An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia Dennis A. Demarchi Third Edition March, 2011 Ecosystem Information Section Ministry of Environment Victoria, British Columbia An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia 2 Table of Contents Overview ............................................................................................................................... 4 Ecoregions Classification Order .......................................................................................................5 PART I: Ecoregion Classification Background ........................................................................ 15 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 15 British Columbia's Environment – The Setting ............................................................................... 16 The British Columbia Ecoregion Classification ................................................................................ 18 Uses of the British Columbia Ecosystem Classification ....................................................................... 20 PART II: Ecoregion Unit Descriptions .................................................................................... 22 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 22 Cool Oceanic Ecodomain ..................................................................................................................... 22 Sub-Arctic Pacific Ecodivision .............................................................................................................. 22 Northeast Pacific Ecoprovince ............................................................................................................. 23 Humid Temperate Ecodomain ............................................................................................................. 24 Humid Maritime and Highlands Ecodivision........................................................................................ 24 COM - Coast and Mountains Ecoprovince ........................................................................................... 25 GED - Georgian Depression Ecoprovince ............................................................................................. 47 Humid Continental Highlands Ecodivision ........................................................................................... 56 CEI - Central Interior Ecoprovince........................................................................................................ 56 CEI - Central Interior Ecoprovince........................................................................................................ 62 Ecoprovince Subdivisions..................................................................................................................... 65 SBI - Sub-Boreal Interior Ecoprovince .................................................................................................. 73 Ecoprovince Subdivisions..................................................................................................................... 76 SIM - Southern Interior Mountains Ecoprovince ................................................................................. 88 Ecoprovince Subdivision ...................................................................................................................... 91 SAL - Southern Alaska Mountains Ecoprovince ................................................................................. 110 Dry Ecodomain ................................................................................................................................... 112 Semi-Arid Steppe Highland Ecodivision ............................................................................................. 113 SOI – Southern Interior Ecoprovince ................................................................................................. 113 Polar Ecodomain ................................................................................................................................ 128 Boreal Ecodivision .............................................................................................................................. 128 BOP - Boreal Plains Ecoprovince ........................................................................................................ 128 Sub-Arctic Ecodivision ........................................................................................................................ 134 TAP - aiga Plains Ecoprovince ............................................................................................................ 134 Sub-Arctic Highlands Ecodivision ....................................................................................................... 140 NMB - Northern Boreal Mountains Ecoprovince .............................................................................. 140 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................. 160 An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia 3 Overview The Ecoregion Classification System was first adopted by the Ministry of Environment in 1985 to serve as a framework for recognizing small scale ecosystems in British Columbia. The Ecoregion Classification helps us to understand and to depict the great habitat diversity of the province. Since 1985, the Ecoregion Classification has been revised five times to reflect more detailed mapping. The fourth revision Ecoregion units was mapped at 1:250,000 using Landsat, topographic, Biogeoclimatic and marine ecosystem information, while the fifth revision has been mapped based on the earlier concepts plus detailed vegetation zonation mapping. The most current digital (GIS) database is Version 2.1 2006, but the supporting reports and descriptions is the third edition 2011. The Ecoregion Classification system is used to stratify British Columbia's terrestrial and marine ecosystem complexity into discrete geographical units at five levels. The two highest levels, Ecodomains and Ecodivisions, are very broad and place British Columbia globally. The three lowest levels, Ecoprovinces, Ecoregions and Ecosections are progressively more detailed and narrow in scope and relate segments of the Province to one another. They describe areas of similar climate, physiography, oceanography, hydrology, vegetation and wildlife potential. Within each terrestrial ecoregion, climatic zones occur where specific soils, plant and animal communities and aquatic systems develop because of the interaction of climate with the land surface and surficial materials. These zones are best defined within the Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification system. Ecological zones in marine ecosystems are products of temperature, salinity, sea-bed configuration and water depth. The Marine Ecoregion Classification system should be used to define the marine ecosytems. Each ecosystem is ultimately identified by sampling individual sites. At the lowest level in an ecosystem classification, attention is directed to specific parameters, such as topography, surficial materials, soil development, moisture regime, microclimate, floristics, succession, productivity and animal use. Ecoregions should be thought of as 'big picture' ecosystems. As such the province should be viewed first for its big, all-inclusive landscape chunks, then progressively through more detailed levels, and finally each area of the province has to be viewed with other classifications or the underlying geographical detail. The boundaries between units must be thought of in the same way, broad lines for small scale ecosystems progressing to greater precision for the larger scale ecosystems. For convenience, however, one boundary is used to define all ecosystem levels, from Ecodomain down through to the Biogeoclimatic or marine unit level. An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia 4 Ecoregions Classification Order Ecodomains: An ecodomain is an area of broad climatic uniformity. There are three terrestrial and one oceanic ecodomain occurring in British Columbia. Ecodomains are meant to be mapped at small scale such as 1:30,000,000 for use in global environmental strategies. An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia 5 An ecodivsion is an area of broad climatic and physiographic uniformity. There are seven ecodivsions occurring within British Columbia. Ecodomains and ecodivsions place British Columbia in a global context. Ecodivsions are meant to be mapped at a scale of 1:7,500,000 for use in national state of the environment reporting. An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia 6 An ecoprovince is an area with consistent climatic processes, oceanography, relief and regional landforms. There is one oceanic, three marine / terrestrial and seven terrestrial ecoprovinces occurring within British Columbia. Ecoprovinces are meant to be mapped at a general scale of 1:2,000,000 for use in provincial state of the environment reporting. An Introduction to the Ecoregions of British Columbia 7 An ecoregion is an area with major physiographic and minor macroclimatic or oceanographic variation. There are 47 ecoregions in British Columbia of which 38 are terrestrial 3 are oceanic and 6 have both an oceanic and a terrestrial component. Ecodivsions are meant to be mapped at 1:500,000 for regional