Northern Canadian Shield taiga
Northern Canadian Shield taiga is a taiga ecoregion located in northern Canada, stretching from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories to Hudson Bay in eastern Nunavut. The region supports conifer forests to its northern edge, where the territory grades into tundra. The open forest in this transition zone is characterized by widely scattered, stunted stands of black spruce and tamarack, with some white spruce. The ecoregion lies over the northwestern extent of the Canadian Shield.
Location and description
The terrain is broad, sloping uplands reaching to in elevation, resting on Archean rocks. There are many lakes, with drainage trending towards Great Slave Lake. Permafrost is discontinuous to continuous.Climate
The climate of the ecoregion is Subarctic climate, without dry season. This climate is characterized by mild summers and cold, snowy winters. Precipitation averages 200 - 400 mm/year.Flora and fauna
The ground cover in the ecoregion is 33% herbaceous cover, 15% shrubs, 19% open forest, 15% closed forest. Water bodies cover 18% of the region. The characteristic trees are black spruce, white spruce, jack pine and tamarack . Ground cover includes extensive dwarf birch, ericaceous shrubs, cottongrass, lichen and moss. The vegetation is relatively undisturbed by human activity, with 90-95% of the region intact.Protected areas
Approximately 8% of the ecoregion is in an officially protected area, including:- Wood Buffalo National Park, in the southwest of the region; the largest national park in Canada.
- Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, located at the northern edge of the ecoregion, north of the treeline.
- Baralzon Lake Ecological Reserve, in Manitoba in the southeast of the region
- Caribou River Provincial Park, on the border between Manitoba and Nunavut, featuring boreal forests and peatlands.
- Numaykoos Lake Provincial Park, in northern Manitoba.
- Fidler-Greywillow Wildland Park, in northern Alberta on the northwest of Lake Athabasca
- Sand Lakes Provincial Park, in northern Manitoba.