Ed Wiken

This covers a brief overview of the origins of the Canadian Ecological Land Classification (ELC)system. It is the central part of the larger Ecological Land Survey (ELS) concept that developed from a comprehensive national land capability assessment conducted after and in response to a strategic federal/provincial review on a 'Resources for Tomorro...

Explains the concept of habitat integrity and conservation in the context of the marine and terrestrial ecosystems of Canada

Nearly 600 000 ha or 60% of Canada is dominated by forested areas and varied forested ecosystems. This vast life zone provides seasonal and year-round habitats for two thirds of the nation's estimated 300 000 species, and consists of 12 major ecozones. Within these forest-dominated ecozones, there are 152 distinctive ecoregions that provide broadly...

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The maps shown here represent a second attempt to holistically classify and map ecological regions across the North American continent (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). The mapping from 1997 and 2006 was built upon earlier efforts that had begun individually in all three countries (e.g., Wiken 1986, Omernik 1987). Thes...

Discusses recent progress made to address peatland resources, wildlife habitats and ecosystem diversity protection. Threats of climate change, forest/bush fires and land uses are overviewed. Successful local and regional land management approaches, and local stewardship/management initiatives are profiled.

Despite the wide use of ecological regions in conservation and resource-management evaluations and assessments, a commonly accepted theoretical basis for ecological regionalization does not exist. This fact, along with the paucity of focus on ecological regionalization by professional associations, journals, and faculties, has inhibited the advance...

It has been said that all that we do is touched by the ocean, yet we remain at its shores in terms of knowledge. Marine and estuarine ecosystems, including the diverse array of species and habitats they encompass, hold important roles in our lives—yet to most, the marine realm remains relatively obscure. Compared to their land counterparts, the und...

The Prairie Ecozone contains 5% of Canada's land area and represents 16% of the Great Plains of North America. Current estimates indicate that 25-30% of original Canadian grassland habitats remain, largely concentrated in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan with fragments distributed throughout southern Manitoba. The size, distributi...

Presents Research on the Status of Canadian Forest/Wildlife Habitats, and the means to assess them and report on them nationally through to a regional setting ---- in a systematic and ecological manner. It examines the core forested areas and related ecosystems which forest species rely. It relies on the national Environment Canadian ecosystem data...

Wetlands have various meanings to people in Canada, not so much because it is a matter of scientific dispute, but more so because of the wide range of wetlands. In general, they literally refer to lands that are wet for prolonged periods of time and this is reflected in the development of particular soil, fauna and vegetation types. Historically, C...

This work provides an assessment of the situation of native grasslands at a North American scale (Canada, USA and Mexico), and a framework for tri- and binational cooperation to promote the conservation and sustainable use of North American native grasslands.

This publication provides a framework for tri- and binational cooperation between Canada, the United States and Mexico that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of central North American native grasslands./ Este documento ofrece un marco de cooperación trilateral y bilateral entre Canadá, Estados Unidos y México para fomentar la conservaci...

Northern landscapes and seascapes occupy very large areas within Canada. The Arctic Ocean is the largest of Canada's three ocean territories. The diverse arctic and taiga landscapes of the north run from Labrador in the east through to the northern Yukon in the west. The landscapes cover large mainland areas as well as being inter-dispersed in a un...

Visions are strong drivers for developing science, technology and innovation. At a time when several signs are indicating a deteriorating global environment, developing a vision for conserving Canada's ecosystem services is timely. Instead of forecasting, backcasting is the approach recommended to facilitate the implementation of the conservation v...

Canada's wealth of 'Protected Areas" encompasses a great range of organizations spanning national to local organizations, private and governmental bodies, small to large holdings, oceanic to terrestrial settings, areas of local to international importance, and for themes from wildlife habitats to parks. They all contribute.

Canada initiated unique national State of the Environment Reports, and used a national set of ecosystem maps and descriptions covering the country's marine and land areas. Canadians share ecosystems and conservation values with the United States and Mexico . The three countries need other ecosystem based opportunities to understand and share values...

Some ecosystems/habitats like the interior grasslands in North America are literally shared across administrative borders. Beyond cultivating a better understanding of the properties, extent, interactions and state of these ecosystems, the mechanisms for management and planning need to be understood. Achieving grassland conservation involves inputs...

The forests of Canada or the forests of North America"-phrases like these sound all too familiar and simple. However in the world of scientific, social and economic endeavours, this is proving to be a troublesome assumption. While Mexico, United States and Canada share fairly open borders, the boundary lines of these nations and even those of the s...

Using a standardised ecosystem classification system for North America and the IUCN classification system for protected areas, data is presented summarising the distribution and extent of protected areas for the Great Plains of North America. The Great Plains consists of five major ecological sub-divisions, and three federal and 24 state or provinc...

Using a standardised ecosystem classification system for North America and the IUCN classification system for protected areas, data is presented summarising the distribution and extent of protected areas for the Great Plains of North America. The Great Plains consists of five major ecological sub-divisions, and three federal and 24 state or provinc...

The article explains the overall character and conservation importance and nature of Canada's three major ocean territories/ecosystems: the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The oceanic coastlines are also discussed. The terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems are compared to each other

Article is on pgs 12-18. The marine ecozones and their subregions have been neglected and have not been well understood. Conservation areas and initiatives are well behind the terrestrial endeavours. The 3 ocean marine setting in Canada is staggering and not well addressed.

Reflections on the status and trends of protected area conservation initiatives in Canada and North America. Also how agencies need to collectively focus on the protection and conservation of the gamut of ecosystems migrate forward from more thematic interests ----- not just plants, wildlife, wetland themes; not just parks, wetlands reserves, biosp...

Biodiversity at the ecosystem level needs a context for what a country is trying to conserve. This is likely the first time a country has profiled a complementary perspective on both its marine and terrestrial ecosystems --- ecosystems that exists within its administrative marine and land/freshwater areas. Within the country, there are more detaile...

Map/Report MCR4164 is a special ecosystem map/report provided to the 5Th Edition of the National Atlas of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa. The map was based on the Terrestrial Ecozones of Canada, ELC Series No. 19 of the Lands Directorate, Environment Canada, 1986 by Ed Wiken. The expanded version of the map presented here was authored by...

Global warming due to increased concentrations of atmospheric CO2 is expected to be amplified in middle and higher latitudes. Consequently, ecosystems in these latitudes will experience more pronounced climatic variations. This investigation attempts to assess the sensitivity of Canada's ecosystems to climatic change. Potential ecological impacts r...

The document explains the methodology and concepts of the Ecological Land Survey (ELS) including the initial planning considerations, the specific ecological land classification criteria and ecosystem basis(ELC), and the types of assessments and evaluations that can be made. The methodologies were based on a specific ecosystem/holistic criteria. Ea...

Substantial amounts of land resource inventory and Ecological Land Classification (ELC) data have been stored and used on the large centralized computing facilities of the Canada Land Data System in Ottawa. The existing options for retrieval and analysis of ELC data were not adequate for users in remote locations, especially those in northern Canad...

Relationships of landscape ecology and land use planning and management are discussed. The significance of an ecological data base for national, regional and local planning is considered from a Canadian perspective, relating ecological land classification hierarchy to the various levels of management, and describing developments in survey methodolo...

The area receiving high wet sulphate deposition coincides with the area of Eastern Canada which is mapped and described under the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) program (Lands Directorate. 1981). This report identifies the extent of "prime lands" for agriculture, forestry, outdoor recreation, and waterfowl which may be at risk due to acid deposition....

Present interest in environmental problems which are international, interstate or interprovincial in scope is drawing attention to the necessity for ecological regionalizations that will serve as a basis for intraregional transfer of experience. The major efforts at ecological regionalization by the national governmental agencies are described and...

Ecological Land Survey is widely practiced in Canada both by federal and provincial agencies engaged in land management and planning. The overall methodologies, phases inherent in the survey system, and operational applications are examined. -Authors

Ecoclimatic regions are typically broad areas on the earth 's surface characterized by distinctive ecological responses to climate. The climate regime can be expressed by a suite of items such as in the more temporal vegetation and wildlife types, in more the enduring features such as soil development types, and in water and ice cover qualities Wit...

Ecological Land Survey (ELS) denotes the overall concepts that are considered and applied in ecologically characterizing landscapes or seascapes, or both. It starts with a detailed analysis of about what the aim(s) and function(s) and role(s) and client(s) that the ELS is going serve or help. A National or Continental State of the Environment Repor...

An ecological land survey of the northern tip of the Yukon was conducted in the summer of 1977. The land surveyed is perhaps the most ecologically diverse in Canada's north. Land ecosystems range from relatively stable to delicately balanced, each having marked inherent differences in climate, geology, soils, hydrology, flora and fauna. Many of the...

Ecological land classification refers to an integrated survey in which distinctive areas of land, as ecosystems, are classified according to their ecological integrity. In Canada, the notion of the approach was first advanced, nationally, in 1969 and was termed a 'Bio-physical Land Classification'. This approach, which was derived from several fore...

While urban areas are not candidate areas for conserving or protecting natural or semi natural areas, they can benefit from using and employing ecological principles. Many studies which have used environmental and ecological approaches in urban planning from across Canada were reviewed and discussed via lectures and workshops

The occurrence and pedological effects of active and recently active (inactive) ant mounds are compared with apparently unaffected soils in the subalpine region of Mt. Tatlow in British Columbia, Canada. The unaffected soils in the area are classified as Orthic Dystric Brunisols (Dystrochrepts). The soils have developed from post‐Pleistocene glacio...

The Land Capability for Forestry was part of a national series of land capability investigations which were conducted under the federal Canada Land Inventory series which also conducted studies of separate land capabilities for recreation, waterfowl, ungulates, agriculture as well as land use and land cover maps. The mapping in British Columbia was...

The Land Capability for Forestry was part of a national series of land capability investigations which were conducted under the federal Canada Land Inventory series which also conducted studies of separate land capabilities for recreation, waterfowl, ungulates, agriculture as well as land use and land cover maps. The mapping in British Columbia was...

The Land Capability for Agriculture was part of a national series of land capability investigations which were conducted under the federal Canada Land Inventory series which also conducted studies of separate land capabilities for recreation, waterfowl, ungulates, forestry as well as land use and land cover maps. The mapping in British Columbia was...

This was a special land resource study conducted for the West Moberly Lake Indian Reserve No. 169 in the Peace River region of British Columbia. It was conducted in conjunction with are larger federal multi resource Canada Land Inventory ( forestry, agriculture, recreation, waterfowl, ungulate and land use themes) and a B.C. Provincial climate inve...

The forests of Canada or the forests of North America"-phrases like these sound all too familiar and simple. However in the world of scientific, social and economic endeavours, this is proving to be a troublesome assumption. While Mexico, United States and Canada share fairly open borders, the boundary lines of these nations and even those of the s...