ECOlogical Regions Shield High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion The Taiga Shield High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion occupies nearly peat plateaus are typical wetland vegetation. is of the 125,000 km2, and includes 9 Level IV ecoregions that arc across continuous along the northern boundary but discontinuous

the northern third of the Taiga Shield. Landscapes are dominated where bedrock is interspersed with mineral . Several large Eskers are a common glacial landscape feature by bedrock in the western half, and boulder till and sandy or rivers including the Coppermine, Snare, Snowdrift, Taltson, of the Taiga Shield and are particularly extensive Tundra-dwelling ground squirrels in the Taiga Shield High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion. range south into the subarctic regions gravel outwash further east. Slow-growing, open white and black Thelon and Dubawnt flow through the Ecoregion; hundreds of They provide a wide range of conditions for are rare visitors throughout of the Taiga Shield, wherever suitable 2 plants, from sheltered lower slopes with enough most of the Taiga Shield but commonly habitat conditions occur. They are spruce woodlands with lichen and shrub understories grow on large lakes over 50 km in area and thousands of smaller lakes moisture for good tree growth to upper slopes breed in the Taiga Shield High Subarctic most common in the Taiga Shield lower slopes and valleys, shrub and lichen tundra occupies dot the landscape. that support only low shrubs and lichens. Eskers (HS) Ecoregion. Gyrfalcons prey on High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion and provide important habitat for many different birds and mammals ranging in size from can be locally abundant in sites where Taiga shield songbirds to geese, and from voles to Arctic upper slopes and hilltops, and sedge marshes and polygonal wildlife species including barren-ground caribou, permafrost and surface bedrock are muskoxen, grizzly , , foxes, , hares. Although they usually nest on cliffs, limited and thereby allow Photo: G. Grambo Photo: G. Grambo Photo: A. Kelly and ground squirrels. they will use trees when cliffs are unavailable. easier burrowing.

Bedrock and boulder till in the Taiga Shield High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion are covered by open and stunted spruce woodlands with understory Widely spaced and narrow spires is an Inuit word that refers to small hill. Treeless peat plateaus occur in low, wet or shrubs such as ground birch, willow, of stunted spruce on nutrient-poor These mounds of earth-covered ice are formed northern Labrador tea, bog cranberry, permanently frozen areas throughout the and often frozen soils that are when water freezes and forces the overlying red bearberry and crowberry, as well Taiga Shield High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion insulated by a thick organic blanket upward; they can reach heights up to 70 as cotton-grass, mosses and lichens. and the northern parts of the Taiga Shield Treeless [tundra] areas consist of low- are common in the Taiga Shield metres along the Arctic coast. “Muskox Hill”, a Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion. The reddish- The Taiga Shield provides important growing shrubs, along with mountain High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion. classic pingo that lies just north of the Northwest brown colour of these “polygonal” peat fall and winter habitat for several avens, lichens and cotton- Open white spruce with a Territories-Nunavut border near the Thelon River plateaus indicates an eroding peat surface, major herds of barren-ground caribou. grass tussocks on hilltops and other shrub and lichen understory are in the Taiga Shield High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion, due to melting permafrost and drier surface Barren-ground caribou are considered a exposed sites; these become extensive common in the northwest portion is a very rare permafrost feature in the Northwest conditions. These deteriorating peat “keystone” species in that the survival towards the northern edge of the of the Ecoregion as well as along Territories outside of the lower Mackenzie River formations may be an indicator of changing and abundance of many other wildlife Photo: D. Downing Photo: R. Decker Photo: D. Downing Photo: D. Downing Ecoregion. the Thelon River valley to the east. delta and associated coastal plains. climate. species are dependent on them. Photo: A. Gunn

Taiga Shield Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion Photo: B. Oosenbrug

The Taiga Shield Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion contains 10 Level IV landscapes. Drumlins are extensive and conspicuous landforms ecoregions with an area of almost 115,000 km2 in a broad, in the southeastern portion of the Ecoregion, as are peatlands northwest-southeast band across the centre of the Taiga Shield.It underlain by permafrost. About one-quarter of the Ecoregion includes the gently sloping bedrock plateaus north of Great Slave is covered by water; the East Arm of Great Slave Lake and Ospreys are fish-eating birds of prey that Lake and the nearly level to hummocky plains south and east of Hottah Lake are the two largest lakes, and the Snare, are closely associated with larger lakes and White-crowned Sparrows are Photo: D. Fast rivers in the Taiga Shield. They are particularly common breeders in the Taiga Shield Healthy natural Great Slave Lake. Level to rolling and hilly bedrock with thin boulder Lockhart, Snowdrift, Taltson, and Dubawnt are the abundant in the Taiga Shield Low Subarctic Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion. They ecosystems are critical till, open black spruce-lichen woodlands and forests, and large burned largest rivers. (LS) Ecoregion southeast of Great Slave Lake, forage for seeds and insects near the where they often nest on small protruding ground and favour open woodlands, to our well-being; areas regenerating with dwarf birch and black spruce are characteristic offshore boulders in lakes and shallow ponds. recently burned and shrubby they provide us with These boulders provide nesting sites secure areas – habitats that are abundant Photo: J. Nagy Photo: D. Downing from many potential predators. within this Ecoregion. clean air and clean water, a wide rangeof Open spruce – lichen woodlands renewable resources, and closed stands of black spruce Glacial landscape features like outwash are typical of well-drained sites in and eskers are common in the Taiga Shield and the opportunity the Taiga Shield Low Subarctic (LS) Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion; open lichen to enjoy landscapes Ecoregion. Understory vegetation woodlands dominate these sandy or gravelly, consists mostly of lichens, with bog well-drained sites. Black spruce is most with their rich diversity cranberry, bog bilberry, crowberry, Peatlands such as at this site east common, but paper birch and white spruce can of plant and animal common Labrador tea and mosses. of Selwyn Lake, are widespread be locally abundant. Along the southern limits Peatlands are vegetated by low shrubs throughout the Taiga Shield Low of the Ecoregion jack pine occupies similar Muskoxen have recently expanded communities. Climate such as ground birch, willow, heaths, Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion. Sedge areas with black spruce. Common bearberry, their range southward into the Taiga and topography act as well as lichens, sphagnum mosses and cotton-grass meadows in bog cranberry and reindeer lichens dominate Shield Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion and sedges in wet depressions; black wet depressions and surrounded RADIUM the ground vegetation. North-facing slopes, and are now found in small numbers together to produce spruce and larch [tamarack] are by open forests of stunted black HILLS HS as in this photo of an esker near Gameti, can near the east end of Great Slave

ecosystems that stunted and scattered on the elevated spruce with northern Labrador tea support robust and diverse growth, including Lake and to the southeast. They are peat plateaus. Exposed bedrock and and lichens on elevated plateaus of C dense stands with multiple tree species commonly associated with productive

can range in size from lichen communities on a piece of granite boulder terrain are covered by lichens, frozen organic soil, is a recurring o South-facing slopes are very dry and often sedge-grass meadows throughout

p p Photo: G. Grambo Photo: D. Downing and trees are scattered or absent. Photo: R. Decker pattern. Photo: R. Decker have patches of bare ground. the year.

to landscapes the size of Great Slave Lake. Understanding what e Calder r m makes one area different from another is an important part of iver R in wisely managing the vast expanses of the Northwest Territories for e r e

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present and future generations. These differences can be described R COPPERMINE UPLAND HS by dividing larger landscapes into smaller areas that have unique RADIUM CALDER HILLS LS UPLAND LS combinations of climate, terrain, vegetation, soils and wildlife; these Chipping Sparrows are widely Taiga Shield High Boreal (HB) Ecoregion ll POINT se are called ecological regions (ecoregions). am UPLAND HS distributed in . They C Point Photo: D. Marsh range throughout the forested Lake Both timber wolves, which establish and R regions of the Northwest Territories i The Taiga Shield High Boreal (HB) Ecoregion occupies the south- Open jack pine-spruce woodlands and lichen-shrub communities v maintain territorial year-round home ranges, and are common in the Taiga Shield The Northwest Territories is developing an ecologically based e r and nomadic tundra wolves, occur in the Taiga landscape classification for environmental assessment, cumulative grow on rock outcrops, thin boulder till and outwash. Permafrost High Boreal (HB) Ecoregion, where western third of the Taiga Shield and also includes the somewhat Shield. Timber wolves are most common in they prefer to nest in conifer forests. effects management, biodiversity monitoring and reporting, lower elevations east and north of Great Slave Lake. It contains is discontinuous and typically associated with peatlands and SNARE the southern portions, including the Taiga PLAIN HS Shield High Boreal (HB) Ecoregion. They forest resource analysis and planning, wildlife habitat evaluation 2 5 Level IV ecoregions totaling nearly 85,000 km . Eskers and fine-textured soils. Lakes account for nearly one-third of the area, CAMSELL occupy large home ranges and hunt PLAIN LS year-round, and other prey including caribou, r and conservation, and protected area identification. Such a e outwash deposits occur mainly in the southeast on higher terrain. and Great Slave Lake is the largest water body. Major rivers flowing when available. Tundra wolves are dependent v classification is essential for responding to local, regional, national i Mixed white spruce and trembling aspen forests are common in through the Ecoregion north of Great Slave Lake include the on and follow the migratory herds of barren- R and international enquiries, and the Northwest Territories is ground caribou. They occur in the Ecoregion the western portion of the Ecoregion on moist, rich sites, and Camsell, Snare, and Beaulieu; south of Great Slave whenever these caribou are present, usually working with other Canadian provinces and territories to use a THELON Wekweètì only during winter. Photo: G. Grambo VALLEY HS extensive young jack pine stands have developed on huge burns. Lake, the Snowdrift, Taltson and Tazin are the largest rivers. iver North American continental approach to improve its ecological R Snare classification. The increasing pace and scale of mineral development Lake Gamètì on the Canadian Shield of the Northwest Territories made this area e R r Mackay E a T n IN S Lake a priority for revision, and this poster describes the ecosystems of W n Bedrock uplands, forested by stands o l

of black spruce and jack pine with e the Taiga Shield Ecological Region that occur within the Northwest OAD

bog cranberry, common Labrador tea, Forests consisting of closed-canopy R h T Territories. lichens and mosses, are a common black spruce and jack pine stands MACKAY and widespread landscape feature with scattered white spruce and UPLAND HS paper birch, as seen here near NTER Ecological classification and mapping for the Taiga Shield are throughout the Taiga Shield High WI Boreal (HB) Ecoregion. Paper birch is Yellowknife, are typical of the tree presented within an ecoregion framework for continental North the dominant deciduous species while cover throughout much of the Taiga America that includes four levels, from very large Level I ecoregions white spruce and aspen are generally Shield High Boreal (HB) Ecoregion. restricted to warm, moist, well-drained Jack pine can grow in very small GREAT GREAT SLAVE that represent ecosystems of global extent to relatively small Level and nutrient-rich sites. Black spruce, crevices or in shallow pockets of dry SLAVE UPLAND HB UPLAND LS IV ecoregions that represent ecosystems of several thousand square larch [tamarack], paper birch, Labrador soil on bedrock. Areas of exposed EAST ARM tea, bog cranberry, red bearberry, bedrock with little or no soil are UPLAND LS

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kilometers. The Northwest Territories includes parts of three Level I cloudberry, sedges and peat mosses characterized by drought-tolerant v Reliance Whitefish Y i E R occupy the cold and wet bogs and lichens, mosses, grasses and low LL r OW e Lake ecoregions: Tundra, Taiga and Northwest Forested Mountains. Eight KN i v Photo: D. Downing fens. Photo: R. Decker shrubs. IFE R Level II ecoregions including the Taiga Shield are nested within the Sid HIG HW u AY lie Lake Level I ecoregions and 17 Level III ecoregions are grouped under u WHITEFISH ea B PLAIN HS SID the Level II ecoregions. There are four Level III ecoregions within Åutselk’e PLAIN HS DUBAWNT Yellowknife t PLAIN HS the Taiga Shield: the Taiga Shield High Subarctic (HS), the Taiga Detah S n o w d rif GREAT EAST ARM PORTER Shield Low Subarctic (LS), the Taiga Shield High Boreal (HB), and SLAVE UPLAND HB UPLAND LS Talts LOWLAND HB on the Taiga Shield Mid-Boreal (MB). Level III ecoregions are identified r Taiga Shield Mid-Boreal (MB) Ecoregion e iv primarily by regional climate differences reflected in the soils and Great Slave R iver vegetation unique to each ecoregion. The Level III ecoregions of the Lake R The Taiga Shield Mid-Boreal (MB) Ecoregion occupies the extreme wood, deciduous and coniferous forests and extensive wetlands Nonacho Porter Taiga Shield are further divided into 25 Level IV ecoregions that are Lake Lake typically defined by a unique combination of terrain and vegetation southwest corner of the Northwest Territories Taiga Shield and within a complex of low exposed bedrock and outwash deposits. Rutledge 2 Lake patterns. includes 1 Level IV ecoregion that covers approximate 6,600 km . Permafrost is less common than in other Level III ecoregions. The most northerly breeding Dubawn The Ecoregion occupies the easternmost extent of the former In contrast to other parts of the Taiga Shield, peatlands cover population of American White t Pelicans occurs in the Taiga Shield DUBAWNT glacial Lake McConnell along the present-day Slave River valley, nearly one-third of the Ecoregion, and high water tables in the SLAVE PLAIN LS Mid-Boreal (MB) Ecoregion. The PLAIN MB NONACHO which over time filled with fine-textured river and lakebed deposits. southern portion support extensive wetlands south of Tsu Lake. granite islands and numerous rapids WIGNES UPLAND HB along the Slave River near Fort Smith PLAIN LS Compared to the other three Level III ecoregions this Ecoregion The Taltson River is the only large river and parallels the western RUTLEDGE mark the south-eastern edge of the UPLAND HB has a relatively warm climate that together with the moist, boundary north to Great Slave Lake. Taiga Shield, and provide important nesting and foraging habitat for this

rich parent materials has produced a mosaic of vigorous mixed- Photo: M. Bradley species.

Abitau SELWYN

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e Lake v i Selwyn R altson T ABITAU Wignes Lake UPLAND LS Moist, fine-textured and fertile soils Lake surround granite bedrock knobs in the Taiga Shield Mid-Boreal (MB) Ecoregion. Dense and diverse mixed- wood or pure deciduous or coniferous Mixed or pure stands of aspen, stands develop on these soils. The dry white spruce, jack pine, balsam exposed rocks can support scattered poplar, paper birch, black spruce jack pine and black spruce, and and larch [tamarack] occur on

Photo: C. O’Brien are usually lichen covered. Poorly- upland sites throughout the Taiga The extensive and productive lowlands drained sites support stands of black Shield Mid-Boreal (MB) Ecoregion. and riparian areas that make up much Taiga Shield High Subarctic Taiga Shield High Boreal This poster is associated with the ENR technical report: spruce, larch [tamarack] and paper Diverse and vigorous shrub growth of the Taiga Shield Mid-Boreal (MB) (HS) Ecoregion (HB) Ecoregion “Ecological Regions of the Northwest Territories – Taiga Shield” birch with shrubs, lichens and mosses typically includes willow, green Ecoregion provide optimal habitat for underneath. Productive wetlands alder, wild sarsaparilla, bunchberry, moose. This Ecoregion supports the Taiga Shield Low Subarctic Taiga Shield Mid-Boreal Additional copies of the poster and report may be obtained from: that include marshes, shrub fens and prickly rose, bog cranberry and highest density of moose within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (MB) Ecoregion Photo: D. Downing sedge fens are common and extensive. Photo: R. Decker common Labrador tea. Photo: D. Fast Taiga Shield. (LS) Ecoregion P.O. Box 1320, Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9 Phone: (867) 920-8064 Fax: (867) 873-0293 Web site: www.enr.gov.nt.ca