"Vegetation Zones of Canada: a Biogeoclimatic Perspective" maps Canadian geography in relation to gradients of regional climate, as expressed by potential vegetation on zonal sites. Compared to previous similar national-scale products, "Vegetation Zones of Canada" benefits from the work of provincial and territorial ecological classification programs over the last 30+ years, incorporating this regional knowledge of ecologically significant climatic gradients into a harmonized national map. This new map, reflecting vegetation and soils adapted to climates prior to approximately 1960, can serve as a broad-scale (approximately 1:5 M to 1:10 M) geospatial reference for monitoring and modeling effects of climate changes on Canadian ecosystems.

"Vegetation Zones of Canada: a Biogeoclimatic Perspective" employs a two-level hierarchical legend. Level 1 vegetation zones reflect the global-scale latitudinal gradient of annual net radiation, as well as the effects of high elevation and west to east climatic and biogeographic variation across Canada. Within the level 1 vegetation zones, level 2 zones distinguish finer scale variation in zonal vegetation, especially in response to elevational and arctic climatic gradients, climate-related floristics and physiognomic diversity in the Great Plains, and maritime climatic influences on the east and west coasts.

Thirty-three level 2 vegetation zones are recognized:

High Arctic Sparse Tundra

Mid-Arctic Dwarf Shrub Tundra

Low Arctic Shrub Tundra

Subarctic Alpine Tundra

Western Boreal Alpine Tundra

Cordilleran Alpine Tundra

Pacific Alpine Tundra

Eastern Alpine Tundra

Subarctic Woodland-Tundra

Northern Boreal Woodland

Northwestern Boreal Forest

West-Central Boreal Forest

Eastern Boreal Forest

Atlantic Maritime Heathland

Pacific Maritime Rainforest

Pacific Dry Forest

Pacific Montane Forest

Cordilleran Subboreal Forest

Cordilleran Montane Forest

Cordilleran Rainforest

Cordilleran Dry Forest

Eastern Temperate Mixed Forest

Eastern Temperate Deciduous Forest

Acadian Temperate Forest

Rocky Mountains Foothills Parkland

Great Plains Parkland

Intermontane Shrub-Steppe

Rocky Mountains Foothills Fescue Grassland

Great Plains Fescue Grassland

Great Plains Mixedgrass Grassland

Central Tallgrass Grassland

Cypress Hills

Glaciers

Please cite this dataset as: Baldwin, K.; Allen, L.; Basquill, S.; Chapman, K.; Downing, D.; Flynn, N.; MacKenzie, W.; Major, M.; Meades, W.; Meidinger, D.; Morneau, C.; Saucier, J-P.; Thorpe, J.; Uhlig, P. 2019. Vegetation Zones of Canada: a Biogeoclimatic Perspective. [Map] Scale 1:5,000,000. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service. Great Lake Forestry Center, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada.