our forest resources. forest facts canada’s most abundant renewable resource canada owns 10% of...
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Our Forest Resources
Forest Facts
Canada’s most abundant renewable resource
Canada owns 10% of the global forest Continuous band of forest stretches
between British Columbia and Newfoundland
Forests cover 42% or 4 187 820 square km of Canada’s total area
Forests
Provides lumber, pulp and paper Also: • Produce Oxygen• Store carbon • Prevent soil erosion• Collect snow and purify groundwater• Provide habitat for many species of
animals
Types of Trees in Canada
Coniferous Trees: cone bearing with needle leaves (pine, spruce, etc.)
Deciduous Trees: lose their leaves every year in fall (poplar, white birch trees)
Coniferous63%
Decidious22%
Mixed15%
Types of Trees in Canada
Economic Standpoint
• Forests are classified as COMMERCIAL or NON-COMMERCIAL (about 50% each)
• Commercial Forests: Trees are large enough and close enough to markets to harvest profitably– Warmer, wetter areas of Canada
• Non-commercial Forests: Poor soils and a short growing season in northern Canada make trees that are generally too small to harvest
Canada’s Commercial Forests
There are 5 regions of Canada’s commercial forests that vary greatly
The diversity provides a wide range of environments to be used in different ways
Also provides the forest industry with the raw materials (primary) from which a wide range of goods (secondary) can be produced
Forest Regions of Canada
Boreal Forest Region
• HUGE! It is the largest region by far• Mainly coniferous trees (black spruce, white spruce,
balsam fir, jack pine, cedar)– Some deciduous such as white birch are also
common• Long winters and low precipitation make tree
growth slow• Smaller trees = pulp and paper production more important than lumber production
Taiga Forest Region
• Very thin soils, cool temperatures, short growing season and areas of permafrost define this region
• Stunted trees as a result• Coniferous trees (black and white spruce, jack pine)
Deciduous trees (poplar, aspen)• Mostly inaccessible and far from markets• Picture: stunted black and white spruce interspersed with open bogs and rocky barrens
West Coast Forest Region
• Most productive forest in Canada• Western slopes of the coastal mountains• Abundant precipitation, moderate
temperatures, long growing season • Produces trees to grow larger than any other in
the country• Large amount of trees spaced tightly together • Douglas fir, sitka spruce, western red cedar, western hemlock
Montane Forest Region
Lower precipitation and shorter growing season than the West Coast Region
Smaller coniferous trees are a result (spruce, lodgepole, ponderosa pine)
You still get a large amount of trees spaced tightly together but not quite as dense as the West Coast Region
Therefore, it is still a very viable commercial forest
Mixed Forest Region
Longer growing season and more precipitation than the boreal forest region
Forest blends from coniferous (fir, spruce) to mixed to purely deciduous forest
Warmer temperatures, longer growing season and lots of precipitation
The raw materials provide a large mix of goods Both hardwood lumber and sugar maple trees Growth of birch, walnut, cherry trees used in furniture
Large population centres and busy commercial use has left very little left
Computer Lab to fill in blanks
http://www.fpac.ca/index.php/en/ Forest products association of Canada
Hit enter on English side Click on “Explore Forest Regions of
Canada”