The Ecozones of Saskatchewan

Boreal forest in Saskatchewan, Canada (Branimir Gjetvaj Saskatchewan Photography)

The Province of Saskatchewan is located in southwestern Canada with a population of 1.1 million as of July 2013 that contains boreal forests and prairie used by humans for mining and timber (Bureau of Statistics, Government of Saskatchewan). A boreal forest, also known as a taiga, is a region of coniferous forest located just south of the tundra in high latitude areas. The boreal forest is characterized by extremely cold winters and little precipitation (50 cm per year), acidic and mineral poor soils, and a thick surface layer of partly decomposed pine and spruce needles (Berg et al., 2011). A prairie is an ecosystem that is part of the temperate grassland biome which is characterized by hot summers, cold winters, a mixture of grasses and herbaceous flowering plants, and average annual precipitation of about 25 to 75 cm (Berg et al., 2011). The biomes of Saskatchewan can be further broken into four main ecozones: the taiga shield, the boreal shield, the boreal plain, and the prairie (Padbury et al., 1998).

Map of Canada showing political province borders and ecozones. Saskatchewan contains four different ecozones: taiga shield shown in beige, boreal shield shown in gold, boreal plains, shown in light brown above, and prairies shown in dark brown (Torsten, McGill University).

The taiga shield ecozone, in northernmost Saskatchewan, is characterized by short summers and long winters with long nights. The mean annual temperature is 31 degrees, and the precipitation ranges from 200-1000 millimeters per year. The taiga shield in Saskatchewan contains wetlands, forests, meadows, and shrublands, and some of the most common trees are the black spruce, jack pine, and green alder, and shrubs such as cottongrass, lichen and moss thrive in the taiga shield (Torsten, McGill University). Megafauna including both herbivores and carnivores such as moose, woodland caribou, wolves, and lynx populate this ecozone.

The boreal shield ecozone is typified by large areas of exposed bedrock, forests, and large rivers. The mean annual temperature is 31 degrees, with rainfall averaging 400 cm. The vegetation is characterized by coniferous trees, including white spruce, black spruce, and balsam firs. Frequent forest fires make various stages of tree growth common. The animal population is similar to that of the taiga shield ecozone (Torsten, McGill University).

The ecozone of central Saskatchewan is the boreal plains, with an annual mean temperature of near freezing, and due to the Rockies blocking most atmospheric moisture, around 400 millimeters of precipitation. This region contains many lakes due to glacial melting. Despite heavy logging, the boreal plains of Saskatchewan are heavily wooded with fire-adapted trees including spruce, fir and pine species (Torsten, McGill University).

Lastly, the southernmost ecozone in Saskatchewan are the prairies. This ecozone is more temperate than the above, with mean winter temperature of 10 degrees celsius, and mean summer temperatures of 15 degrees celsius. However precipitation is very low due to the rainshadow effect. This in combination with high winds make the prairies of Saskatchewan extremely dry. Due to a large amount of agriculture, the original plants in the praries are dwindling, but include spear grass, wheat, blue grama grass, sagebrush, and chokecherry. The only large carnivore in the prairies is the black bear, however large herbivores include whitetailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and elk. Rodents are particularly numerous (Torsten, McGill University).