Explore Ontario's Ecological Landscapes

Ecosystems can be very small, eg. a pond in a meadow, or very large, eg. the Hudson Bay Lowlands which occupies about one-quarter of Ontario. One way to understand ecosystems is to describe them at different scales. There may be smaller ecosystems nested within larger ones.

• An ecozone is a very large area of land and water that is characterized by bedrock that differs in origin and chemistry from the bedrock areas next to it. The bedrock, together with long-term continental climate patterns, affects the ecosystems occurring there. Ecosystems are resilient to short and medium-term change. They respond to global or continental cycles and processes operating on the order of thousands to millions of years.
• An ecoregion is a unique area of land and water, nested within one of Ontario's ecozones. It is defined by a characteristic range and pattern in climate, including temperature, precipitation, and humidity. The climate within an ecoregion has a major influence on the soil formation and other ecosystem characteristics, vegetation types and animals that occur there.
• An ecodistrict is an area of land and water contained within an ecoregion. It is defined by a characteristic set of physical features, including bedrock and/or surface geological features and topography. These features play a major role in determining patterns of species association and the habitats that develop. Local climatic patterns, such as lake effect snowfall areas, also may define ecodistricts.

The Ecological Lands Classification (ELC) is a system that is widely used in Ontario. The ELC describes Ontario's ecological zones, regions and districts, and classifies smaller ecosystems within these broader categories.

Hudson Bay Lowlands  |  Ontario Shield  |  Mixedwood Plains  |  Great Lakes 

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Ministry of Natural Resources