The Pacific and Atlantic coasts
They are home to countless seabirds, including the Atlantic Puffin and Northern Gannet in the east and the Cassin's Auklet and Bald Eagle in the west, not to mention numerous marine mammals, many of them threatened. These include the beluga whale, which frequents the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the orca off the Pacific coast. The most beautiful coasts are protected by conservation areas such as Forillon National Park in Quebec, where several species of whale can easily be observed, or Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island, home to endangered sea otters, gray whales and sea lions. Our favorite destinations for observing these majestic marine mammals are Tofino and Telegraph Cove in British Columbia, Churchill in Manitoba, Tadoussac in Quebec, St. Andrews in New Brunswick, the Cape Breton Highlands National Park area in Nova Scotia and Twillingate in Newfoundland.
Along the Pacific Ocean stretches the temperate coastal rainforest with its lush vegetation. Tree species include conifers (western red cedar, yellow cypress, Douglas fir, Sitka spruce) mostly covered with moss. The rainforest is home to numerous ecosystems, from mammals to birds, not to mention the fish that live in the rivers. The Great BearRainforest is well worth a visit, as is the must-see West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, both of which boast trees some 1,000 years old. In the east of the country, the boreal zone occupies most of the coastline along the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic, while the Acadian forest covers New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. The Acadian forest covers New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, with species such as American beech, red oak, white elm, black spruce, balsam fir, hemlock and sugar maple, all of which can be seen at Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia.
Western Canada's mountain ranges
They are made up of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia and Alberta, and the Mackenzie Mountains and Columbia Mountains to the north, towards Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Several types of forest cover this vast territory, starting with the montane forest, well established on the central plateau of British Columbia, not forgetting part of the Kootenays region and several valleys near Alberta. Douglas fir, lodgepole pine and trembling aspen are among the most common trees, along with white spruce and alpine fir. Then, between British Columbia's central plateau and the Rocky Mountains, comes the Columbia Forest, similar to the coastal region with its impressive conifers. The Rocky Mountains, meanwhile, are covered by the subalpine forest, characterized by conifers. Wildflowers such as cranberry and white rhododendron dot the landscape. In addition to the moisture present in the soil, the subalpine forest is criss-crossed by an infinite number of bodies of water, enabling the existence of numerous wetlands: ponds surrounded by vegetation, peat bogs, swamps and fresh or saltwater marshes. The Rockies are also home to bighorn sheep, deer, elk, caribou, moose, bear, wolverine, wolves, small fur-bearing animals, etc. and, in remote areas such as Banff's Moraine Lake and the Yukon, the imposing grizzly bear. Further north, the boreal forest and tundra take over. Numerous provincial and national parks aim to protect this jewel of the Canadian Rockies, the best-known of which are Banff and Jasper, both in Alberta, and Kootenay and Yoho in British Columbia.
Alberta's Badlands and Central Great Plains
The famous Badlands is the arid, cactus-growing region of east-central Alberta where dinosaurs once lived. The Dinosaur Provincial Park, where the largest number of dinosaur bones in the world have been found, and Horseshoe Canyon, carved and shaped by the glaciers that once occupied the land, are two must-see sites in Drumheller, Alberta. The Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology , also in Drumheller, and the T.rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, Saskatchewan, both of which focus on the study of dinosaurs and their environment.
In southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the Great Plains of the central United States reach their northern limit. The prairies have gradually disappeared in favour of the fields. Symbol of this vastness, the bison live in freedom in certain national parks, notably those of Banff, Elk Island and Wood Buffalo in Alberta, and the Prairies in southern Saskatchewan. These large ruminant cattle can also be seen in their enclosure in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba. Wood Buffalo Park is also the only nesting site for the nearly extinct whooping crane. Otherwise, the big star of the plains is the prairie dog, a small rodent that can be seen in Grasslands National Park. This park is a must-see, as it protects one of the few surviving natural prairies on the continent.
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest
It stretches across southern Ontario and Quebec, west of Lake Superior along the Minnesota state border to the Gaspé Peninsula and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The poor soils support white pine and oak, while the rich upland soils, which have often become agricultural, support hardwoods such as sugar maple, beech, birch and the softwood hemlock. Moist lowlands are home to elm, ash, red maple and white cedar. The higher the latitude, the more conifers mix with hardwoods. In autumn, the deciduous forest is set ablaze: the leaves take on enchanting colors before they fall.
This region is the kingdom of the pileated woodpecker and various migratory birds, small mammals such as the muskrat, otter and beaver, large ungulates such as the white-tailed deer and the moose, and the formidable predators of the wolf and the black bear. The latter two are the figureheads of Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park, especially the endangered Eastern Wolf, for whom the park is one of the last refuges where they are not hunted down. And as the howling of the wolf has always enchanted human beings, you can hear this moving lament in the company of the park's evening guides in the summer, to discover this noble and disquieting character of the forests.
The country's smallest forest region, kingdom of the deciduous forest, cannot be overlooked. It runs along the shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and is also found in the southern sector of Lake Huron in Ontario. Dominated by agriculture and urban areas, this region covers nearly 3 million hectares and is home to the largest number of tree species. Species generally found in the USA are present (black walnut, butternut, tulip tree, magnolia, nyssa sylvestre, many types of oak, hickory, sassafras, red sheath), along with others from the mixed forest.
This region is also home to mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians that are rather rare in the country, such as the southern flying squirrel and the garter snake. In the vicinity of Point Pelee National Park, birdwatching is the star activity, with hundreds of species including brook warblers, herons, bitterns and waterfowl. This is also the migration route for the monarch butterfly, an insect emblematic of North America, easily recognized by the intense orange of its wings, rimmed and veined with black stripes and white spots.
The Boreal Zone
From the east coast to the west coast of Canada, the boreal zone - also known as the taiga - covers most of the country and is home to many animals. A typical inhabitant is the moose, recognizable by its large antlers. The largest of the cervids feeds on twigs, shrubs, leaves and even bark. It drinks from the forest's many lakes, where it also consumes aquatic plants such as water lilies. This area is home to other cervids, notably the elk and the woodland caribou: the latter is protected in Alberta's Jasper National Park and Quebec's Parc national de la Gaspésie. Trees are also home to the Canada porcupine, which feeds mainly on bark.
Predators are widely dispersed in these wide-open spaces. The wolf hunts moose, but also many small mammals and birds, and plays a useful role in regulating their populations. The Canada lynx, a big cat renowned not only for its eyesight but also for its hearing, is closely linked to hare populations. The red fox, on the other hand, is widespread and has a varied diet. The marten, a member of the mustelid family with fur ranging from tawny to black, is also omnivorous, and therefore less vulnerable than specialized predators. The same goes for the black bear, particularly fond of berries, and familiar enough to rummage through garbage cans and steal your picnic from under your nose!
In addition to the omnipresent humidity of the soil, the taiga is criss-crossed by an infinite number of bodies of water, some a little higher than others, which communicate with each other: it's an interplay of lakes whose water flows in levels from one to the next, ending up in rivers and then the sea. The countless rivers, often long and wide, also function like staircases: large expanses of water interspersed with rapids and waterfalls. Lakes and rivers are home to a large number of wetlands, shallow expanses of water linked to the soil in which they are found: ponds surrounded by vegetation, peat bogs, swamps and freshwater or saltwater marshes. With the exception of peat bogs, these aquatic environments are home to a wealth of life: fish (trout, salmon, pike, etc.), amphibians, insects and countless waterfowl. The most characteristic animal is the beaver, which feeds on twigs, bark and wood, with a predilection for birch, as well as plants and berries. It swims remarkably well, using its broad, flat tail as a rudder. Its long incisors enable it to build dams or dikes, canals for transporting wood and a hut in which it lives. Two other fur-bearing mammals, the otter and the mink, are also excellent swimmers.
Many natural parks are entirely or partly made up of taiga, such as Nahanni National Park in the Northwest Territories, Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan andAiguebelle National Park in Quebec. While these parks allow visitors to observe the wildlife of the boreal zone, there are also wildlife sites that offer education and interpretation, as well as working towards the conservation and rehabilitation of these species. These include the Yukon Wildlife Preserve in the Yukon, and Refuge Pageau and Parc Oméga in Quebec.
Tundra and the Canadian Arctic
In Canada's North, in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as in the far north of Quebec and Labrador, the taiga is disappearing in favor of the arctic tundra. If a few isolated larches manage to grow in sheltered spots, they soon become dwarfed or creeping, like other trees and shrubs: conifers with twisted trunks, but also birch, mountain ash, Labrador tea.
The soil is spongy and damp. Vegetation consists mainly of grasses, mosses and lichens that cling to the smallest rock, as well as many berry-bearing plants: blueberries (known as blueberries in Canada), cloudberries, gooseberries, lingonberries and crowberry. This very poor vegetation sometimes disappears, leaving the glacial rock bare. The tundra is also dotted with small lakes and peat bogs with their own particular vegetation.
In this harsh environment, the fauna is widely dispersed and found throughout the Arctic zone: reindeer or caribou, musk ox, Arctic hare, lemming, wolf, polar fox. Polar bears can be seen on the coast, for example, by taking the train from Winnipeg to Churchill, on the shores of Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba (those who can't make it that far can go to the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat in Cochrane, Ontario). Among the birds of the tundra, the Eskimo curlew is in danger of extinction.
The ice deserts and mountains of the Canadian arctic are environments virtually devoid of life: in the former, the purely glacial soil prohibits all flora and hence all fauna, while in the latter, violent winds and altitude add to the rigors of the polar climate. These environments are protected in Auyuittuq National Park, which encompasses the Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island, Nunavut.
