coverage by country". the Guardian. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  2. ^ Grantham, H. S.; Duncan, A.; Evans, T. D.; Jones, K. R.; Beyer, H. L.; Schuster, R.; Walston, J.; Ray, J. C.; Robinson, J. G.; Callow, M.; Clements, T.; Costa, H. M.; DeGemmis, A.; Elsen, P. R.; Ervin, J.; Franco, P.; Goldman, E.; Goetz, S.; Hansen, A.; Hofsvang, E.; Jantz, P.; Jupiter, S.; Kang, A.; Langhammer, P.; Laurance, W. F.; Lieberman, S.; Linkie, M.; Malhi, Y.; Maxwell, S.; Mendez, M.; Mittermeier, R.; Murray, N. J.; Possingham, H.; Radachowsky, J.; Saatchi, S.; Samper, C.; Silverman, J.; Shapiro, A.; Strassburg, B.; Stevens, T.; Stokes, E.; Taylor, R.; Tear, T.; Tizard, R.; Venter, O.; Visconti, P.; Wang, S.; Watson, J. E. M. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity - Supplementary Material". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7723057. PMID 33293507.
  3. ^ "Forest classification". Natural Resources Canada. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Forest Regions - The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
  5. ^ "New England/Acadian Forests". www.cas.vanderbilt.edu.
  6. ^ a b c d "Canada's Forests - Sustainability and Management - CCFM". www.sfmcanada.org.
  7. ^ "Natural Areas". 11 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Eco Succession". Archived from the original on 2008-12-26. Retrieved 2018-09-23.

External links[]

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