Natural Resources Canada

The higher the concentration of people in an ecoprovince, the higher the chance of loss of habitat and species. To better evaluate and minimize population impacts on the environment, it is necessary to study the distribution and variation of population within ecological areas. The map shows the...

The highest number of species at risk is in the southern areas of Canada where human activity is most extensive and intensive. As of May 2002, 30 animal and plant species had disappeared in Canada. Eleven of these species are no longer found anywhere on the Earth. For most species the greatest...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 2090 to 2099, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 2050 to 2059, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...

Climate warming can bring more frequent and severe forest fires. This map shows the change in forest fire severity levels across Canada from 1980 to 1989, based on Global Generation Circulation Models. The Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR) is a measure of fire danger conditions over a complete fire...

A hotspot is a mark on an infrared satellite image indicating a heat source typical of burning vegetation. A hotspot may represent one fire or be one of several hotspots representing a larger fire. Hotspots are located and mapped as part of the Fire Monitoring, Mapping and Modeling System (Fire...

Fire danger rating is the process of systematically evaluating and integrating the factors that determine the ease of a fire starting and spreading, the difficulty of control, and the resulting impacts based on an assessment of ignition risk, the fire environment (fuels, weather, and topography)...

Canada's Model Forest Program is an initiative to build partnerships towards achieving sustainable forest management. The network is composed of eleven model forests. Each model forest is a hands-on laboratory in which leading-edge techniques are researched, developed, applied and monitored....

Approximately 7.6% of Canada's forest land is located in protected areas. Over 95% of protected forests are totally protected and the rest reflect degrees of human intervention such as logging, mining and agriculture. This map shows all the protected areas in Canada.

This map depicts the 77 electrical generating plants operated by forest-based industries. These industries are defined using the North American Industrial Classification. These plants are scattered throughout Canada, and are about equally divided between being hydro or thermal plants.

The 5-year mobility measures the percentage of the population aged five years or older who moved (changed address) in the five years preceding Census Day, 1996. The values are generally low. Three-quarters of the places have a figure below the Canadian average and the median for the entire set of...

This map indicates the degree of reliance of each of the 298 communities on forest-related industries. The index range spans the complete range from 50% up to 100% with most communities having values in the lower half of this range. Even though there are two widely-separated zones of these...

The income index compares the average employment income value of each community to that for Canada. The value for Canada as a whole is set at 1.00. The range of the index is from 0.12 to 1.65, with the median value for these communities being 0.73. Income index values are generally higher in...

The education index is a measure of the proportion of the population 15 years of age and over who have post-secondary qualifications compared to the Canadian proportion meeting the same criteria. The index values are generally lower than the Canadian average. The median value is 0.78, and 88% of...

In Canada, there are 20 ecozones, consisting of 15 terrestrial and 5 marine units. The vegetation varies from one ecozone to another. Forests cover totally or partially nine ecozones: Pacific Maritime, Montane Cordillera, Boreal Cordillera, Taiga Plains, Boreal Plains, Prairie, Boreal Shield,...

This map shows the distribution of land cover types across Canada, based on satellite data obtained in 1995. The land cover map contains 31 classes: 12 forest; 3 shrubland; 7 tundra/grasslands; 7 developed land types including cropland, mosaic and built-up areas; and 2 water cover types.

Nine zones indicate the areas where various trees, shrubs and flowers are most likely to survive. These zones are calculated based on average climatic conditions and altitude of each area. The harshest zone is 0 and the mildest is 8. Each major zone is divided into subzones a and b (for example...

Ecozones are broad ecological zones on the earth's surface and cover a large range of ecosystems such as temperate forest, mountain ranges, grassland, taiga, arctic tundra, extensive river systems, coastline and farmlands. Each ecozone has its own climate, relief, soil, fauna and flora and...

This map shows the number of tree species by ecoregion.There are about 180 species of trees in Canada. More tree species are found in Southern Ontario and along the St. Lawrence River. The highest number of tree species is found in the Lake Erie Lowlands ecoregion.

Wetlands are areas characterized by relatively shallow water. These areas play an extremely important role in Canada's ecology. Canada has one of the largest areas in the world with wetlands covering more than 1.2 million square kilometres. They occur across most of the country, and their...