Discover Plants and Animals Across Canada's Amazing Ecosystems

Biodiversity means having many different plants and animals living together in one place. You can find different living things in every region of Canada. When many species live together, they keep their ecosystem healthy and strong.

Canada has many amazing ecosystems. Each one has its own special plants and animals that are perfectly suited to live there. You will explore six main ecosystems: the Arctic tundra, the BC rainforest, the boreal forest, the Canadian prairies, wetlands, and ocean coasts.

The Arctic tundra is a flat, treeless land in the far north of Canada. The ground stays frozen for most of the year, and winters are the coldest of any ecosystem. Very few plants can grow here, but some special ones do.

You can find Arctic moss and lichen growing low to the ground in the tundra. Caribou dig through snow to eat lichen in winter. Polar bears have thick white fur to stay warm in the very cold Arctic. Snowy owls have white feathers that help them hide in the snow. Arctic foxes also have thick white fur to survive the cold. Beluga whales live in Canada's Arctic Ocean and northern waters.

Caribou migrate travel long distances across the tundra each year to find food and warmer places. This seasonal movement helps them survive in northern Canada.

British Columbia's coastal rainforest gets more rain than any other Canadian ecosystem. This makes it a perfect home for many plants and animals. You can find Douglas fir trees and cedar trees growing very tall here.

On Vancouver Island, the temperate rainforest is home to ferns and mosses because the area gets so much rain. Black bears live in BC's forests and eat berries, fish, and plants. Bald eagles are very common near BC's forests and coastal waters, where they catch fish. Salmon swim upstream in BC's rivers each year to lay their eggs they use their sense of smell to find the river where they were born. Orca whales live in the Pacific Ocean off BC's coast and eat salmon.

The boreal forest also called the taiga covers more of Canada than any other ecosystem. It stretches from BC all the way to Newfoundland. Spruce trees and pine trees are the main trees you find here.

The Canada jay is a bird that lives in the boreal forest and was named Canada's national bird. Beavers build dams from tree branches and mud in rivers across Canada. Moose are large animals that wade in ponds and eat water plants and forest shrubs. Red squirrels bury seeds and nuts, which helps new trees grow. The loon is a diving bird famous on Canadian lakes it even appears on the Canadian dollar coin.

The Canadian prairies cover Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. This flat, open land gets a lot of sunshine, which helps wild prairie grasses grow tall. Bison once roamed the prairies in huge herds, grazing on prairie grasses for food.

Pronghorn antelope also graze on the open grasslands. Bumblebees pollinate wildflowers across Canada's prairies. Sugar maple trees grow in eastern Canada and produce sap used for maple syrup their leaves change colour and fall every autumn, making them deciduous trees, unlike spruce and pine which are evergreen.

Wetlands are low, wet areas full of birds and frogs. They give animals food, water, and shelter. Frogs live both in water and on land, while otters are furry swimmers that catch fish in rivers. Canada geese eat grass, grain, and water plants near ponds and lakes.

Along Canada's Atlantic coast, puffins nest on rocky cliffs and sea stars live in tidal pools. Seals live along cold ocean coasts and eat fish from the sea. Water bodies like oceans, lakes, and rivers are home to many unique Canadian animals.

Biodiversity: Biodiversity means having many different plants and animals living together in one place. You can think of it as nature's variety the more species there are, the healthier the ecosystem stays.

Ecosystem: An ecosystem is a community of plants, animals, and the environment they all share together. Canada has many ecosystems, like the tundra, rainforest, and prairies.

Tundra: The tundra is a flat, treeless land in the far north where the ground stays frozen. It is Canada's coldest ecosystem and home to polar bears, caribou, and Arctic foxes.

Boreal forest (Taiga): The boreal forest is a huge cold northern forest with spruce and pine trees. It is also called the taiga and covers more of Canada than any other ecosystem.

Wetlands: Wetlands are low, wet areas full of birds and frogs. They provide food and shelter for many animals, including moose, loons, frogs, and otters.

Temperate rainforest: A temperate rainforest is a cool, very rainy forest. You can find one on Vancouver Island in BC, where ferns, mosses, cedar, and Douglas fir trees grow.

Migration: Migration is when animals travel long distances each year to find food or warmer places. Caribou migrate across Canada's tundra every year.

Lichen: Lichen is a plant-like living thing that grows on rocks and ground in cold places. Caribou dig through snow to eat lichen in the Arctic winter.

Deciduous: A deciduous tree is one that loses its leaves every autumn. Sugar maple trees are deciduous, while spruce and pine trees are evergreen and keep their needles all year.

Taiga: Taiga is another name for the boreal forest. It is a large cold forest of spruce and pine trees that stretches across Canada.

Moose: A moose is a large animal that wades in ponds and eats water plants and shrubs. You can find moose near lakes and forests across Canada.

Loon: A loon is a diving bird famous on Canadian lakes. It appears on the Canadian dollar coin and lives on the lakes of the Canadian Shield.

You can practice matching animals to their ecosystems. Try to name one plant and one animal for each region: Arctic tundra, BC rainforest, boreal forest, Canadian prairies, and wetlands.

You can also practice explaining why an animal lives where it does. For example, you might explain why polar bears have thick fur, or why salmon swim upstream. Connecting an animal's features to its climate and geography helps you understand biodiversity more deeply.

Before exploring biodiversity, you learned about Caring for Our Surroundings understanding that plants and animals need clean, healthy environments to survive. You also explored Natural Resource Industries like Mining, Forestry, and Energy Production, which shows how humans use the land where many animals live.

You also know about Types of Landforms like Mountains, Valleys, and Plains, which shape where different ecosystems form. Understanding Weather and Life helps you see why certain animals and plants can only survive in specific regions.

This topic connects to many other important ideas you will explore. You learned that Types of Landforms: Mountains, Valleys, and Plains shape where ecosystems form mountains create different habitats than flat prairies. Types of Water Bodies: Oceans, Lakes, and Rivers are home to animals like salmon, loons, and beluga whales.

Climate and Geography Impact explains why the Arctic is so cold and why BC gets so much rain and how that shapes which plants and animals live there. Human Effects on Nature and Environmental Consequences of Economic Activities show you how people's actions can harm or help biodiversity.

You can protect biodiversity by learning about Protecting Our World and Caring for Our World. Individual Environmental Responsibility and Community Environmental Protection Values show you how both you and your community can help keep ecosystems healthy.

Recreational Environmental Impact and Small vs Large Communities Environmental Impact help you understand how everyday activities affect nature. Using Earth's Resources and Sharing Earth's Resources connect to how biodiversity supports the resources all living things need.

Where People Live, Understanding Other Places, and World Maps and Locations help you locate different ecosystems around the world on a map.

This topic prepares you for future learning about Communities and Their Environments, Environmental Protection, Geographic Features, Natural Processes, Parks and Conservation, Resource Industries, Changing Landscapes, Human-Animal Relations: Domestication, Hunting, and Fishing, Community Environmental Effects, and Regional Characteristics.