Ecozones of the Ontario Region

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Ecozones of the Ontario Region
By Stephanie Paolone and Ben Clarke
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Ecozones in Ontario

• There are three Ecozone regions in Ontario
• Hudson Plains
• Boreal Shield
• Mixedwood Plains

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Introduction

• Canada is made up of fifteen terrestrial
  ecozones
• Three of these ecozones are found in the Ontario
  Region
• The Boreal Shield stretches 3 800 km from
  Newfoundland to Alberta and
  includes parts
  of six provinces
• It holds 20 of Canadas land mass and
  10 of its fresh
  water
• The Hudson Plains ecozone extends from
  northern Ontario into
  northeastern Manitoba
  and western Québec
• The Mixedwood Plains have become the commercial
  and industrial heartland of Canada interlaced
  with national and international transportation
  routes

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Hudson Plains Ecozone

• This ecozone is centered in the northern Ontario
  region
• There are low- lying swampy plains, which are
  poorly drained
• The landscape rarely rises above
  120 m in
  elevation
• Change in elevation in the belt of raised beaches
  where glaciers from
  the last ice age are
  rebounding the land
• The north has few trees due to the generally
  cool climate
• The forest is dense in the south with a sparser
  vegetation such as white
  and black spruce and tamarack
• Wet areas produce moss, lichen and sedges

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• Moderately long, cold winters to moderately
  short, cool summers
• The soils in this ecozone are poorly developed
  organic and permafrost
• The Human activities include trapping, hunting
  and recreation
• This ecozone has a very low population totaling
  only 10 000 residents
• The precipitation rate ranges from 400 to 700 mm
• There is a growing season in this ecozone of 90
  to 150 days

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Boreal Shield

• This ecozone covers most of the Ontario region
  and is the largest of the fifteen regions in
  Canada
• It is where the Canadian Shield and the Boreal
  Forest overlap
• Millions of ponds, lakes and wetlands are in
  this ecozone, which were left by the glaciers
• About 80 of the land is covered in Jack Pine,
  White and Black Spruce,
  and Balsam Fir forests
• Human activities include recreation, tourism,
  forestry and mining
• Soils are heavily leached, and have bare rock
  and swampy areas
• this ecozone experiences short warm summers and
  long cold winters, which are moderated along the
  Great Lakes

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Mixedwood Plains

• This ecozone is found in the south of Ontario
  and covers the lower Great Lakes St. Lawrence
  River Valley
• It is the smallest terrestrial ecozone in Canada
• This region has extensive waterways, rolling
  plains and leached, wet climate soils with a warm
  growing season
• Due to the Great Lakes this region has abundant
  fresh water resources and rainfall
• Cool, short winters with relatively
  long, mild summers

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• The Mixedwood Plains is part of the Deciduous and
  Mixed forests containing maple, birch oak elm and
  pine trees
• However, little of the original forests remain
  due to urbanization
• Some wildlife, such as squirrels, raccoons and
  groundhogs are able to adapt to the man-made
  changes
• Human activities in this region include
  manufacturing, agriculture due to fertile soils
  and urbanizing because of
  the large number of major
  cities in Canada
• This ecozone houses almost half
  of
  Canadas population

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Conclusion

• The province of Ontario occupies three of the
  fifteen ecozones in Canada
• The Hudson Plain ecozone in the north has swampy
  plains and poor drainage
• The Boreal Shield covers most of the region with
  numerous ponds, lakes and wetlands left by the
  glacial age
• The Mixedwood Plains ecozone found in southern
  Ontario is the smallest ecozone in Canada
• This ecozone has fertile soil with a warm
  growing season
• Most of the the urbanization and
  industrialization of Ontario is found in this
  region