{{Short description|Ecosystem in Canada}} {{About|an ecozone|the landform it covers part of|Canadian Shield}} {{Infobox ecoregion |name = Taiga Shield |image = Taiga and bedrock outcrops behind Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, NT.jpg |image_size = |image_alt = |caption = Tazin Lake Upland ecoregion of the Taiga Shield |map = |map_size = |map_alt = |map_caption = |biome = |animals = |bird_species = |mammal_species = |border1 = [[Arctic Cordillera]] |border2 = [[Boreal Shield Ecozone (CEC)|Boreal Shield]] |border3 = [[Boreal Plains Ecozone (CEC)|Boreal Plains]] |border4 = [[Hudson Plains Ecozone (CEC)|Hudson Plains]] |border5 = [[Southern Arctic Ecozone (CEC)|Southern Arctic]] |border6 = [[Taiga Plains Ecozone (CEC)|Taiga Plains]] |area = 1,381,821 |country = [[Canada]] |state1 = [[Alberta]] |state2 = [[Manitoba]] |state3 = [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] |state4 = [[Northwest Territories]] |state5 = [[Nunavut]] |state6 = [[Quebec]] |state7 = [[Saskatchewan]] |region_type = Provinces |elevation = |coordinates = |geology = |seas = |rivers = |climate = [[Subarctic climate|Subarctic]] |soil = |conservation = |global200 = |habitat_loss = |habitat_loss_ref = |protected = |protected_ref = |embedded = }} The '''Taiga Shield Ecozone''', as defined by the [[Commission for Environmental Cooperation]] (CEC), is an [[Ecozones of Canada|ecozone]] which stretches across [[Canada|Canada's]] subarctic region. Some regions exhibit exposed [[Precambrian]] [[bedrock]] of the [[Canadian Shield]], the oldest of the world's geological formations.<ref name="ECoverview">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/default.cfm |title=Overview |work=Taiga Shield Ecozone |publisher=[[Environment Canada]] |accessdate=2008-02-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040604051536/http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/default.cfm |archivedate=June 4, 2004 }}</ref> The world's oldest rocks, dating to four billion years, are found in the Canadian Shield north of [[Great Slave Lake]].<ref name="landforms">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/land.cfm |title=Landforms and Climate of the Taiga Shield Ecozone |work=Taiga Shield Ecozone |publisher=Environment Canada |accessdate=2008-02-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040622124516/http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/land.cfm |archivedate=June 22, 2004 }}</ref>
==Geography== The Taiga Shield ecozone covers almost all of the eastern area of the [[Northwest Territories]], a tiny corner of northeastern [[Alberta]], a narrow strip of all northern [[Saskatchewan]] and northwestern [[Manitoba]], as well as all some parts of southern [[Nunavut]]. Here, it is interrupted by the [[Hudson Bay]], where it abuts with the marine ecozone of the [[Arctic Archipelago Marine]], and resumes on the eastern shores of Hudson Bay on the coast of Quebec, where it continues in a consistently-wide strip towards the ocean, encompassing all but a small portion of [[Labrador]]. It is one of the largest ecozones in Canada, covering 1.3 million square kilometres.<ref name="ECoverview" />
Terrain is typically flat or rolling hills<ref name="bernhardt">{{Cite web |url=http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/ecozones/taigashield/taigashield.htm |title=Taiga Shield |work=Canada's Ecozones, Canadian Biodiversity project |last=Bernhardt |first=Torsten |publisher=[[McGill University]], Redpath Museum |accessdate=2008-02-02}}</ref> with thousands of depressions carved by [[glacial retreat]] now infilled, forming [[lake]]s, [[pond]]s, [[wetland]]s and other water features.<ref name="landforms" /><ref name="bernhardt" /> Long [[esker]]s and [[Upland (geology)|upland]]s are also common.<ref name="eskers">{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/environment/taiga_shield.html |title=Taiga Shield Ecozone |last=Bell |first=Trevor |publisher=[[Memorial University of Newfoundland]] |date=2002 |accessdate=2008-02-02}}</ref>
===Ecoprovinces=== This ecozone can be further subdivided into four ecoprovinces:<ref>{{Cite web|last=Secretariat|first=Treasury Board of Canada|title=National Ecological Framework for Canada - Open Government Portal|url=https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/3ef8e8a9-8d05-4fea-a8bf-7f5023d2b6e1|access-date=2020-11-07|website=open.canada.ca}}</ref> *[[Eastern Taiga]] *[[Labrador Uplands]] *[[Western Taiga Shield]] *[[Whale River Lowland]]
==Settlements== Primarily [[wilderness]], the Taiga Shield is sparsely populated, with approximately 340,000 inhabitants, over 60% of which is [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]].<ref name="settlements">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/human.cfm |title=Human Activities in the Taiga Shield Ecozone |work=Taiga Shield Ecozone |publisher=Environment Canada |accessdate=2008-02-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040622035756/http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/human.cfm |archivedate=June 22, 2004 }}</ref> Most settled areas developed around [[mining]] or [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] activity, for example in [[Yellowknife]] and [[Uranium City]] in the west and [[Labrador City]] in the east, but are isolated from other communities. Mineral extraction is the most important economic activity, with [[iron]] being mined in Quebec and Labrador, [[uranium]] in Saskatchewan, and [[gold]] and more recently [[diamond]]s in the Northwest Territories.<ref name="settlements" />
==Climate== This subarctic zone experiences cool summers that are short, with at least [[Solstice|24 hours of full daylight]] a year in its most northern reaches, and winters that are extremely cold and long, with at least one 24-hour period of complete darkness.<ref name="landforms" /> Precipitation ranges from 250 to 500 mm (10-20 in.) annually throughout the zone, except in Labrador which may receive up to 800 mm (31 in.) along its coast, and typically increases from west to east.<ref name="bernhardt" />
The shallow [[soil]]s remain damp, even soggy, year-round, and regularly freeze and thaw without drainage. This leads to shifting soil that randomly tilts growing trees, which has been likened to a "[[Drunken trees|drunken forest]]".<ref name="plants">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/plants.cfm |title=Plants of the Taiga Shield Ecozone |work=Taiga Shield Ecozone |publisher=Environment Canada |accessdate=2008-02-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040622192136/http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/vignettes/Terrestrial/ts/plants.cfm |archivedate=June 22, 2004 }}</ref>
==Conservation== A number of [[protected area]]s have been established to protect representative and/or significant portions of this ecozone. These include [[Caribou River Provincial Park|Caribou River Wilderness Provincial Park]], [[Sand Lakes Provincial Park]], and [[Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve]].
==References== {{Reflist}}
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[[Category:Taiga and boreal forests]] [[Category:Ecozones and ecoregions of the Northwest Territories]] [[Category:Ecozones and ecoregions of Nunavut]] [[Category:Ecozones and ecoregions of Quebec]] [[Category:Ecozones and ecoregions of Manitoba]] [[Category:Ecozones and ecoregions of Saskatchewan]] [[Category:Ecozones and ecoregions of Newfoundland and Labrador]]